Lavinia... finished?
Every time I come close to completion of a painting or sculpture, I think of the famous Leonardo da Vinci quote:
I suppose this could be taken as a gloomy kind of sentiment, though I find it rather comforting. There's always a risk of putting too much work into a piece, over-working it and ending up with something stiff and contrived. It's better to move on and explore new ideas and techniques. The trick is deciding when to let go. I think for Lavinia, I am quite close, if not completely ready. One of the positive sides of deadlines, is that your hand is eventually forced to let go, ready or not. Open-ended projects can be dangerous, as you might be tempted to never stop working on a single piece.
Though I am highly critical of my work, and rarely satisfied, I am happy with a number of things about the piece. I like the softness (hard to achieve in acrylic, I find), the bubbly textures, and the sense of silvery light. I also like the degree of uncertainty about the relationship between the two. I'd love to know what you think!
Speaking of deadlines, all four pieces have to be in the museum's hands by September first... and that's coming quite soon! I hope to revisit each piece and give them some final adjustments and tweaks. I'll then take them to be professionally scanned, both as a backup in case of some mishap (shipping, etc), but I won't see these paintings for at least six months- I might need a hi-res copy for some reason or another. Then it's time to ship.
Until next time...
~Paul
"Art is never finished, only abandoned."
I suppose this could be taken as a gloomy kind of sentiment, though I find it rather comforting. There's always a risk of putting too much work into a piece, over-working it and ending up with something stiff and contrived. It's better to move on and explore new ideas and techniques. The trick is deciding when to let go. I think for Lavinia, I am quite close, if not completely ready. One of the positive sides of deadlines, is that your hand is eventually forced to let go, ready or not. Open-ended projects can be dangerous, as you might be tempted to never stop working on a single piece.Though I am highly critical of my work, and rarely satisfied, I am happy with a number of things about the piece. I like the softness (hard to achieve in acrylic, I find), the bubbly textures, and the sense of silvery light. I also like the degree of uncertainty about the relationship between the two. I'd love to know what you think!
Speaking of deadlines, all four pieces have to be in the museum's hands by September first... and that's coming quite soon! I hope to revisit each piece and give them some final adjustments and tweaks. I'll then take them to be professionally scanned, both as a backup in case of some mishap (shipping, etc), but I won't see these paintings for at least six months- I might need a hi-res copy for some reason or another. Then it's time to ship.
Until next time...
~Paul
This is so cool. While I think I would personally like to see a more certain degree of relationship between human and spawn, I like what you have done. The spooky lighting is not so fearsome when you look only at the human portion of the picture. I think if a knee had been visible behind the mass of bubbles it would have provided clearer tie in between the two and raised the horor factor significantly. But again that's my druthers. It also would probably have spoiled the bizarre gravity of the image. I have just done the exercise of viewing it in all four rotations and can't decide which of them is actually "right-side-up" (ignoring your sig and the orientation you have posted them in, of course). Makes me love it all the more.
On another note... it appears that my replies to your replies have gone lost. *sigh* I had a couple of them and they never showed up. Oh well, I jabber more than necessary anyway.
I wish you luck in getting everything together and shipped safely and in time. And I hope you enjoy the show and Switzerland. It's a great place, make sure you take some extra time to see the countryside a bit.
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Hi Rich,
Funny you should mention 'which way is up?', because my initial intent was to make it horizontal, as if she were laying in bed. But, while working on the painting I had it rotated 90 degrees at one point (just easier to work on in certain parts) and I thought it was more interesting that way - as if she was perhaps floating. I am enjoying being able to let go of clear definitions and enjoy letting various aspects remain ambiguous.
I'm sorry and frustrated to hear you lost some replies, as I value the input. Do you think it was because of the site/blog software or perhaps your connection? I'd want to pass on the complaint to my host.
~Paul
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I noticed the lying-on-the-bed pose originally and turned it sideways to look at it... and immediately realized her hair was wrong for that orientation... prompting me to keep rotating. Indeed she looks like she's floating from any view and the details of the wall and window work from most views as well. Genius.
I think the reply issue may be due to browser support. I am replying with IE this time. If it works then I'd guess that the s/w is not supporting Firefox (my normal browser) well.
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Though I certainly wouldn't want my comments to limit anyone's imagination, but I sort of see the hair and body as reacting to a zero-G type environment. The presence of Yog Sothoth overrides any local environmental effects, such as gravity. I really like the idea that it can work from all views, whichever the true one is almost irrelevant.
I use firefox as well, on a Mac at that. Here's hoping we don't lose any more of your comments.
I hope to start the sculpture next week. Stay tuned!
~Paul
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I too thinks you are at a good stopping point. Not that I know any art stuff or anything; it just looks about where your other stuff has wrapped up.
I like how the moon looks thru the window, quite consistent with some moon views I have expierenced.
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Glad you agree, Duffy. I think it's best to put a piece down when it's still fresh rather than oevrworked and stale. I wondered if anyone wpuld know that was the moon, so I am happy to hear that you picked up on that. The story takes place in earlier America, so I thought an antique style window with hand blown glass might make a distorted pattern like that.
~Paul
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Really you are truly a bestial genious. Thank you for your printings. A lot.
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Thanks for your kind words, much appreciated. You are more than welcome, it was a real pleasure working on these pieces, and it would have had far less meaning without people's comments amd input.
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