Fulham

This piece is another in Oils which I am working on. I am currently working on the sky, with the buildings of Fulham to come later. I used hot glue gun to create some of the texture, but then scraped it all off and used wax medium to fill in some of the gaps. The yellow is really working well and I don't think I will touch it much.
(NB: The horizon line is only crooked because of the photo)



Part 2 - added in buildings (and a slightly straighter camera!)


Finished work with added steeple and adjusted buildings and light.

The Influence of an Artist

Just how much inspiration does an artist get from any artist model? Obviously it depends on how much a person copies or follows their particular style or type of painting. If you are painting in the style of someone, it would be hard press for them not to be much of an influence. take Jackson Pollock for example. It would be impossible to do a drip painting without him having an influence on your art; whether you actively pursued him as inspiration or not.
But what of Jackson Pollock. He was the first painter of his style. There were no artists that dripped paint over a canvas laid out on the floor. Yet there is no doubt that he had huge influence from other artists, Diego Riviera(?), Picasso's Guernica - largely because of the size of the canvas.
It is a room full of questions I keep on finding myself walking into when painting. As you possibly could tell, or maybe this is the first time you've recognized it; since returning from Europe, in particular Rome, and London and more specifically the Tate Gallery full of J.W.M Turner paintings, I have embarked on a mission to create, develop and shift my own paintings into the same ilk. It is the beauty of the works and the grace in which they capture the scene that seduces me into their aesthetic beauty. The fact that they so well before their time astounds me. It is now, some 150 years on since Turner's death that they can finally be placed into a stylistic period. At the time of their creation, there was no place for them.
It is this which I wish to continue. Not to copy, not to try and better Turner, or even class myself in the same league - for that is well beyond anyone's reach. Turner was an art genius, and there is no comparison to the time, effort and training that Turner put into his work to that of my own art practice. I can only hope but to somehow learn from what he did and apply it to my own style. For that is what it is - my own style in which only I can develop, change and mold to better my own artworks.
Artists only learn from what has gone before them. Every now and then we have artists which shift the boundaries - such as da Vinci, Rembrandt, Picasso, Pollock, Turner, Constable... who change the entire art world. It is these people who we recognize on a last name basis, almost as an honorary gesture with a silent "Sir" on the front of their names, that define art, who make it possible for the rest of us to find our own style within the rubble of artistic genius they leave behind.

Creative vs. Depressive

It is a quetion brought to my attention by Michael Rosen in his picture book "Michael Rosen's Sad Book", where he asks the question - "Why am I always sad?" My immediate responce, whether it be because I was thinking of art at the time or otherwise was, "Because you're a
creative." Little did I know that this was directly linked to my own life. It suddenly offered explanation to my sometimes depressive state of mind.
Is there any link between being a creative and being depressed. Many artists have been in such states. We know Colin McCahon had serious depression concerns in the later stages of his life. Michael Smither's admitted to having depression set in on his life in a documentary on TVNZ. Jackson Pollock was well publiscized for his drunkeness, most probably brought on to counter depression. So what is it about creatives that brings about depression. What is the nature of depression? There are two ways in which the two can interact.

1. That the ability for an artist to create is or can be heavily
   influenced by the emotion and feelings of depressions.
2. That the result of the act of creating is the onset of
   depression.

Both of these are viable options. There have been times where I have created in a depressed mood, and it heavily affects the resulting output. On the other hand, it is also entirely possible where the act of creating - an emotional rollercoaster full of stress, concentration and personal out-pouring leads to a state of depression.
There is no evidence however to suggest that depression is an inevidable bi-product of creativity. There are plenty of artists who do not get any signs of depression because of their creative nature. There is however weight to the arguement purely because so many great
artists have struggled with depression, whether it be a fuel for their creative passion or a mere bi-product of their artistic genius.

The Artist Diaries

This blog has a particular purpose. It is to be a record of the art experience that I encounter. I will be including working photos of paintings, drawings and sketches. It will include different things I have tried, and either failed at or succeeded. Art is a life force. It is always changing, always moving and this is an account of the ways in which I have managed to catch up with it.