Foot Study

This is the final study.... oil on paper, 22 1/2" x 30"

 

 

 

 

and this is the tonal exercise... oil on paper, 12"x16"

Fourth meeting with Emily

changes I will be making to the work I brought with me............. Besides making a more subtler transition on the shoulder I am going to be considering the self portrait (first work) to be done for the time being. It is nice to let myself move on. The second work is where my focus will be over the next week while also preparing for the third.  Foot study is a playful exercise and I will be carry ideas over from it but will no longer be currently playing with that particular image. (I like the energy of the foot painting as it is)
.......... I realized the other day that because this is a google blog my works appear in a google search so.... as a result of that discovery I have decided not to post the third work until it is much closer to where I am comfortable with it being made public. (some of the exercises drive me insane looking at them now and oh how I wish I could pull them offline.)

topics of interest discussed.... 

I am trying to use the writing/ studying/ reading component of this program as a tool to work in conjunction with my work and as a result of this Emily and I often discuss the topics for my papers and the feedback I receive from Stuart (my advisor).

Art and feminism....
Possibly the male //female gaze issue is done or is done as far as my art is concerned. Don't get me wrong... I believe it is still relevant and a terrifying issue but I wonder if the answer is continuing to directly attack it. "Visual transformation through contemporary media" In my work, I am interested in dealing more with the gaze of the female to other females and or herself..... maybe even just how individuals/ human beings look at each other and or themselves .......and how this is changed, improved, or stunted by modern day visual mediums / technologies/ life styles. These thoughts are still in development.

The video element of my work... more like skyping, face time, or web cam..... interesting for me to consider.

Close up nature of my work.... making things larger... ties it to video/ photography
(when movies don't have close ups we miss them) ....... these means allow work that capture gestures, movements and moments that the eye cannot.....

John Copland.... exploring....
Bill Viola.....
Chantal Ackerman (painting at the MFA) .... Skype based....
.... need to go see it....

I am considering a more abstract/ different direction for the last work. (more later.) I do want to do collage work and I have been learning in photoshop but I am thinking that I would like to address that over the next residency after receiving feedback. Basically I need more time and conversation to really think that through and I have another avenue I currently want to explore... all very vague.... more later.

Painting.... ART.... who is the audience? Artists such as Emily are amazed by the variety of people who come to see her work.... And if painting was going to die... why isn't it dead already? Also... art is a commodity so....... is painting the only form of it that is being collected by the wealthy? And possibly art itself has a market that is shrinking and if so and or if it is only the art of painting that is undergoing this plight.... can this be combatted and how? Can it be presented differently? Is it the fault of the art? The ideas presented? Or is it that using a two dimensional presentation is the stagnant idea?   (Clearly I need to learn more! These are not factual statements and are only the reflections of my thoughts from recent conversations.....)

Painting is for me more of a practice... part of the creative process... it is important because of painting (a very humanistic practice and a close physical study... a physical bringing back of the work... I need to find a better way to say this better ....) not because of the finished work although I am not currently interested in making provisional paintings per se .... I would like my work to be about the entire process... the developing performative element and the other visual mediums as well as the choice to paint as part of my practice.....

What is taboo? (I don't love bad rules.) What is an unacceptable image, or topic and why? Can I paint Dieunie? I am going to and I am painting her as an individual.
Can I paint a nude with a piece of clothing? Do I want to? Unsure.  (more later. )

So so much to say but I need to work on my painting and my paper.....

First Friday was awesome. Great social/ networking experience with other students. Emily's exhibit was very inspiring... also I really enjoy AB Miner and Franklin Evan's installation juddpaintings
.........

First major work... 30x40, oil on wood panel

This is still may be in progress as I may change it again, especially, after my next meeting with Emily on Nov. 4th. As of today, I have stopped work on it and am now entirely concentrating on the next two which will be posted as works in progress before my meeting.

the plan (not capitalized because it is not intended to be strictly adhered to)

From now until Jan 1, I will be attempting to create 3 or 4 new works using my new model, Dieunie.
These works will incorporate a layering of mediums and or ways of seeing/ visually understanding. (plan to come up with a better way of expressing that further on down the line) Including but not limited to the use of photography, video, computer... of course.. painting.

Finally, in December, I would like to do a final work possibly involving collage.

This plan was developed during my last meeting with Emily prior to the mid term report. I am expecting that we will be meeting again over the next couple of weeks.

As always, as an artist, I reserve the creative right to improvise, to become playful (currently working on a foot tangent right now... posting in a week or so) , and or entirely change things.

( it is unspoken that the majority of any changes will be made with the guidance of my mentor)

Still working...

(stepping away from it ... returning occasionally... and finishing soon)

tonal and color study for second major work ( titles will come later as I think of them)

For each work I will be first doing two small preliminary works with the first being a tonal study and the second introducing color

 

**** first work/ still in progress**** (30x40 in. , oil on wood panel)

rough black and white tonal study for first work... 5x7, oil on paper

 

Final version of my tonal study.... 30x40 in. , oil on wood panel

Second Meeting with Emily

Met with Emily again last Monday and forged the beginnings of a plan

We began by discussing Alice Neel. Throughout the last few weeks I have become increasingly interested in her work. The startling direct eye contact she makes with her models and what this means and why it might make others uncomfortable.... the outlines and flat planes of color varying with the detailed shape she often gives the eyes and the face (the psychological nature of her paintings).... the way her hand delivers an almost seismic like reading to how she perceives and feels her subjects...

I had just watched a documentary from the perspective of Alice Neel's son and they had mentioned how a to photograph was like capturing the death of a moment where as to paint a portrait was like trying to understand a person over time which lead to

an interesting conversation/ question..

what happens to time when you paint a photographed moment of a person or of yourself holding a pose; one that is meant to be held over an extended period of time?

In the creation of the second tonal study, (as torturous as it sometimes seems... I now admit to seeing Emily's point in how repeating and working drafts of an image... improves the drawing, builds ideas, makes you think with more awareness about what you are doing, and so on) .. I underwent a couple of seriously flawed failed attempts with in which I was trying to get ahead of myself and bit off more than I could handle....

but as Emily has pointed out... the mistakes are often the best tools for conversation and growth

I wanted to study.. alongside of tone... the way different artists (Jenny Saville foremost in my mind) painted flesh. This turned into a mess. My last study shown here was done just using my own developing techniques and trying to absorb and exercise some of the advice given to me during the residency such as painting marks to show form and trying to stay away from local color (looking to paintings like Saville's and Alyssa Monks to find color).
After discussing my frustrations and looking at Savilles work, Emily advised me to
 work with a myriad of different brushes (Blick's mega brush is on its way), to try to think about how Saville has layered her colors (which was put down first?), and
 to consider placing more detail in some places and working more abstractly in others..... to truly consider the image and how I was painting it.

Major take away... really look and see... squint at your source .... move to your painting and then look again....
( since meeting with her, I am finding this incredibly helpful.

Also... She taught me how to keep my colors from muddying with the long awaited phone book trick. (ask if you want in)

As for the plan... I came into the meeting with some conceptual imagery for my next body of work... these were of two connected yet different directions...
the first....   images I cropped from various photos of myself which I then began to distort with photo editing programs creating some very interesting yet not entirely natural effects. I feel as though this is a good direction in which to experiment as I am interested in portraying the individual and love painting the female body but I am also thirsty for surreal color and exaggerated or playful lighting. I was unsure of this direction but Emily was encouraging.. so we have decided the final version of my tonal study I am completing now will be an entry into this new exploration

The second.... I met with a young woman living in hyde park who, in trade for a painting, was willing to model for me. As well as, taking pictures... I had her perform a video of herself with my laptop (she could see herself in the screen) . After looking at the artist Judith Eisler, Emily's recommendation, I thought it would be interesting to take photographs of the video... which I then edited again...

Emily and I discussed how this was a way of layering technique and medium...

we discussed the importance of conveying the subjects awareness of themselves being video taped or photographed and the various ways in how this awareness could be portrayed...

She encourages me to follow my instincts in making artistic choices. In the residency I was often encouraged to make smaller works but my gut feeling with most of my ideas is to go big... with the works we discussed, she agrees. For me the hand in the painting would be interesting if it was lifesize but these self examinations and performances are currently supposed to be in a scale larger than life. (Also painting large brings me more satisfaction for some reason. )

Also discussed....
how I have been playing a lot with photo editing programs (in the next month I will be receiving tutorials in photoshop) (right now my work is still rudimentary and based off of my phone but I am learning)

an alternative more professional camera/ video recorder is in the works...

Finally, we talked further about taking a class in painting. I may try to take Tony Apesos up on his initial offer and go to Lesley to sit in on a class but there is an alternative in that there are two oil painting classes being offered at the museum in Worcester. Emily and I are researching the instructors before making a decision.

Emily Eveleth and not Evelyn (see last post)

Blogging for graduate school about people I so appreciative of knowing just officially made the list of things I am not allowed to do with out efficient sleep.

my apologies.

preview

:) ok so it is almost midnight and I am unusually tired. I met with Evelyn again yesterday and will be posting my notes/ thoughts on our meeting tomorrow night after going into Boston to meet other local students/ alumni to brainstorm and talk more shop.. hopefully continue build on new ideas. (should be fun)

This is a quick teaser of what maybe on the near horizon... (mind you I have to finish my study in style and then work on another and then... )

Tonal study part 1 (black, white, and grays)

(15x20 oil on paper) check back on Monday for part 2 and more ....

Playing with tone before attempting the larger study 

just playing

skin study (burnt sienna under painting) (part 1 of part 1 :) )

More to come ..... must figure out wet on wet.... must try other techniques ... must continue practicing

skin study ....

Skin studies

beginning layer/ preview  

(posting first study tomorrow night) 

First Meeting with Emily Eveleth

(as this is a blog... I am allowing myself the liberty of constrained stream of conscious type writing.... see highlighted texts if confused.... )

Emily Eveleth's website

Met today with Emily Eveleth for the first time at her studio in Framingham, MA. She is an artist that I believe will be of great importance to my progress through out this graduate program. She is currently painting conceptual still lifes of jumbo sized jelly donuts that take the humorous and common place to a monumental stature ... She possesses a definite technical mastery of oil paint but most importantly she has, in one conversation, already brought me to new questions and ideas in the conceptualizing of my work.
As I am new to oil paints, she is happy to help me with technical questions, yet, I have discussed with her and feel it is most important that I use the time I get to spend with her primarily discussing the conceptual aspects of my work and addressing technical bumps when they do not directly relate to conveying meaning as quickly as possible as I feel as though it is my responsibility to find the majority of those answers elsewhere.....

 (I may wish to return to her as a mentor again towards the end of residency to truly learn as much as I can from her as I instinctively believe, a belief further grounded upon our first meeting, that working with her is an opportunity to cherish and make the most of.)

Anyways......To learn skills during this first residency I intend on taking a class in oil painting to learn technique and I will learning to use the internet more effectively as a resource for information ( building skills in photoshop etc). Regardless of my wish to avoid technicalities with her she is helping me direct my so called "skin study" (aka learning how to paint skin tones in oil.... using different techniques etc) into a tonal study in which I will dissect an image I wish to paint into several gridded sections, use photoshop to view the image in both color and black and white to learn tonal values, and then paint the image in individual sections which will then be repainted again together on a large canvas (gessoed paper to be exact) as a whole. (clarifying visual will follow in the weeks to come....)
Also she will be sending me images to study on how others have painted form... Degas... Saville....
and now I know to use vine charcoal and other small trade secrets... very exciting and will make life much easier...
Some ideas that we will be focusing on through out the semester....
the direct gaze
the awareness of the viewer and the subject.... 
..... 
Question for thought.... "Does this serve the image?" 

to be continued..