Style

"Duet" 7"x 5" oil on gessobord, © 2011

I have been thinking about my "painting style", the thing that makes it possible to distinguish one artist from another. No one would confuse a Rubens with a Raphael.

The last painting I posted I spent several hours drawing and trying out designs because I wanted to incorporate the idea of a brocade. I didn't end up feeling very pleased with it either, it didn't seem to be quite real, neither did it feel fanciful enough. I would like to develop a distinct style, but frankly, I am not sure how.

Jeff told me to just paint and quit worrying about it. After all, he said, just getting a three dimensional object on a two dimensional surface while interpreting it through paint would be unique enough.

So yesterday, I went back to just doing the underpainting in black and white, straight to the masonite surface, while looking at one of the photos I took last week. It was really fun...no fuss, not trying to convey some extra layer of meaning, just trying to capture what I found beautiful. I am pleased that so far, it doesn't seem so stiff and formal as the last one. If I can maintain that feeling when I add color, that would be an accomplishment.

I am more likely to paint when it is enjoyable. It does bother me that it is "just swans", nothing more or less. I have all kinds of ideas, but getting them on the canvas isn't easy! I do take comfort that Van Gogh went through several styles before he found the one that everyone knows him by. In comparison, I just haven't painted enough yet to really find mine.