tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89369740063978431362024-03-13T04:01:13.185-07:00STEPHEN ABELAStephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-77378920346180014032017-11-02T15:04:00.002-07:002017-11-02T15:05:46.661-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-41604579218527040172015-06-23T12:09:00.000-07:002015-06-25T07:40:25.282-07:00Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches..<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have recently reclaimed an area of painting that is sometimes maligned or perhaps percieved as dated by the artworld; the impressionist beach scene. I like to think this allows me to paint without feeling like I need to challenge or push any boundaries as I am working in an area which is not really considered 'contemporary'- albeit we all know 'contemporary' is just lip service to an outmoded 'avant garde' notion and nothing is really that new anyway and justs pretends to be - so impressionist beach scenes are great for me - being ignored gives me the space to flex my paint muscles. <br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenabela/18609727239" title="beach scene ( in progress) by Stephen Abela, on Flickr"><img alt="beach scene ( in progress)" height="350" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/342/18609727239_ab4783bd54.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-83777786777494797492015-04-26T09:28:00.002-07:002015-04-27T07:32:58.200-07:00Palm Springs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I have an ongoing interest in Palm Springs. more to the point I have often painted views based on photographs of the place, in particular vintage or photos from post-war America.<br />
The El Mirador hotel is a great building to paint and I have done so a few times. It also has a fascinating history here:<br />
http://blog.preservationnation.org/2014/09/22/brief-history-palm-springs-el-mirador-tower/#.VTy6CfBIiSo<br />
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El Mirador hotel Palm Springs - gouache on paper<br />
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Frank Sinatra's house - gouache on paper</div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-43965234295480666062015-04-20T04:16:00.002-07:002015-04-20T04:16:37.554-07:00Recent work in gouache<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I love working with this medium..perhaps it reminds me of when i was a kid playing with poster paint. I like the powdery texture and the way it sits on paper. I dont know why it never seems to be available in art shops, perhaps because people prefer acrylic, they are after all essentially the same paint however gouache doesn't have the binder and medium that acrylic has which i dont really like on paper and it works better on canvas.<br />
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For this current series of work I decided to focus more specifically on the 'jet-setting' aspect of my general interest in sun and beaches. I want to delve more deeply into scenes of 'cool' whici has always been a strange interest I have had..<br />
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The meeting - gouache on paper <br />
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The boat ride - gouache on paper <br />
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Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-58246327451967483712015-04-17T10:56:00.003-07:002015-04-20T04:27:15.380-07:00Ripping off Slim Aarons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">In debt to Slim Aarons or ripping off Slim Aarons,
but then again so many have..let me see Tommy Hilfiger,
Ralph Lauren ok you get the picture. After reading an
interview with Aarons in a 2001 New York Times article <i> </i>
I am struck by his nonchalance and indifference to his influence to
the world of fashion and advertising, he looked upon it with disdain seeing himself and his work as a
realist doing documentary photography.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwFrpsILhji_swMZoexto6RqN28o-Uaoo0xFGz-zsGmSHtbxws1XGGR0eM6WB9OGEMDDzKL-ngAiJNXmxqLY4aoOdql_vlq8lFSwSx9qbDKkgpYUrk5mbl3_rXgqfcNOBW17s9wZb2gZU/s1600/1-DSCN2820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="People sitting by a pool" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwFrpsILhji_swMZoexto6RqN28o-Uaoo0xFGz-zsGmSHtbxws1XGGR0eM6WB9OGEMDDzKL-ngAiJNXmxqLY4aoOdql_vlq8lFSwSx9qbDKkgpYUrk5mbl3_rXgqfcNOBW17s9wZb2gZU/s1600/1-DSCN2820.JPG" height="508" title="Pool scene" width="640" /></a></div>
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Pool scene - oil on canvas 28 x 40 '' (based on a Slim Aarons photo)<br />
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Backgammon by the pool - (based on a Slim Aarons photo)<br />
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Beach Scene - San Tropez? (based on a Slim Aarons photo)</div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-44906159373531775582015-01-14T02:57:00.000-08:002015-04-20T04:07:02.094-07:00History painting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">These recent works bring in and make reference to history paintings, in some cases as a commentary on the past and in others just a way to make a work which uses some of the subject matter, iconography and compositions of painters I admire, so a homage in a way..yet hopefully not a pastiche or blatant copy.</span><br />
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Don John of Austria - oil on canvas 28 x 40 ''<br />
inspired by 'Lepanto' by GK Chesterton;<br />
"Scarlet running over on the silvers and the golds, Breaking of the hatches up and bursting of the holds"...<br />
full poem here - http://www.bartleby.com/103/91.html<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAM4xbhKfKbJPwoYnckyUbDKC2otmfhl9aESDwM2u2EfUJEUtUnQqb9qsSVezDcDQm4DNKMm0RglVj2finL3wtW7NvGevx5GXAQJgq9_J6x_dE981baQNPV5Yxv8gPhr4MfKDMGsPjGGk/s1600/1-DSCN4231.JPG" height="448" width="640" /><br />
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Ascension day machinations - oil on canvas 40 x 28''</div>
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Just working on this piece - my idea was to paint an explosion in a classical way - or at least integrate it into a classical composition - that was my starting point however it can if you like also have a historical dimension:</div>
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<span dir="auto">from Wikipedia: Alfonso de la Cueva, 1st Marquis of Bedmar</span></div>
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In 1618 king Philip III charged him with the devolution of the territories conquered by the Spanish forces in Piedmont to the duke of Savoy. In 1616 Venice concluded an alliance with France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands to counter Spain's power. Bedmar was instructed[3] to destroy this league and, with Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna, viceroy of Naples (1574–1624), and the Spanish Governor of the Duchy of Milan, Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, 3rd Duke of Feria, planned a naval invasion to bring the city closer to the Spanish sphere of influence. The scheme was to be carried out on Ascension Day in 1618 but was revealed by the French, and Bedmar, protected by his position from arrest, left Venice. </div>
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The bountiful Cresthaven - oil on canvas 40 x 30''</div>
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Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-28684171032693034022014-04-28T05:28:00.002-07:002015-01-15T04:52:51.854-08:00The natural way to paint?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Painting naturalistically can be interpreted to mean various things but generally it is understood to mean getting close to the subject in terms of imitation, likeness or sense. The interesting thing about how we perceive naturalness in painting is that it is ultimately subjective and based on conventions. There is no 'natural' way to paint only conventions. We always use a convention, 'a style' -to portray the subject, whatever it is we are perceiving directly with our senses and being. So the question then becomes is any style more natural? Is using a photo-realistic approach (where brushtrokes are hidden) more natural than a more impressionst version? or are they equally naturalistic? Is photography any less a convention and hence more natural a mode of representation than painting?<br />
I don't think so, all are equally modes of representation of the natural so can never be 'more' natural just better at getting the point across.<br />
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Let me take a different tack. When we speak of the abstract expressionist movement we also assume a kind of naturalism; one of the materiality of paint. I refer to the sense of a 'naturalness' of gesture as in spontaneity, the paint does what it does. In order to speak the languange of the late modernist painter the work needs to become more like paint -ie: have many of the physical characteristics visible and obvious - the drips, the strokes, the bleeding and no illusionism . So this becomes a sort of matter of factness of paint - to the point where some work is just a matter of the paint just 'being' as opposed to representing - or the representational aspect of being paint becomes a monosyllabic utterance - "here I am .. paint, colour,form!" if it is representing.<br />
Now this is not 'natural' strictly speaking - since it's man-made but because the paint is less manipulated and the convention is less sophisticated and more a child like 'naturalness' we then have an equivalence between the paint and the non man-made ie - natural world, say like<br />
the pattern of moss or strata of rock or decay, etc.. as to say the painting just happened naturally..<br />
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I now want to extend this convention of painting the natural out to copying machine made images as well ie; photography and film, after all what is more natural than a reaction of light on chemicals.<br />
The confusion here is we tend to view the introduction of photography in painting ( pop art for example) as antithetical to modernist gesture and abstraction I described above, however it seems to me repeating a machine (camera or printing press) process is just as 'natural' as far as painting conventions go. You are still using a non man-made process an 'it's not-painting-painting' convention. The abstract expressionist or the 'non-objective' painter uses a language that only exists as a negation of the convention of (traditional) painting the same way the photo-realist does.<br />
Now what interests me is what happens when we 'copy' or paint a photo or machine printed image with a restricted ability to get a likeness -either by limiting the scale or restricting the medium.. so the (failed) attempts at creating a likeness become very apparent, but more than that the 'mistakes' incorporate the matter-of -factness and 'naturalness' of non-obective painting. The aspect of 'happy accident' that is so intrinsic to that modernist language. What you end up with is something like <br />
the above watercolour - an attempt to render a photo in watercolour as stylistically 'neutral' as possible.<br />
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Where I find this gets interesting is when we then take this finish product and use it as the starting point. It becomes the subject of another painting. Why is this interesting you ask? Let me explain first by summarising what I just discussed.<br />
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Basically we have various conventions of naturalism:</div>
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An imitative one - Academic painting from the 19th century best exemplifies this.</div>
A sensory one - the impressionsts<br />
A physical one - Abstract Expressionist and Modernist ready made,photo-realism falls into this by virtue of imitating the photographic process of representation.<br />
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On top of the last one - the 'physical' I would like to propose another -A 'meta' naturalism -a naturalism of the process of naturalism. By this I mean painting which takes 'naturalism' as a subject. This is my current aim in my work below is the result of the approch I just described, based on the painting above.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWqssauBdmdXrIp3zaBeyNZ6HN_nzWDeFb8zan_rNIbRmng5YhoXKYZL0z-Z4XM6qujWWM30ou2uYxBX9X8kEvMuEH20Khw6CBBFAmnlBEambWIfwJgZZ3jiVU5ECNuYOW2IcO7XlHuI/s1600/1-DSCN3602.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWqssauBdmdXrIp3zaBeyNZ6HN_nzWDeFb8zan_rNIbRmng5YhoXKYZL0z-Z4XM6qujWWM30ou2uYxBX9X8kEvMuEH20Khw6CBBFAmnlBEambWIfwJgZZ3jiVU5ECNuYOW2IcO7XlHuI/s1600/1-DSCN3602.JPG" height="502" width="640" /></a></div>
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Gummo Bay acrylic on canvas 23 x 30''</div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-78743144251505743782014-01-27T14:52:00.002-08:002014-12-16T14:55:14.916-08:00Mark-making and emptying out subject-matter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I have just began painting after a month or so off due to moving into a new house so I am relieved to finally settle into my new studio. To get myself going I decided to re-work some older paintings that I had begun some two years ago. At the time I was focusing on mark-making and more abstract approach. I continued to work these and enjoy being playful with shape and line and bringing this <br />
way of working to tackle subject-matter which I previously worked in a more realist approach. This change makes sense to me as I felt I was reaching a bit of an impasse and drying up creatively.<br />
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Compared to painting from a photo where you have a subject to hinge to; in terms of colour, form, formal aspects in general, working in an 'abstract' vein is more challenging. My difficulty is trying not to leave stuff out. Painting that is more 'language based', turns inward upon itself -the mark-making resonates inwardly- ie: repeated patterns, colour and form that is already in the painting and the danger is taking this too far which inevitably will 'empty' the painting of subject-matter and external references the more it feeds on itself so to speak..basically what happened in the 1970s. it becomes a formal exercise. This is the tight-rope that you need to walk..I think of Richard Diebenkorn's ocean park series.. is an excellent (successful) example of abstraction, not cold and dry and devoid of life like a lot of late modernist abstraction.</div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-57350639785242124142013-10-13T10:22:00.001-07:002015-04-17T11:05:00.609-07:00Changing the narrative<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XChT8YKdqF-bcEqPC8iNPc51thA2HLJVHJGi8fL99VGvePY84sVeHa_-ZUJp3C-KveUEBlTV6eB3_I_oU92JDvHLnx28aoHe8E_U4KOVFK3UgC7HmmjG8m6uyQyTAMMiaiQlqagbMZE/s1600/1-DSCN3388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XChT8YKdqF-bcEqPC8iNPc51thA2HLJVHJGi8fL99VGvePY84sVeHa_-ZUJp3C-KveUEBlTV6eB3_I_oU92JDvHLnx28aoHe8E_U4KOVFK3UgC7HmmjG8m6uyQyTAMMiaiQlqagbMZE/s640/1-DSCN3388.JPG" height="396" width="640" /></a><br />
I have recently been interested in exploring a very specific thing in painting. Specific in the sense that it is a particular moment in a particular scene in a film. I have on occasion painted scenes from films and I am sure I am not alone in doing this. However I am not interested in sealing a special (film) moment in time or celebrating a memorable scene, like "play it (again) Sam" or "say hello to my little friend!" To me this would be akin to painting a kind of movie poster and I am not interested in doing that, although I may have done it unintentionally in the past. I guess that would also be considered a 'homage'. <br />
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What interests me is in playing with the narrative of the scene. In the example of the painting above, I have inserted a speech bubble above the character's head, a blank one as I was unsure as to what he would be saying. In the film this painting was derived from he actually does not speak at this point in the scene, but you probably get a sense of his agitation or controlled panic through his movement and the accompanying soundtrack as he tries to get away.<br />
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I like the idea of trying to stop or interject a different narrative at this point, in order to make the scene more contemplative, it is now after all a painting. I guess that's the point in a way, there isn't another scene coming along, that's all you're getting. You could ask the question why paint this particular scene and if you do how do you paint it so it does not feel like a lead up to another.<br />
I think in the example above this is partly done by the speech bubble, even though empty, it re-enforces this is a moment of hesitation for the character, a time to stop, stand back and observe, maybe think about his motivation. I do think the viewer of the painting needs to have a little bit of film knowledge for this to work, enough to tell them that it reminds them of some 1950s or 60s film. I think this is important, as it will then have more resonance in terms of a change or stop in the action rather then just some bloke standing in front of some seaside town.</div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-90235615923460548792013-10-11T01:40:00.000-07:002015-04-20T04:06:41.717-07:00A Closer look at Pool Scene by Stephen Abela<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="post-meta">By <a href="http://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/author/lisa/" rel="author" title="Posts by Lisa Takahashi"><span style="color: #e24846;">Lisa Takahashi</span></a><span class="line">·</span> On <span class="post-date date updated">October 11, 2013</span></span><br />
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Last night the Viewer’s Choice Award for this year’s Threadneedle Prize 2013 was awarded to <a href="http://www.corkbycork.com/" target="_blank" title="Conrad Engelhardt"><span style="color: #e24846;">Conrad Engelhardt</span></a> for his Cork-filled portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi – congratulations to him for winning the £10,000! However in this, our final Threadneedle post for 2013, we discuss high glamour, nostalgia and vibrant colour with our last-but-not-least favourite Threadneedle contender, <a href="http://www.stephenabela.tumblr.com/" target="_blank" title="Stephen Abela on Tumblr"><span style="color: #e24846;">Stephen Abela</span></a>.<br />
<a href="http://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Stephen-Abela-in-studio.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Stephen Abela in studio" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-14634" src="http://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Stephen-Abela-in-studio-856x1024.jpg" height="741" title="" width="620" /></a><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;"><em>Stephen Abela in his studio</em></span></div>
The painting is reminiscent of 1950s watercolour illustration, and depicts an archetypal holiday resort pool scene – this pool scene could pretty much be anywhere in the world, and almost any time in the world, although thanks to the manner in which it has been painted, as well as the cars and the outdoor furniture, it points to the 1950s and 1960s. There is something very idealistic about the painting – no one has a care in the world, all are relaxed and enjoying their holiday and the company of their family. The painting is filled with light and posterised, saturated colour…the reds used are very primary and saturated, and the most powerful, and although the other colours in the painting are lightened with plenty of white acrylic paint, they appear bright and vibrant as opposed to gaunt or washed out. I asked Stephen Abela about his work.<br />
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<em>Lisa: What draws you to the subject of the pool scene?</em><br />
<strong>Stephen: The pool scene painting is based on a 1960s postcard image. I like this type of subject for two reasons. First it has an almost classical setting in terms of figure and ground; near naked figures against idyllic natural backdrops as in a Titian or Veronese painting. In this scene in particular the figures are in motion and there is a lot of action, you could say it has a baroque sensibility which appeals to me.</strong><br />
<strong>The second reason is nostalgia. As a child growing up in Malta in the 1970s and 80s I spent a lot of time around pools and beaches so it’s a kind of nostalgia for another time even though perhaps one mostly in my imagination.</strong><br />
<em>Lisa: Who are your influences?</em><br />
<strong>Stephen: I admire the Bay Area painters, especially Richard Diebenkorn. There is also this lesser known second generation Bay Area artist Roland Petersen who I think is underrated. Bonnard, Malcolm Morley are another couple that stand out. I like artists who are are deft and spotaneous when handling paint, like Sargent and Bellows. I just visited the Peter Doig exhibition in Edinburgh, I like his handling of paint for different reasons, its more laboured and layered and has a really sophisticated colour palette.</strong><br />
<strong></strong><em>Lisa: Do you use mediums to manipulate your paint? What brand/s of acrylic colour do you like to use?</em><br />
<strong>Stephen: I am using Acrylic paint at the moment, it dries quickly and doesn’t smell but its not as exciting as oil to manipulate, so I mix various mediums together to build body and give it a sheen. In term of paint brands, <a href="http://www.jacksonsart.com/-/c2200_1044_8090_8972/index.html" target="_blank" title="Jackson's Acrylic"><span style="color: #e24846;">Jackson’s</span></a>, <a href="http://www.jacksonsart.com/Brands-A-Z_All_Brands-Golden/c2200_1044_682/index.html?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=blogpost111013&utm_campaign=blog" target="_blank" title="Golden Acrylics"><span style="color: #e24846;">Golden</span></a>, <a href="http://www.jacksonsart.com/Brands-A-Z_All_Brands-Liquitex/c2200_1044_895/index.html?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=blogpost111013&utm_campaign=blog" target="_blank" title="Liquitex Acrylic"><span style="color: #e24846;">Liquitex</span></a> and <a href="http://www.jacksonsart.com/-/c2200_1044_1196_26968/index.html?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=blogpost111013&utm_campaign=blog" target="_blank" title="Winsor and Newton"><span style="color: #e24846;">Winsor and Newton</span></a> is what I generally use.</strong><br />
<em>Lisa: How do you select your colours for a painting?</em><br />
<strong>Stephen: I generally select colour based on the subject matter, which tends to mean oranges, Naples yellow and crimsons for figures. I use a lot of turquoise and cerulean blue for pools and sea. I would say I tend toward a more impressionist palette, I don’t exclude blacks or greys – but I use primaries where I can. Often when painting from an old photo I am captivated by the printing ink which bleeds and is slightly blurred and you can see the individual colours used -which gives it a sort of Impressionist – Divisionist feel and makes me want to replicate the colour effect on canvas. I am always looking for new colour combinations that appeal to me as I don’t think of myself as a natural colourist and I have had to learn to use colour by trial and error. I borrow where I can I still make mistakes, although hopefully not such bad ones anymore.</strong><br />
<em>Lisa: On your <a href="http://stephenabela.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank" title="Stephen Abela's blog"><span style="color: #e24846;">blog</span></a> I recently saw an interesting post about painting from photographs, could you tell us briefly what your thoughts are about painting from photographs vs painting from life?</em><br />
<strong>Stephen: I like to think and talk about painting from photos vs from ‘real life’ as this subject is such a complex and sometimes contentious issue. In fact I think you could write a book about it. When I was in art school in the 1990s there seemed to me to be only two possibilities in relation to photos and it was a polarising situation. It was either -paint photographs exactly as they are; like a photo realist say Richard Estes or like Gerhard Richter and reduce painting to a mechanical reproductive process -or avoid painting from photographs entirely like Freud or Auerbach. I think we are now at a point where artists like Doig and Tuymans have made it ok to use photos and in a less ironic way and divisive way. Possibly photos have become more part of our lives, more personal, more ‘natural’ and thus a more acceptable starting point for a painting. </strong><strong>I don’t feel its so much of a taboo anymore but (to paint from photos) can be a crutch and at times trivialise painting – if its simply a painted version of a printed image it’s a bit pointless. How you avoid doing this is where creativity and art comes in.</strong><br />
<em>Lisa: Where do you find your subjects for painting?</em><br />
<strong>Stephen: From life, from my head, but mostly from photos! I don’t tend to think about why I like something and want to paint it, I just like an image and feel it has painting possibilities. I always try to avoid just reproducing something because it looks good. I tend mainly to be attracted to colour combinations and compositions that seem out of the ordinary and are not clichés. It is sometimes difficult doing this when painting beach scenes can so easily seem pretty and hackneyed. I probably have some subconscious reason for always picking pools and beach scenes but I’m not quite sure what that is or if I really want to know. Hopefully it’s not just the pretty colours.</strong><br />
<em>Lisa: Where can we see more of your work (online or in the flesh)?</em><br />
<em></em><strong>Stephen: At present there are no shows in the pipeline, but you can see more of my work online: </strong><br />
<a href="http://www.stephenabela.tumblr.com/" target="_blank" title="stephenabela.tumblr.com"><strong><span style="color: #e24846;">stephenabela.tumblr.com</span></strong></a><br />
<a href="http://www.stephenabela.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="stephenabela.blogspot.com"><strong><span style="color: #e24846;">stephenabela.blogspot.com</span></strong></a><br />
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<strong><em>The Threadneedle Prize for Painting and Sculpture is open daily from 10am – 5pm from the 25th September – 12th October 2013. Admission Free.</em></strong><br />
<strong><a href="http://www.threadneedleprize.com/" target="_blank" title="The Threadneedle Prize for Painting and Sculpture 2013"><span style="color: #e24846;">The Threadneedle Prize for Painting & Sculpture 2013</span></a>, at <a href="http://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/" target="_blank" title="The Mall Galleries"><span style="color: #e24846;">The Mall Galleries</span></a>, The Mall (near Trafalgar Square), SW1 All images are copyright of the artist.</strong></div>
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Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-6648601167973635622013-09-26T13:46:00.002-07:002015-04-20T02:30:06.353-07:00Threadneedle Prize 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Had
one of my paintings chosen for the Threadneedle Prize exhibition 2013
-above is a view of the hanging (mine is in the middle of the 2 columns
beside the girl with the pink underwear). I had a great time looking at
all the work which is of an excellent standard and I could mention a few favorites. I also chatted to a
couple of artists and drank lots of a very tasty white wine - wish I
checked the label. The work I submitted is below. Lisa interviews me on my submission on Jackson's Art Blog <a href="http://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2013/10/11/the-threadneedle-prize-2013-a-closer-look-at-pool-scene-by-stephen-abela/" target="_blank">here</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXys1TLlAzlQ688Eyk7_RKhGKheffTKcSNGuNAx8YmZX27I_y3oxrPZVK284U4BASA77WsyRCvCGLyhdJnEP0SRXo2iGhiAQ5D1A9B8pNcNUmOkjSrW1R1t-34l4d-QLr07-efY-AUcBg/s1600/DSCN2560.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXys1TLlAzlQ688Eyk7_RKhGKheffTKcSNGuNAx8YmZX27I_y3oxrPZVK284U4BASA77WsyRCvCGLyhdJnEP0SRXo2iGhiAQ5D1A9B8pNcNUmOkjSrW1R1t-34l4d-QLr07-efY-AUcBg/s640/DSCN2560.JPG" height="393" width="640" /></a></div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-65158398391333520112013-07-26T05:52:00.002-07:002014-12-01T08:56:18.679-08:00Art, craft and technology and the changing role of the artist<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Above is a recent acrylic painting of mine.<br />
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The contemporary Artist 'profession' or contemporary Art industry seems to no longer fit in or play any part in most peoples lives unlike other professions and this normally to me seems a necessary defining feature of most professions- ie: to be a part of an economic 'eco-system'. <br />
I am not saying contempory art should be more accessible.. I think thats an obvious one, I just think we need to stop and think where this may be heading.<br />
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So lets play devil's advocate for a bit. Lets take this into the future to one possible corporate / consumerist conclusion and see were we end up. Supposed contemporary art, as paintings, videos, photography sculpture etc. get subsumed into the entertainment and marketing industry. In otherwords become part of film and advertising. I don't think this means people will stop making or buying traditional craft - well not any more than people stopped buying pottery, with the advent of mass produced ceramics.<br />
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Lets pretend the 'art industry' as a whole basically ceased to exist and has been gobbled up by Warner Brothers or Sony. What we are left with is amatuers and hobbyists, craftspeople. I don't believe this would be a bad thing. In fact I welcome it.<br />
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I feel that we are currently in a very transient period and what I just -half jokingly- predicted is not as far fetched as it seems. We have moved quickly into the information age from the industrial age from a previosly craft based cottage industries in just over 100 years. I think the fact that we still paint and weave and sculpt is testament to our desire to continue to do these things and work with our hands -possibly we do not get enough or any satifaction out of computers and machines. However since our current ecomony seems to not 'need' craftsmen to function and much of contempory art is not craft based, makes me wonder if painting, or 'crafted' art will survive as 'art' at all.<br />
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If art was previously grounded in craft, trade and skill -and now art owes more to promotion and advertising then to the studio or the academy surely the divide between 'craft' and 'art' will continue to widen in the same way industry and technology have left other cottage industries far behind. Is it not possibly that the rift between contemporary art and 'craft based art' could play out along the lines of a craft / technology divide?<br />
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Perhaps the professional artist of the future will be an entertainer of sorts, possibly have live shows in Vegas and the 'art work' as in the traditional static stuff would be mostly photography or some computer generated imagery and become the promotion or advertising of the film or live show or 'main event'. <br />
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I think we are already half way there and have not really noticed. Take for example artists like Jeff Koons, Any Warhol or Damien Hirst. Their art could be viewed as partly self promotion and embracing consumer culture albeit some critics argue it's critical of the latter. Much art today in fact pretends to be critical but isn't really and would be better off just embracing consumer culture. And being free of this illusion of art somehow standing apart from the retail or entertainment business the artist will get swollowed up by the business - creativity will survive, but the solitary art making/producing sometime craftsperson will be gone. .</div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-30430158152585864832013-07-25T07:57:00.003-07:002013-08-08T07:04:06.137-07:00Painting from Photographs - pros and cons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There is no doubt that you get more visual information from looking
directly at ‘reality’ than you do <br />
from looking at a photograph (of
reality), but it doesn't necessarily follow that to paint from life is
better -doesnt it depend a bit on the subject matter and if you can
feasibly stand in front of it to and paint it? or are we all
budding impressionists and paint only the outdoors?<br />
A photograph as a visual aid can be helpful, as is drawing from life an essential part
of learning to draw, as is using your imagination but ultimately the
quality of outcome depends entirely on the artist. There are many
excellent artists who painted exclusively from photos or just painted
‘photos’, (think photorealists) and many great artists who never did as
the camera had yet to be invented and yet their interpretations had
little to do with a ‘real’ external reality…Titian,Rubens etc. but they
were trained in life drawing.. and then there are realists who only
painted what they saw Freud,Chardin.<br />
I think the point is to make art as good as you can in whatever way you
can by whatever means and if a photo helps then use it…(copyright issues
notwithstanding) <br />
Above is a recent work I painted from a photograph.</div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-2225421722773016972013-07-08T07:48:00.002-07:002014-12-19T06:25:48.568-08:00Do you need an MFA to be an artist?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Palm Springs 2014 -oil on canvas 40 x 28''<br />
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Is an MFA -as in a Masters of Fine Art needed to be professional artist? the short answer is no. Does it help? yes. So I guess the real questions is: how does an MFA help in an artists career? I will start by saying I dont possess one myself so I am not speaking from experience, so stop reading if you want first hand info. I have however visited numerous MFA grad shows and colleges, in London, US and Canada. I sat in on a class in NYC, been to grad shows in NY, Rhode Island, Michigan (Cranbrook), Goldsmiths, the Slade, the RCA and St Martins in London and numerous schools in Canada. So I am not uninformed in terms of the quality of art produced.<br />
I recall speaking to a graduating student in Montreal's Concordia University which had a good reputation at the time (in Canada). I recall her telling me she was going on to study computer animation as she didn't really see the point of the MFA, so just as this one particular example, there are another few 100 students who graduate from MFAs every year and may or not even pursue an artistic career.<br />
From what I can gather here in UK especially in London an MFA is invaluable in terms of getting exposure. For one you get to participate in shows, the graduate one being the most obvious but also others while in school. You will also get gallery owners coming around to the grad shows looking for potential up and coming artists - but of course its not like that can take everyone on.<br />
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I also think the MFA affords you a time to think about your art -and do only that - as well as getting others in the same situation to do the same. I do think you need to be in the right frame of mind however as not being 'into it' while doing an MFA will mean important opportunity lost. So as an opportunity to connect and network with potential galleries and like minded people I think an MFA is invaluable. My only beef with an MFA is that sometime they are looked at as 'credentials' for making art.<br />
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You don't need any obviously, but in the current Art climate where it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between Art and non-art, people like anything that gives them a little bit of assurance that the artist is serious about his or her work and I think and MFA gives people that impression. Like say, someone who has a graduate degree in botany would be more serious about plants than your average horticulturalist or at least that is the impression you would get without meeting them.<br />
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So in an nutshell - in terms of an art 'career' if there is such a thing - a MFA will be of help - but not in terms necessarily of artistic development and I would even argue that it could sometimes be a hindrance to artistic practise when it's influence stops you from working.. ie; gives you so much to think about you become overwhelmed or paralysed by the possiblites or questions posed or even takes you in a direction that is not naturally your own and it ends up being fruitless.</div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-46023331056726037822013-07-04T03:02:00.003-07:002013-07-13T00:52:46.659-07:00oil vs acrylic paint<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Does acrylic painting allow the same amount of flexibility as oil?<br />
Probably not. I dont think you get the same about of sublety as oil. Perhaps this has to do with the binder - linseed oil vs an acrylic polymer or water. I think the fact that oil does not dry as fast -in fact leaves the paint thinker and shinier for longer probably adds to the visual appeal. The viscosity of oil is greater so allows the paint to be sculpted and remain in place unlike acrylic which even when using a good medium will not be as flexible and the water rapidly evaporates leving little of what was originally on canvas in terms of paint body.<br />
I do however like using acrylic on paper as when used with water can become as translucent as watercolour and I like watercolour. The other advantages are cleaning and health in terms of water vs white spirits. I also want to carry on using acrylic on canvas for longer as I want to see how far i can take it in terms of getting more out of it in terms of colour and effect. On occassion it does suprise me and i still want to mix it with other waterbased media just to see how it will react. So before I pack it in and switch back to oil I will give it some more time and who knows, as the saying goes...something about those who wait..<br />
-Above is a recent acrylic work of mine. </div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-16823190678317857192013-04-17T05:17:00.000-07:002013-07-01T09:33:02.174-07:00colour interaction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJIn41JcigZgehy2BT461SwevjZyV4Et6IzfBhIBQxC-OvJ_3IP8kmHMZLXgRTJqAFQeDZOev5IPhOSBgrO-I9hgtsD5JH-_xf9w1vXJIqR8PK1Nn7qD6VzWi8D8yudftGlO1O8rflb44/s1600/8577971885_b9dcc6479a_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJIn41JcigZgehy2BT461SwevjZyV4Et6IzfBhIBQxC-OvJ_3IP8kmHMZLXgRTJqAFQeDZOev5IPhOSBgrO-I9hgtsD5JH-_xf9w1vXJIqR8PK1Nn7qD6VzWi8D8yudftGlO1O8rflb44/s640/8577971885_b9dcc6479a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>I am getting more interested in colour interaction lately and I feel I have developed a slightly better understanding since I started.. which was basically sky=blue people = orange, sea= well...blue darker than sky.. as hopefully you can tell from this one. My simplistic colour theory goes something like this:<br />
background colours: cool and warm greens for trees, cool blues and greys for sky, mid-ground reds, purples & warm blues for people. Foreground - pale yellows and oranges.</div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-82561196287729799372013-01-04T06:06:00.001-08:002013-07-01T09:36:48.961-07:00subject matter vs subject<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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After a brief daliance with 'Abstraction' I have returned to beach subject matter or people in swimwear (and sometimes not).<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenabela/sets/72157632110622092/">Watercolours</a>, a set on Flickr. I have been spending a good deal of my time looking for good source material off the net. I also vacationed in the Tenerife recently where I managed to capture some beach life directly. This to me is subject matter. Now what is the subject behind all these people lying around on beaches? Heat ? Leisure? Summer? Happiness.. and indeed if say the Subject is indeed 'Heat' is this the best way to express it? Why not a photo? why not a photo with a thermometer reading in it? </div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-36318162013317632592011-08-16T01:19:00.001-07:002013-07-01T06:01:08.086-07:00Bussière-Galant, France<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Just spent a week in the
Limousin, France. Can’t think of anything better to interrupt the
rural landscape than a 14 century village and its reclaimed stone
buildings.</span></div>
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Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-67712769506336429352011-06-11T02:14:00.005-07:002013-07-01T05:42:59.696-07:00Canaria<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://whttp//www.flickr.com/photos/stephenabela/5653354678/in/set-72157623171597942" title="Canaria"><br />
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<span style="margin: 0pt;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenabela/5819987113/">Canaria</a>, a photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenabela/">MONDOSTEVO</a> on Flickr.</span></div>
Did some gouaches this week, applying the paint more like oil. Love the results and hoping to get some more mileage out of it</div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-24993886380181264682010-09-15T03:25:00.000-07:002013-07-01T09:37:19.704-07:00Painting in Portugal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We spent last week in northern Portugal where I managed a few watercolour sketches.<br />
This one is my favorite. I had a unique view above this little cul-de-sac of farm houses which made it interesting for me to draw and paint.</div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-71161378044756023712009-04-08T09:04:00.000-07:002014-12-19T06:32:50.930-08:00the artist soldiers on...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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watercolour 23 x 17'' 2012<br />
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I have not yet decended into madness, although arguably this would be hard to tell..<br />
I am now at the present time actively painting again so it seems only natural that I stop berating famous artists who are talentless and annoying...and concentrate on all the good stuff that is out there as I am in a very + mind set.. so perhaps I dont have much to say on the 'art' subject anymore and perhaps thats best.<br />
At this point all I can say is that painting is happening all around and besides all the business/ galleries/money involved that maybe causes some people to argue about the various merits of those more famous and sucessful/ its really a good thing. lets get it all out there and have a party! <br />
I am now trying to delve a little more into my subject as frankly it is feeling a little purile/16 year old ish.. all these bikini clad women .. surely I can get something a little more ..profound..?</div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-49478042590354303902007-12-15T05:53:00.000-08:002014-12-19T06:27:26.036-08:00Art & consumer culture<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Lodge playpool 2014 oil on canvas 23 x 30''<br /><br />SH"*%%T! I just deleted 60 mins of posting, thats the last time i am writing directly on the web without saving it on my PC. I just finished by saying, whats the difference between a pair of Nikes and a contempory painting in a gallery? Argueably, as an artist if I put the trainers in a gallery they should be worth as much possibly more, and if I write some consumer culture comment beside them and have a video playing of someone jogging in them I think the price will go even higher..<br />
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Why not sell art in shops instead of 'galleries' or just call them Art shops, whats the diffrence??<br />
I mean doesnt the Nike Store look like a gallery of Nike Art works? I spend about the same amount of time appreciating Trainers as I do painting generally so..why the huge price diffrence.. at least I can wear the shoes..<br />
And dont tell me its special or original, that rubbish, it very, very, rarely is. So who are these fools who are buying all this crap? I really want to know..</div>
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Didnt Warhol & Duchamp make a point out of this? So why do still look at contemporary art as we do a Renaissance masterwork? Entirely diffrent things, nothing in common. Its like when you see the early computers in the history museum the only diffrence is that there are thousands of old pcs which are worthless, and we understand that, but we have not realised that there are millions of 'artists' because pretty much everyone has a point of view about something and can reorganise furniture or media, they just havent been 'discovered', yet..</div>
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Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-35924129825028814322007-12-04T03:40:00.000-08:002014-12-14T15:02:08.878-08:00Resolve it in Flatness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It seems to me that one of the predominate legacies of Modern Art has been 'flatness' meaning the tendency of artists to abstract/remove pictorial space & depth. This seems to have carried over in a lot of today's artwork which on the surface? seems figurative but is actually quite flat, lots of painting from photographs have this what I like to call the 'painting by numbers' look, reducing everything to an outline and then filling it in.. take Peter Doig for example. I do like his art and I think there is much more to his work, but there seems to be a bit too much of this stuff going around.</div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-26347406402004362092007-12-04T02:33:00.000-08:002013-07-01T06:04:14.382-07:00Cool vs Warm painting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Compare these 2 works, which just happen to be of the same subject, moreover the same photo. Here again you have the muted colours, the geometry and the overall feeling of coolness it conveys. Compare it to the one at bottom. Same image but very different. Notice the man's face in the one below, well how could you not? Yet in the one above the face is expressionless or rather not described fully and picture has an overall effect much like the others gouaches I first described. The watercolour below is entirely different. The subject is engaging with the viewer, there is a sense of story or situation, a man in troubled relationship possibly. The woman sits in front the man partially hidden.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWedbNuzcQkLuYHlOzoiX9HXJMUEj_cSdgohcnEtOxvxoQu0DJ0Uw7xNWY4AS9aQ9geBTZ0SzFzPlYu1kZvyGlM4PTOf1YaP8zTURUzwT1Gp7462LTT7jdswncSI1d-3UFTx6HPU6mfMo/s1600/IMGP0756.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWedbNuzcQkLuYHlOzoiX9HXJMUEj_cSdgohcnEtOxvxoQu0DJ0Uw7xNWY4AS9aQ9geBTZ0SzFzPlYu1kZvyGlM4PTOf1YaP8zTURUzwT1Gp7462LTT7jdswncSI1d-3UFTx6HPU6mfMo/s640/IMGP0756.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
The first makes no real distinction between the subjects, similar tone values, and geometrically laid-out abstracting the picture. While the second definately conveys more about the subjects.<br />
The big diffrence is that one works more abstractly and the other has a stronger narrative? For me the diffrence in making the 2 is one seems to me more spontaneous, the ink line drawing, more chance for it to turn out badly, whilst the other seems more calculated more 'designed?' possibly.<br />
I dont have a preference, but I would say, one takes more skill, at least in terms of drawing, as you could easily trace the figures and do a sort of colour by numbers..like a lot of contemporary art, so maybe I do have a preference...</div>
Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8936974006397843136.post-41187489010485519032007-12-03T04:06:00.000-08:002013-07-01T06:03:31.477-07:00Watercolour & Humour<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6wH1MRI-45o/R1Py1JrRqkI/AAAAAAAAAA4/rU2B-h8vIUo/s1600-R/IMGP2186.jpg"></a>Here is another painting/drawing hard to say which, as much ink as there is watercolour... </div>
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I do like the simple feel of this and others I've done as well as the ones done with markers, there is a humour about them I quite like. It seems they have a personality as well, but strangly I dont think I would say the personality of the subjects in this case.<br />
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Stephen Abelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00916490981672555430noreply@blogger.com0