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Notes on Art Making
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No one is really an expert in art. It is truly a lifetime process that never ends. At the end of his long life, Renoir said that he was just beginning to learn how to paint. Cezanne, too, regretted that he only had one lifetime to study. Formal training, though not critical, helps in the sense that it can speed up one's learning, having the benefit of many teachers' and students' experiences. A beginning art student will learn visual perception (basic drawing), two-dimensional design, three-dimensional design, history of western art, perspective, lettering, color theory, figure drawing, and more; ceramics, sculpture, photography, printmaking, art history, painting and more come after the first year.
Though perhaps not commonly known, it requires a lot of study to learn how to make art. Even if self-taught, one must go to museums, galleries, read books, talk to other artists, etc. to learn about painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography or contemporary media. It really must become more than an area of study - it becomes a way of life, in that an artist is always an artist; it is a characteristic rather than an activity. It means to always be searching, looking, thinking, feeling. Many times a day, I will see things in nature, in a newspaper or magazine, when driving, etc. that strike me, and I make note of - for possible use in the future. It may be an object or scene - but more often it is seeing a color relationship of two or more colors together; or an interesting light effect; an arrangement of patterns in space. I try to remember to use those colors in that relationship in a future painting; or that light effect, etc. Because eventually, artists will see these relationships separately from the objects they make up, in other words - their abstract identity. When I see something striking, I try to narrow down what specifically it is that strikes me. Is it the color(s), shape, subject, composition? Once I narrow it down, I use only what specifically interested me in a future painting. If it is only the color relationships that interest me, then I use only the color relationships, and not the subject matter, etc. In this way, art is distilled from the experience of looking at nature, or whatever our environment may be. Though there is a lot to learn about art history, technique, etc., ultimately art must come from the heart and mind. There should be no prescribed technique for certain things: how to love others, how to make music, how to make art. If one uses a method, it becomes contrived, not sincere. And I believe the real value of a work of art lies not in its technical accomplishment, but in the quality of its expression.
A certain portion of art-making comes from the unconscious; that is, not on the conscious level, or premeditated. There are parts of art-making which are mechanical and down-to-earth, and very much on the conscious level. When an artist is working on a piece of art, he/she will stop often, to look at and study the work, moving from the unconscious mind to the conscious, to judge the progress, to see if the piece "works" or not. They will study the color relationships, the composition or design, the spatial relationships, and other formal values; and perhaps check for correct proportions. They will continue to work until the piece "works," whether the artwork has a "finished," or polished, quality or not. It is finished when all the elements (color, composition, form, space, line) work together, hopefully "perfectly." During the period of 'modern' art (ca. 1900-1955), much stress was put on these formal elements; during the postmodern era, these formal demands were relaxed somewhat.
They can also check to see if the execution of the work is true to their original conception. Matisse wrote an essay, On Painting, which describes this relationship between conception and execution. He advised that if an artist feels uncertain during the progress of the work, he/she should think back to what their original idea was, and then try to make artistic decisions based on this original intention. Kandinsky, another 20th century artist, wrote an essay entitled Concerning the Spiritual in Art, in which he described the artist's decision-making process as following his or her "inner necessity." This meant being attuned to their original and deepest artistic intentions, or, what they are trying to express. There is a spectrum between putting emphasis on the conception of a work of art, or the execution. Artists who feel the significance lies in the conception lean toward a more contemporary attitude, that of conceptualism. Those whose efforts lean toward the execution lean toward more traditional art, with more dependence on technique.
Art swings on a pendulum between the head, or cerebral level; and the heart, or emotional level, for individual artists, and for art in general. Just as politics has a spectrum, art moves between the "classical" and the "romantic," or head and heart. On the classical end, art is concerned with ideas, logic, order, harmony, drawing, line and form (head). On the romantic end, there is passion, romantic ideas, feelings, masses of color (heart). Although most art and artists contain some of both elements, often they lean toward one or the other. Classical means Ingres, David, the Cubists, and modern Conceptualists. Romantic means expressionistic; it means Delacroix, van Gogh, Gericault, the Impressionists, the Fauves. Though there is still this spectrum in art, I think the distance between head and heart has narrowed in much of modern and contemporary art; the worlds of abstraction and conceptualism, among other modern movements, seem to be less polarized, and contain both head and heart.
And, though the artist studies to learn mental and technical skills, he or she needs to always retain the innocence of eye, to always see as if for the first time, fresh; otherwise, it is just mass producing art. To keep the innocence of the child, in wonder at the universe unknown to us, helps an artist be real, genuine. I also think many artists are driven to produce their work, not in an unhealthy sense, but in some mysterious way, to spread the vision they have acquired through the work itself. There are many examples of artists in their 80's or 90's who still kept working - Renoir, Monet, Picasso, Georgia O'Keeffe. Renoir developed rheumatoid arthritis, and eventually could only paint by strapping a brush to his wrist; he died while working at his easel. Monet and Degas had serious vision problems, but both kept on working until their deaths. I have felt this pressure to express most of my life; the fact that it is hard to find time to paint has only intensified this feeling.
So, to follow the heart is a good path for the artist; to become oneself often takes a long time. An artist's vision, what he/she needs to express, often develops with time, and working. When just starting out, a student may not know where to begin. My experience has been that you just start somewhere, in a place that is as meaningful to you as possible. Art seems to be a process where ideas come from the work itself; one thing leads to another, and eventually you have more ideas than you have time to carry them out. I remember years ago, after graduating from art school, and being somewhat at a loss as to where to start. I just started drawing from old family photographs - of the 1940's, with the interesting cars, leopard-skin coats, women's clothes, etc.; I just followed what interested me, visually and emotionally; and that led me down a 'long and winding road.'
