Updates, with details.

Here are some update pictures, complete with two detail pictures. Click on the images for a larger view. I still have a lot of work to do!

The Art of Politics

It is safe to say that art and politics have made for comfortable bedfellows throughout the history of both. It is much harder to say whether artists are inherently political. Or whether they become political, or if the very nature of art - that is to say the expression of one's perception of the very surroundings they live in - has been and will always be inextricably linked to, and inspired by politics.

I am reminded of just how political art can get, as I work on the portrait of the King's son by Goya. As a royal painter for the King and court, Goya had to carefully cater to the King's wishes, and yet Goya also found the room to display his discontent with Spanish policy through his personal artwork.

Of course, there is also political play within the art world, as it were. Of course in a world of inventors, creators, and massive egos there will always be power plays, and boycotts, blacklisting and fast tracked success dependent on who you know, rather than skill level and what style you adhere to.

And of course, who swims to the top, and who sinks into oblivion is also highly dependent on the actual politics of the time. Dissenting artists, until recently have been shunned by the art world and political world throughout history for the very reason speech is impeded for those who speak out. Art is a very powerful tool in creating waves of action - the visual aspect is the fastest way to ignite emotional reactions.

At the very bottom of this blog I have posted a copy of Picasso's Guernica, a specific reaction to the wars in Spain, during his lifetime. It is undoubtedly a hugely disturbing piece, once deciphered that sticks in one's mind and slowly chips away at one's moral sensibilities.

Goya had several paintings of which he used to show his concern, discontent and blatant outrage of the current political climate he was in.



So too, did many artists I went to school with, myself included. It leads one to wonder however, would art be the same without politics? Would politics suffer without art? Just how much political sway does art actually have?

It is food for thought, at the very least.

Changing Pace, Take Two

Once again, I am blogging about art, and not politics. Tonight I will show just how little progress I have made! Here is a photo of the copy I am working from:




And here is what I have accomplished thus far:



Obviously the face needs a great deal of work. While I adore sculpting portraits, painting them makes me want to lock myself in an Iron Maiden, or pour gasoline over myself and strike a match. Perhaps both. The face in this portrait is done so finely, and the sfumato technique is so very delicate and minute that I am pulling my hair out. As are the color changes in the clothing, and background.

I have begun working up the kitties in the bottom left hand corner, as well as blocking out the bird. I have much work to do!

Changing Pace

Normally this blog is all politics, all the time. However, for a limited time I will be blogging about the progress I am making (or not making, as the case may be) with the painting I have been commissioned to do. Just for a little while, to help me maintain some modicum of progress on it. So, without further ado I am still in the second phase of the painting, a reproduction of a Goya, Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zunica.

The original looks like:


And I am at this point:


Aside from some coloration differences and glare problems with the camera - you'll notice some other differences as well. I have to work on a 20" by 24" canvas, to fit a specific frame as requested by my customer. So my image is cropped, quite a bit. There are also some color differences right now, as I am working from a print, and not the original - although no digitally reproduced work accurately represents the color scheme, I will work faithfully from the example that was designated for my use.

I am also very much in the color blocking stage, you can even still see some of the underpainting in the areas of the animals, and belt. For anyone who does not paint, or has not followed the traditions of painting, when one works in oil it is common to use an underpainting, or a thin layer of oil paint underneath the actual painting to change the overall tone of the painting.

Oil paints are somewhat transparent, or translucent - as light is allowed to go through the paint, and will reflect off of the oil primed white canvas beneath, reflected back through the oil colors on top. Compared to acrylic paints, and acrylic gessoed canvases, which do not reflect the light back through the paint because of the elastic nature of the paint. (When the paint settles into the crevices of the canvas, it absorbs the light, rather than reflecting it as the hardened smoother texture of oil paints do).

I chose a rather cool tone for an underpainting, a mixture of Prussian blue, white and a little bit of burnt sienna. The print, up close has an over all cool tone to it, so I used my best judgment and went cool. It seems to be working well for the moment.

Issues that I will be addressing tonight are the animals, the child's head, and some basic proportion problems that arose once the paint was laid down. Once that has been worked up appropriately, I will return to the background and foreground (giving the paint enough time to harden at least a little) and start working in some brighter colors, get the dappled effect that occurs all over the darn thing, and try to get the best coloration that I can.

Tomorrow, I might just post another picture, hopefully it will be more successful than tonights!