Brushstrokes - A historical perspective

dencal

Folks

A recommended Video - Brushstrokes - Part 3 The Modern Era

Also worth watching  

Brushstrokes (Part 2) - The 19th Century  



Brushstrokes (Part 1) - The Early Masters 

Denis

Summer

Folks  Reviewing art history in this manner always gets me thinking.  These videos clearly show why distinctiveness in realism is so elusive to artists today and our truly creative techniques and methods could easily be shot down, ignored, overlooked if paintings of this nature appear in a Google Search.  Making copies of past masterpieces teaches us a lot about the past, but will it move us forward enough so we leave future generations something of ourselves to show our time and inventiveness that they will want to emulate?  I should probably be looking more closely at the works of my contemporaries to see which ones have already achieved this stature.  And, I won't be surprised if our unique inventiveness that we pass on to future generations is related to and spurred on by the new materials and technologies that happen to be available to us today.  I'd hate to have our time be known as another dark age where nothing happened and we contributed nothing of consequence to the history of art.  I believe breakthroughs sometimes happen by accident and we only notice them in retrospect.  Or, sometimes breaking an established 'rule' is necessary to move forward.  At any rate, an atmosphere of playfulness and experimentation is probably ideal.  Just thinking.  Summer   

Ezra

i was thinking the other day of the idea of painting by using a computer monitor hosted image instead of still life or photo. Maybe it's brighter. I do that almost exclusively. Anyway it's hard to know where art is headed. 3-d maybe?

Bobitaly

I think we should know the past to be conscious about the future as well. Egg tempera which I am consider to use soon was invented 2000 years ago and used largely for many centuries. The question about the evolution of art, and mediums along with it, is central in our era. Why we should use a brush when we have 3d or SuperHD pictures? For.me the answer is that, the way we achieve something, is a message in itself. I remember when a Marathoner took off his shoes during the Olympic Games and completed the race with bare foot. For me oil painting (considering also is the best colour rendering in existence, with a virtual inifinit resolution) is like taking off the shoes of technology and appreciate what a good hand and some pigments can do.. the same of a cave man in a dark night colouring the cave. sorry for the off topic @dencal .
You post a tought provoking post.

Summer

After we ground ourselves in the basics, I'd like to think we begin that journey that spirals us to take that leap of the imagination with our paintings that occurs to us as they occur--like the computer monitor hosted image mentioned above by @Ezra.  A computer monitor can generate as many as 16 million different colors and trying to duplicate this color fidelity with mere pigments can be challenging.  But, artist's are doing it to their satisfaction and thereby creating new pathways.  

@Bobitaly Part of my grounding as a student and even several years ago was painting with egg tempera and I still can't part with those materials that survived.  I hope you enjoy painting with them as much as I did.   

dencal

Summer

Take heart. Have a browse here and be reassured that representational art done today will have a place in the text books and galleries of the future.

Living Masters – the top realist painters working today

https://www.johndalton.me/living-masters-the-top-realist-painters-working-today/

Denis

tassieguy

Some amazing work there, @Denis. I think there will always be a place for realism. 

Summer

What I found after clicking on the link you provided is very encouraging.  Thanks Denis.  I wonder if a few of the artists featured had to undergo psychoanalysis to pull out those subconscious mythological life forms from the depths of their personalities.  Hmm.    

dencal

Summer

Any good artist, worth his or her salt, needs a shrink 

Denis

Richard_P

Thank you Dencal, some brilliant paintings and artists there. Something to aspire to

BOB73

who can afford a shrink, better off to have a dog, you can tell him anything and he doesn't mind when you spill paint on him.

dencal

Richard_P

I agree with you there. Should have included Schmidt, Lefell and Gerhartz.

Denis

Summer

@dencal I remember as a student of art being required to read too many books in the psychology and philosophy fields.  I thought: "What's this all about?  Are they trying to tell me something!"  LOL  I'm still finding psychological things out about myself that are reflected in my paintings thanks to YouTube videos.  No dragons yet, except the real ones that appear when they want their picture taken!  (Just kidding!)  

PaulB

Thanks @dencal I enjoyed these.

Summer

I noticed Schmidt wasn't there 'straight away'. 

Richard_P

I find it interesting that all of the artists listed on that page are trying to differentiate themselves from the classical painters. I noticed effects like heavy use of blurring, reflections, textural effects and more dramatic poses.

dencal

Folks

While we are on the topic of brushstrokes

David Leffel Painting Workshop - Making Brush Strokes

Denis

Summer

@dencal Denis, every time I watch a video focusing on brush strokes I add one or more to my repertoire.  I use the strokes that David Leffel is demonstrating here, often.  I prefer to think that certain passages require particular strokes rather than one stroke to represent an entire painting.  Nice seeing this video again.  I don't mind reviewing videos that I have seen before.