The Day's Work - Paintings of C. Litka: September 2018

Sunday, September 9, 2018

2018 Work

I am sorry about the infrequent posts in this blog. However, the fact is that I have not been painting all that much recently. My creative interest is now more focused on writing rather than on my painting. Hopefully going forward I can find more of a balance. However, to bring you up to date on my paintings, here they are.

18x24" 45x60 cm acrylic on hardboard Foggy Morning on Lark Street

18x24" 45x60 cm acrylic on hardboard Abstract in Shards

18x24" 45x60 cm acrylic on hardboard Sailing Barges at Night

18x12" 45x60cm acrylic on Hardboard Birdsong Square

18x24" 45x60 cm acrylic on hardboard Lanterna

18x24" 45x60 cm acrylic on hardboard A Beneath the Lanterns Cover (Painted over)

18x24" 45x60 cm acrylic on hardboard A Beneath the Lanterns cover (painted over)

18x24" 45x60 cm acrylic on hardboard Caravan to Treafara

18x24" 45x60 cm acrylic on hardboard Caravan to Traefara 2 (painted over)

18x24" 45x60 cm acrylic on hardboard Caravan to Mirra

18x24" 45x60 cm acrylic on hardboard Walking the Dog

From Birdsong Square down to Caravan to Mirra were pictures painted with an eye to being the cover of my 2018 novel, Beneath the Lanterns. Caravan to Mirra, modified in Gimp became the cover:

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

Sunday, September 9, 2018

2018 Work

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