New Snow in the Back Courts

Monday, December 14, 2009

New Snow in the Back Courts

I'm thinking that the creative well is drying up a bit along the lines I have been painting, so that it is time for a change of pace. I haven't painted in watercolors in five or six years, so I thought I'd give that a shot today. I quickly realized why I haven't painted in watercolors in five or six years (even though I did it exclusively for a decade prior to that...): they are too iffy and unforgiving... I had to resort to cheating -- adding an ink outline -- to get a decent painting. I will stick with this style of painting for a while, though I think I will give watercolors a miss and go back to painting with acrylics in the watercolor style on watercolor canvas, which is what replaced watercolors in the first place.

18x12" 45x30cm watercolor on 140lb paper

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What I'm Up To

I think artist’s statements are largely needless. Paintings speak for themselves. And yet, here I am set to rattle on about my approach to painting. Now, if you're of the same opinion as I claim to be, skip this and enjoy the paintings, but if you want a hint as to what I’m trying to do, here’s the words.

I approach painting via two different roads that arrive at the same place. The first is that I paint only “studies” or sketches. Back in the day artists painted quick studies to get the colors and features down to use as a guide to paint a finished studio painting. Funny thing is of the paintings I’ve seen together with their studies, I’ve always preferred the loose and spontaneous studies over the stiff and polished finished painting. For that reason I’ve chosen to paint only studies.

My second approach to painting is inspired by a quote from the writer, Raymond Chandler: “I guess maybe there are two types of writers, writers who write stories and writers who write writing.” He considered himself of one of the latter, as do I which is to say; writers who’s words are entertaining in and of themselves, independent of the story. Perhaps painters could be divided the same way: Painters who paint pictures and painters who paint paintings. While I don’t consider one type superior to the other, I aim to be a painter of paintings. I want to paint paintings that capture a moment, inspire or recall a memory or mood, but which, viewed longer or closer, or with one's glasses on, prove to be clearly paintings: paint brushed into shapes on a surface. That these mere shapes can create an impression they’re something else, for a moment, or at a distance is the independent interest I would like my paintings to possess, not because they realistically reproduce branches, or water or what ever, but because they don’t. What I don't want to paint is places or post card scenes, even though landscape are the medium which I use for my painting.

The Day's Work - Paintings of C. Litka

Monday, December 14, 2009