Old man in his study

I think all of my favourite paintings and doodles are a combination of precision and accident. Although it would be difficult to find precision in this sketch, it was actually taken from an original photograph and not from my imagination. I do envy those artists who can draw directly without needing some kind of reference, such as a live model or photo, (I’m not one of them). But I digress, this one was taken from a photograph, of an elderly man, standing in a library and he had on an evening suit, but the rest is a deliberate distortion of the original image, with the accident being in the unpredictability of the water and paint.

a simple reduction?

Some of my favourite artists produce some of the simplest work….this is my copy of Oskar Kollers Windgeneigter Baum 1994

Sometimes in order to loosen up, when painting or drawing I reduce the colours I work with, go back to just working in pencil or draw without looking or taking my pen from the paper. I do this in order to clear my mind of the distraction of trying too hard, otherwise I can get too involved in trying to get things right and it never looks right. I guess I’m trying to get my brain to work directly with my hand without my intellect getting in the way. As part of this I then tried to understand what makes a painting likeable by analyzing the colours used in some works I liked and then recreating the colours as a simple palette. I love the reduction in the later work of Henry Matisse and the watercolourist, Oskar Koller. That after many years of traveling their respective creative journeys, their work is reduced to the most simple composition, beautiful colours and an almost childlike enjoyment of their medium. Yet though I don’t doubt the strength of their work or its impact, I still ask myself why is it Art? If I was able to do the same would it also be Art? Is it the scale of the work that makes it Art or all that led to it and the context in which it was created? Also, why do I find it so appealing? Maybe it appeals because these days life seems so complex, we have too many choices and that reduction to the the most simple of things is so refreshing.