What are you working on?
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stlukesguild
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I’ve finally been able to put in a good number of days in a row working long hours so that this painting is almost done. Now it’s time for the fun stuff… working on the figure.
This painting/drawing… by the way… is mixed media; pastel, pastel pencil, acrylic, colored pencil, and gold lead on primed paper. The work measures approximately 53”Hx33”W. This has been my standard size since working at home. The paintings I did prior to these in my studio measured approximately 80”x46”. The newer works are a good deal smaller… but still rather sizable.
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PaintBoss
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Let the fun begin St. Luke! Gorgeous so far. Getting richer and richer!
Mark, I have to respectfully disagree but I know you have in mind what you want out of your painting. It reminds me a little bit of Alex Colville. If you don’t know his work, take a look at some of it. And I actually like your composition. Because it’s a little different. It isn’t quite that perfect expectation of“pretty”. By pretty I mean everything is as expected like a formula. Because it’s not like that I’m actually more interested in the painting. Again it’s a little bit like Alex Colville. The viewpoint the coloring. The structures. It’s almost like you’re waiting for something to happen in suspense.
Actually artist Christopher Pratt even moreso. This shows some of his work and they do mention the similarity between the two artists, but Alex shows his viewpoint and Christopher Pratt takes himself out of the picture altogether as stated in my link. I am listing the link not because of the selling aspect, but because of the very good description they have of him and his work. There are a few examples.
Alex Coville:
Christopher Pratt
www.heffel.com
Mark, I have to respectfully disagree but I know you have in mind what you want out of your painting. It reminds me a little bit of Alex Colville. If you don’t know his work, take a look at some of it. And I actually like your composition. Because it’s a little different. It isn’t quite that perfect expectation of“pretty”. By pretty I mean everything is as expected like a formula. Because it’s not like that I’m actually more interested in the painting. Again it’s a little bit like Alex Colville. The viewpoint the coloring. The structures. It’s almost like you’re waiting for something to happen in suspense.
Actually artist Christopher Pratt even moreso. This shows some of his work and they do mention the similarity between the two artists, but Alex shows his viewpoint and Christopher Pratt takes himself out of the picture altogether as stated in my link. I am listing the link not because of the selling aspect, but because of the very good description they have of him and his work. There are a few examples.
Alex Coville:
Christopher Pratt
Christopher Pratt - Buy or Sell artwork by Christopher Pratt
Heffel is the market leader in selling artworks by Christopher Pratt, Contact us to buy or sell works by Christopher Pratt through our gallery
Artyczar
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Thank you PaintBoss and Donna. I appreciate your feedback for sure. 
Marc, I'm with PaintBoss and think your piece has a lot going for it. There's something about its style that speaks to me. I'd say it's a success.
St. Luke, this might be one of my favorites of yours. It's stunning!
Marc, I'm with PaintBoss and think your piece has a lot going for it. There's something about its style that speaks to me. I'd say it's a success.
St. Luke, this might be one of my favorites of yours. It's stunning!
stlukesguild
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Thanks Christine and Amin. 
Thank you for pointing out those two artists I was unaware of them.
Well........um, the success is gone now as I've sanded it. Hopefully you think the redo is just as good or better.Marc, I'm with PaintBoss and think your piece has a lot going for it. There's something about its style that speaks to me. I'd say it's a success.
PaintBoss
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Marc!! Don’t you know you CANNOT show us your “failures” and obliterate them until we, your armchair experts, er, friends here, agree with you that it is a goner??
*PaintBoss clutches her pearls!*
*Taking big, slow breaths*
Ok, ok. We will all be fine. Life is good. There is more paint….
Well..it is your prerogative what you do with your own work. So…I shall support you in this new effort. But this has not been good for my blood pressure! You make beautiful work. Please definitely check out artist that work similar to you. Don’t go with the crowd. You are blessed to have your own style.
*PaintBoss is going to go lay down*.
*PaintBoss clutches her pearls!*
*Taking big, slow breaths*
Ok, ok. We will all be fine. Life is good. There is more paint….
Well..it is your prerogative what you do with your own work. So…I shall support you in this new effort. But this has not been good for my blood pressure! You make beautiful work. Please definitely check out artist that work similar to you. Don’t go with the crowd. You are blessed to have your own style.
*PaintBoss is going to go lay down*.
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PaintBoss
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Yes, he has an almost sterile way of presenting a subject. I’m not sure sterile is the right word, and some of his work is quite intriguing. Even if it’s a mundane scene. His most famous work is that horse running down the railway tracks towards the train. Which was marvellous thinking.
From the Art Canada Institute website, which I highly recommend for discovering many wonderful artists.
HORSE AND TRAIN 1954
Alex Colville, Horse and Train, 1954
Casein tempera on hardboard, 41.2 x 54.2 cm
Art Gallery of Hamilton
Colville’s Horse and Train is among the most recognizable images in Canadian art and encapsulates much of what is unique about his practice. The clashing binaries of nature and machine, order and chaos, the waking world and the world of nightmares, are all at play in this simple, iconic image. It is tempting to view this small panel as a response to Surrealism, with its jarring juxtapositions, but Horse and Train had its genesis in a poem by South African writer Roy Campbell (1901–1957):
For more description/ background:
Alex Colville, Horse and Train, 1954
In Alex Colville’s iconic painting, based on a poem by Roy Campbell, a dark horse runs towards an oncoming train—a surreal image and an existentialist idea of agency.
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PaintBoss
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I mentioned Christopher Pratt, but did you know that he had an equally famous artist wife? Mary Pratt, a time when women found it difficult to take up an art career. A different style than her husband. And hers is a wonderful story. You can look up both these artists and their work at the Art Canada Institute or online. Here’s a brief intro:
And a small documentary. (There are many online videos of interviews over the years and by discussions of major galleries.)
This is their work set in their lives. A look at their lives not just their work. What made two different artists tick. Pratt I found particularly interesting.
And a small documentary. (There are many online videos of interviews over the years and by discussions of major galleries.)
This is their work set in their lives. A look at their lives not just their work. What made two different artists tick. Pratt I found particularly interesting.
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stlukesguild
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I’ve admired Alex Colville’s work since I first came upon it back in art school. At that time, my school was dominated by Abstract Art. Most of the painting faculty were dismissive of contemporary figurative painting whether we were speaking of Pop Art, figurative Neo-Expressionists (Eric Fischl) or the current crop of “realists” (Lucian Freud, Phillip Pearlstein, Andrew Wyeth, etc…). The librarian followed lock-step along with this bias. There were very few books on contemporary figurative artists. There wasn’t even a descent book on Lucian Freud! I remember coming on a slim volume on Gregory Gillespie and a huge tome on Antonio Lopez Garcia and these were like epiphanies! I came upon Colville’s work in a slim volume of contemporary figure painters which also included Robert Vickery and George Tooker… both fantastic painters you might also want to look at. I agree that Colville’s painting have something quiet… almost classical… yet often unsettling about them.
brianvds
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YouTube suggested a demo video of a bloke painting with palette knife. And so I just had to have a go at it myself:
Evening drive. Acrylics on panel, 10 x 15 cm (= about 4 x 6 in).
Well, this was a great deal of fun - using such a crude instrument on so small a scale basically forces you to relax, loosen up, forget about trying to create something perfect and instead try to capture the bare essence of the thing rather than fussing it to death over details (something which I am very prone to!)
I may well decide to pack away the brushes and start smearing paint instead.
Evening drive. Acrylics on panel, 10 x 15 cm (= about 4 x 6 in).
Well, this was a great deal of fun - using such a crude instrument on so small a scale basically forces you to relax, loosen up, forget about trying to create something perfect and instead try to capture the bare essence of the thing rather than fussing it to death over details (something which I am very prone to!)
I may well decide to pack away the brushes and start smearing paint instead.
