union-at-5th

Sometimes I try to copy the paintings of artists whose style I admire.

Not to emulate but to better understand how they “see” and interpret

things in form and space. In fact one of my most admired artists,

Frank Webb, says that art cannot be copied, “Art is a deliberate

recreation of a new and special reality that grows from your response

to life”. Webb’s genius is not only in his ability to create amazing

pieces art in his unique style but his ability to understand and

explain what he is doing. To Webb, “A painting is an articulation of

not only how things look, but how they feel, how they operate, and

most importantly, how they go together”. The latter point resonates

most with me and appears to influence most my art. I squint a lot

when I am painting and often find myself squinting when examining a

scene for a photograph. Squinting allows shapes to combine and edges

to disappear and come together in new ways. When I squint or mentally

shift perception to view a scene in greater totality - not mentally

overly distinguishing individual elements such as shapes, lines,

colors and values (interval of the scale between light and dark),

things look different and seem to suggest or inspire a personal

response. This image employed techniques to make it appear and feel

closer to what I saw and felt through my viewfinder while in this

state of “shifted perception”. Comments and critique welcome.

Hi Wayne,

  Wow....beautiful creative work with amazing colors, composition & details.  Take care, Patsy

Lovely depth and light along with human interest which is the key. My only nit and it is a small nit and maybe only because the small size of the image may affect my judgement, is, that the color of the head of one individual merges too closely with the color of the wall.  Maybe in a larger size image, this is not a consideration.

All the very best, 

Patsy,

Thanks.  If you get a chance "google" some of the watercolors of Frank Webb.  His work is an inspiration to "seeing".

Tony,
Thanks.  Good nit.  When “painting” this image I gave consideration to distinguishing the head of the figure but concluded its merge into the background continued the “union” theme and was consistent with this style of “painting” with lost and found edges and merging shapes.  I think what attracts me to this style of seeing and painting is that forms merge into the unfamiliar and sometimes engage the viewer to discern the familiar and make sense of the image.

Good result of a painted shot! Ciao Sergio

Sergio,

Thanks.  As always much appreciated.

Very creative and wonderful work! Best regards/Sadegh

Sadegh,

Thanks.  Much appreciated and encouraging.