Incomprehensible but tangible.
-Rilke
December 2011
20 posts
“…the verbal elements are not too interesting to discuss although they are intended consciously to keep the surface of the poem high and dry, not wet, reflective and self-conscious. Perhaps the obscurity comes in here, in the relationship between the surface and meaning, but I like it that way since the one is the other (you have to use words) and I hope the poem to be the subject, not just about it.”
-Frank O’Hara
“The reason to work is to say ‘What is it?’”
-Robert Wilson
Lessons from the 'Modern Masters' show at Reynolda House
Trust yourself. No idea is too stupid. Motherwell painted a black stick figure and its power is brilliant.
Own your subject like a bike. Be willing to take it apart to make it ride better. David Park paints the ocean upside down to get his painting to work.
Accept your influences. Ad Reinhardt couldn’t be Stuart Davis but he sure tried. In the end he became even more himself.
Discover ambiguity. Sam Francis wasn’t just painting rhythm and color. He was painting ‘blue balls.’
Make it as personal as it is. Joan Mitchell, Franz Kline, and Jim Dine took what was given them and it became something else. They were willing to let go.
So far
- need a specific living source in the world — playing with form is not enough
- three dimensions gives physical interest but two lets your body disappear
- more attention to presentation builds presence; image is not enough
- discovery comes on the road to somewhere; start with a specific goal
- be big and ambitious but it has to be detailed and careful, too
- specificity is what makes the paintings about something
- push the differences as far as they will go
- muddy thinking leads to muddy work
- condense experience and find the tension
Things I like about paintings
jagged edges
movement
spatial ambiguity
big fields of flat color
transparent washes
defined shapes
different moods in one painting
wavering lines
glowing light
thickness
unexpected materials
pictorial space against real space (texture v. vision)
geometric rhythm
tonal repetition
hard edges versus soft
gestural brushstrokes
scale shifts
negative spaces becoming positive
shadows
flattened perspective
exaggerated perspective
spread-point perspective
text + image
thick brushstrokes mixing paint
stippling
value juxtapositions
goofy drawing
elegant shapes
figures with weight
broken line
drips
spatter
pooling
meandering organic line
stripes
dots
implied narrative
shapes that are imply something
over-the-top color
mass conception with blocks of color
curved circular forms
stacking
messyness v. clarity
layering color for tonal variation
diagrams
ellipses
arrows
veils hiding different scenes behind them
forms being defined by flat color
sentimental images
expressive drawing
doodling
ideas expressed graphically
open forms busting out of closed forms
flat space intruding into real space
trompe l’oeil
maps
cartoons
