Mary Adam - Drawing Criteria

Mademoiselle Romaine LascauxPierre
Auguste Renoir

Mary Adam, of Trinidad & Tobago, blogs at Drawing, Etc. She has posted a concise and spot-on article about drawing basics that caught my attention. With her permission, I bring you Some Drawing Criteria:



Mary Adam:
I've always thought that Renoir was a brilliant draftsman and that everyone else would think so too. But it's by no means a universal view, and in the end it's a matter of taste and how different people define drawing. In fact there's no universally accepted definition of drawing, and it's futile to devote too much time to thinking about it.

However, it's important to me personally to have my own understanding of what drawing is, and especially what good drawing is, because otherwise how do I know what I'm striving for, and whether or not I've achieved it?

These are the criteria I use to judge drawings, my own and others:

Unity. Everything in nature has intrinsic unity. If the unity is disrupted or broken the object ceases to have life or to be itself, or the drawing is not convincing. Unity in a drawing is easiest to see in figure drawings, especially hands, and in animal drawings; but there's unity in everything, including landscapes and man-made objects. For an example of a lack of unity, imagine a drawing of a flower pot that looks as if it's made of plasticene.

Balance. I've blogged about balance in drawing before (A sense of balance). The kind of balance I mean relates to the law of gravity and it can be sensed or felt with one's own body rather than seen. A lack of balance in a drawn or painted figure or object is to me a fatal flaw, especially if it's my own drawing, unless there's a compelling reason for it to be like that.

Three dimensional form. A drawing that gives a solid illusion of three dimensions on a flat surface is a beautiful thing to see. Dark and light tones (or "shading") can help to achieve it, but there's more to it than that because a seemingly flat silhouette, or a simple contour, can give a convincing sense of three dimensional form with no shading at all. What it means is that drawing is a more complex and mysterious skill than at first it seems.

Life. Achieving a feeling of life is tied up with unity, balance and three dimensions. There's a magical quality about a sense of life in a drawing or painting, and if the work has life, then other shortcomings might be overlooked.

Renoir's painting of Mlle. Lacaux has all these qualities -- unity, balance, three dimensions and life, satisfying all my criteria. I wish I could draw like that.

Oddly enough, Picasso's sketchbook drawings of invented "creatures" (links below) satisfy all my criteria too. The fact that they have 'life" is especially remarkable because these particular drawings are of invented inanimate clunky objects which could be carved from wood or plaster.

Some of Picasso's invented forms from 1927:
(first link, bottom of page; second link, top of page)

http://picasso.csdl.tamu.edu/picasso/WorksIndex?Year=1927&ViewStyle=gallery&CurrentItem=31

http://picasso.csdl.tamu.edu/picasso/WorksIndex?Year=1927&ViewStyle=gallery&CurrentItem=61

Some of Picasso's invented forms from 1933 (titled "An Anatomy")
(first link, bottom of page; second link, top of page)

http://picasso.csdl.tamu.edu/picasso/WorksIndex?Year=1933&ViewStyle=gallery&CurrentItem=31

http://picasso.csdl.tamu.edu/picasso/WorksIndex?Year=1933&ViewStyle=gallery&CurrentItem=61

Intuition Revisited

Abstract Reds Over Blues
20" x 12"
Original Pastel
Casey Klahn
Private Collection

This is a re-post of a favorite essay.


Under the tutelage of Diane Townsend, I painted this abstract work. It has some elements of color field painting, like Mark Rothko, and extensive gestural elements. The gestural nature is in keeping with the drawing roots of the pastel medium. I like the way the paper's surface is evident, and yet the color blending, and heavily worked nature of the piece makes it work as a painting for me.

The choices that a child makes are very intuitive


Let's talk a little bit about intuitive choices in fine art. The choices that a child makes are very intuitive, because their knowledge base is limited. The hands start moving, and the limitations are the length of their little arms, and the characteristics of the tools. They are mostly trying these tools out for the very first time.

A great deal is made of technique in art. The pastel medium is no exception. In fact, technical skill is probably too emphasized in this medium. It's supposed to be hard, you see. And, admittedly, there is much to know (much that I do not know!). Sometimes beginning steps are not rewarded very well by the outcomes.

"Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things," Edgar Degas



So, intuition! First sketches with bold gestural marks always work better for me than deliberate and measured work. The thing is to have years and years of drawing from memory in one's back pocket, and then the quick marks made on the paper will seem intentional. I don't subscribe to the subtle and tentative working that is often required of detailed realistic work.

The same goes for compositional choices. It is not easy to describe, but I think that studying good composition is necessary, and then ought to be put out of one's mind. If you can internalize compositional knowledge, it will come out naturally as you draw. The best thing I can say is: "try it".

The pastel medium is "made to order" for the artist who wants to favor intuitive creation


The ability to critique one's own art becomes more important when you want to be an intuition-driven artist. Did this one really turn out to have the best composition? Color Choices? Does it have too much to say for one painting? Ask these questions of yourself.

Wolf Kahn has a chair that he sits in and ruminates over his finished art. Most artists do take some time and distance away from their works to try and get an objective perspective on their own creations. It's challenging.

The pastel medium is "made to order" for the artist who wants to favor intuitive creation. It is a direct, and rewarding tool. It's interesting to consider that in the book, Wolf Kahn's Pastels, the great colorist chose to make the text a collection of essays on artistic process. A natural fit, I think.

Riposte -Repost

I am making a fine recovery from my operation on Tuesday. It will be a while before I am 100%, as my medical professional wife and I agree, it would be hard to find a more painful operation to have done. Meanwhile, enjoy a re-posting of this Barn subject essay.

Anthology of American Literature, McMichael.

Elijah Shifrin at Art & Critique has written about my barn and rural building subjects in his article, "Casey Klahn: Barns And The Abstract Wizard Of Washington".

Elijah is thoughtfully focused on the abstract qualities of my building paintings. I have carefully tried to avoid being cast as "the barn guy". The reason is that sentiment is so easily attached to this great American symbol, and yet sentiment is bygone content in contemporary art. The challenge has been to de-construct this awe inspiring structure and make it relevant for today's art.

My Barn
Photo: Lorie Klahn

Working against my efforts to keep the barn image down have been a number of forces. Sales, believe it or not, has been a force tugging at my shirt tail. The popularity of this theme and image, the American Gambrel barn, has been so high that sales of anything barn related are a fairly easy turn. The great thematic content that is associated with the barn is reflected by the book cover that has my Red Barn with Ramp image on it: An Anthology of American Literature, by McMichael. Another force is the fact that I live out here in the rural landscape where every farm has a big barn.

Barn Sketch
Pencil
Casey Klahn

Here in Davenport, WA, the barn isn't just American myth writ large, but an actual part of our lives. To be sure, the way of life is changing. The Heath family pioneered this farm at a spot about five minutes walk down canyon from my house. When the internal combustion engine started to replace livestock for locomotion, the farmers were able to build their houses and outbuildings uphill and farther from spring water sources. My family are the third owners of this farm, and the agricultural roots are gradually being eclipsed for a number of reasons. How wonderful for us to not see another house from ours!

Violet Oil Drum
7.5" x 10.5"
Soft Pastel
Casey Klahn

I'm heartened that Elijah has seen the abstract elements that are key to these building paintings. Shapes, colors and position are the content, more than the buildings themselves. Don't get me wrong. I'm as much a sucker for the deep meaning of the American barn as the next guy. My father built a barn once upon a time. And, the building in my iconic painting is my own barn.

Thumbnail of Barn
Pastel
Casey Klahn

The architect who designed the Gambrel barn was a flat out genius. The way the barn structure occupies the open land in rural America is stunning in scope and even vision. My barn, which is no longer used for any working good, occupies a side hill and commands a territorial view. I have some pride in owning it, but the Great Horned Owl that frequents it seems to have a bigger claim by virtue of time spent there.

Behind the Garage
Graphite on Sketch Paper
7" x 8.5"
Casey Klahn

Wolf Kahn uses the barn image a great deal in his work. He has taken it down to the pictorial elements with content that describes the position of the building on a slope or prominence, and elements like through-looking doors and windows, and severe value gradients.

The Heins' Farm
7.5" 15"
Casey Klahn
Private Collection

The story of my Red Barn with Ramp image I have told many times. I received a box of twelve "Wolf Kahn" Terrage pastels made by Diane Townsend, and in a first moment of inspiration I made a very small thumbnail sketch with the colors. It was the barn image just as it is seen on the book cover, except that sketch was about 1 inch square. I was in the moment, entranced by pure color and by the tactile qualities of the big, thick pastel sticks. Abstract shapes were the tools, and color was the content.

Elijah has written a good back story to the barn and building themes. The literary link to The Wizard of Oz is apt. The elemental truth of my surroundings is hard to contradict. Wind, sun, sky and agriculture. Can an artist overcome his environment long enough to forge content that aspires to higher art? I suggest not thinking too hard, but letting the hand and eye draw intuitively. Maybe that's the only way.

Out of Action and Van Gogh Post

Starry Night Over the Rhone
1888
Vincent van Gogh

Since I will be out of action for the next few days (or possibly even a month) I have put out the call for guest bloggers. If you appear on my bloglist, and are interested, I would be glad to review a guest post from you.

Pastelist Brian McGurgan has posted at Pastel, one of my other blogs, about his experience at the van Gogh exhibit in New York. His insight gets you close to the master's work, and I have also included some links to the virtual tour and other related goodies.

Trends

News

Curator Jessica Morgan, of the Tate Modern, writes about the big ideas driving art now, and I have to say I concur with her. I, myself, am very interested in Modernism, but worry that it's old stuff. I ask myself if my art is too much like Modern Art, then is it adding anything to the whole? Do I even care?

The economic downturn has me thinking that a grand opportunity is here for artists to retreat and see if there is an art within them that is less market oriented. What kind of art would I make if there were no chance to sell it?

Morgan writes:

In a curatorial sense, I am fascinated that few exhibitions try to take on really big issues. I think there is a certain amount of fear in the idea of taking them on. One result is that people look to the past. There has been a tendency to revert to the early stages of modernism. It was a point of utopian hope, experimentation and bold ideas of political change.

There has also been a type of artwork that allows the audience to create or complete it. I’m thinking of artists such as Carsten Höller, who made the slides at Tate Modern, or Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster [whose current show is in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall]. They take on the role of curator and to some extent allow the curator to be an artist.

The economic shift will affect the art world. One of the things I hope may fall by the wayside is the type of fashionable production created by the market. We’d all be better off without quite so many galleries and useless publications.

Thanks, Katherine, for taking me to this article.

Addendum. Again, indebted to Katherine Tyrrell. I found Edward Winkleman's articles (Part 1, and Part 2) reflecting some of my thoughts about how artists and collectors might proceed in tough times. I have been thinking about the behavior of American artist during the Great Depression. We are very far from the economic realities of the thirties, but some of the templates from that time come to mind. Pre-selling art, long term views about collecting and strategies like that crossed my mind, too.

The Latest FAD

News Flash!

THE FINE ART DEPARTMENT

FOR ALL YOUR AFFORDABLE ART NEEDS

The latest "FAD" is the new blog idea:
The Fine Art Department, created by the wonderful Tracy Helgeson.

Her cunning idea is to create a small and intimate space to show some fantastic artists who sell art on their blogs. With only about thirty or so artists at The Fine Art Department, it isn't difficult to find your Christmas gift of fine art or craft. My own art is presented there, and if you wish to buy, just find my sale blog at caseyklahn.blogspot.com.

Many of my readers over time have wondered if I even sell my art via the blogs. The answer is yes, but until now I have been very subtle about it. Call it a "fine art thing". I am very much "for" capitalism, and every artist has to earn a living somehow, but we tend to place our life's work on a pedestal. If you are someone who has never bought an original painting, do not be afraid of artists! We think of ourselves as regular people, and to tell the truth, my collectors over the years have either been friends, or else they become such after we get acquainted.

Washington State Art Blogs

I am trying to keep track of the art bloggers (and Wordpressers, etc.) who blog from Washington State. Today, I add two new links, and I have to say that I am surprised that I didn't know Rachel's blog existed! Rachel is (IMHO) a rock star whose work is highly prized in the Northwest and beyond. Why didn't I know about her having a blog? How many other Washingtonians are out there blogging away in hiding?

Local Bloggers:

Robert Chunn, of Alla Prima, in Seattle. I linked him once before, but forgot to highlight him as a WA blogger. See his great link list, even though I'm not on it (hint), it is a work of art in itself.
Rachel Maxi
Seattle Sketcher, who is part of the Urban Sketchers.

Reader Traits & Matisse Bits

The faithful readership of The Colorist are responding with some well thought-out Artist's Traits. These are responses to my Artist's Traits series, and represent the desired character traits these artists feel would bring them growth.



First, I will list the traits, and then a blurb from each respondent.

Doubt

Genius

Authenticity

Perseverance



Adam Cope, of Dordogne Painting Days, France, writes the following:

"Well then can we say that doubt & questioning is part of the mix of ingredients?

Doubting is part of the critical functioning & must work in a way that is constructive to creativity. When it works well it is analytical & opens up the artists to new opportunities. However, in my experience, the suspensions of the doubting, critical self in the beginning phases of making a painting is important, for if the artist is to dig deep within himself (herself) & tap into the authentic, the natural - 'le Propre du Soi' - then this is more of an affirmation, a kind of YES as it feels natural & as if it always were & will be. The opposite of doubt maybe?

Do some research into the the idea of Genius as the Ancient Greeks meant it.

So my traits are doubt & genius."

Deborah Paris, of Deborah Paris-A Painting Life, Texas, says,

"High on my list of traits for myself as an artist and for my work is- Authenticity. By that I mean possessing an aesthetic which is 'of its own time' (reflecting both the time and place of its making) as well as one that successfully announces the unique passion of its maker."

Lisa Bachman, of The Studio News, Maryland, explains,

"I admire perseverance. That ability to persist towards a goal in spite of frustration or self-doubt. If I could use only one word to describe Van Gogh, this would be it."

Julianne Richards, our ever-faithful Colorspeaker, New York City, writes this comment, too,

"Here are some of my thoughts on 'traits and...'
First, what I call 'a strong (very) work ethic'-which falls under the already mentioned 'discipline' is the first thing that comes to mind whenever I think of a trait of necessity for the 'artist path.'
In staying with artistic traits, in addition to self awareness, I would definitely add having a keen awareness (and interest) of one's environment-both on the small and larger scale. As your posts are reflecting, being open minded to learning and change, ultimately makes one a better artist as well as a better person."

Thanks, also, to Martha Marshall and Zoom (who added "Love, faith, hope, courage, persistence, generosity and a sense of humour") for checking in. Also, a special thanks to the others who have commented throughout this series.


More Matisse Bits

I will be noting some fantastic Henri Matisse trivia as I come across such. See my study of the great Modernist here, here and here. Also, if you select my label, "Henri Matisse", you will see all of my posts on the keener, but several of them overlap with the Artist's Traits posts.

I mentioned before that Matisse's progeny are involved in arts, but I also notice that they don't seem to flaunt the name. With some propriety, I send you to this young man's very nice blog.

This fantastic blog, the Quip TORUM, entertains me much. Today's Matisse post led me there.

Laura K. Aiken writes A MOSAIC STUDIO, a "Mosaic and Visual Art Blog sprinkled with Henri Matisse".

I am gob-smacked by children's art, especially since I am a father of two young ones myself. I came across this really enjoyable video of some young student responses to Matisse.

Speaking of the wee ones, my own were watching some Bugs Bunny cartoons, and I happened to see one that is a tribute to Matisse. "Wackiki Wabbit" not only features landscapes with Matisse patterns, but the castaways are drawn in the linear style of the great artist, too. I post it here, but keep in mind that this gem is 6.41 minutes long! Sorry about the Google ads.

Life Magazine Archive

Keeping in mind the copyright laws, go have a look at the new Life magazine archives that are now up at Google. ArtNewsBlog makes us aware of this, and has highlighted the "Artist's at Work" section. Get a load of these wonderful color photos of Henri Matisse in his studio in 1949, by photographer Gjon Mili.

For information regarding posting images, see:

The Artist's Rights Society, ARS

Reader Traits and Matisse

Henri Matisse

Miki Willa offers the trait of Discipline for the artist. Miki recently returned from a long tour around the U.S., and shows many pastel landscapes of her visits. Anyone care to write an essay on discipline? I will post a well written one here if you do.

Lisa Bachman offers Perseverance. It has certainly taken perseverance for Lisa to get all the way from A to Z in her informative Alphabet Art project. Find out what a zoopraxiscope is, and marvel at her entertaining illustrations for each letter entry.



Ready to be challenged? Hilary Spurling reveals this about Henri Matisse and his art:

"It is not easy to understand today how paintings of light and colour...could have seemed at the time, both to their perpetrator and to his public, an assault that threatened to undermine civilisation as they knew it. But Matisse was not simply discarding perspective, abolishing shadows, repudiating the academic distinction between line and colour. He was attempting to overturn a way of seeing evolved and accepted by the Western world for centuries, going back to painters like Michelangelo and Leonardo, and before them to the Greek and Roman masters of antiquity. He was substituting for their illusion of objectivity a conscious subjectivity, a twentieth-century art that would draw its validity essentially from the painter's own visual and emotional responses." Spurling, The Unknown Matisse.

I am still looking for your input on artist's traits. What are the traits you consider valuable to an artist's character?

Call for Traits

Modeling the Head
Sketch for Drawing Class
9.5" x 8"
Graphite, White Charcoal & Pastel
Casey Klahn

Thanks to all of my readers for making the Artist's Traits series a success. Also thanks to the many Bloggers who kindly commented. The genesis of this series was taken from my bi-annual goals, which I began to formulate in September. As a framework, I wanted to work towards improving myself and focus on certain traits that are important to me as an artist.

The list of traits follows, each linked to an essay or set of essays:

Commitment-Link
Courage-Denied, Moral,
Get It!
Creative Integrity-Artist's, Matisse's
Decisiveness-Link
Excellence-Link
Generosity-Link
Knowledge-Link
Self Understanding-Link

For you technology minded Bloggers, you may be interested to know that I highlight popular series' with quick-link buttons (my version of a Widget), and the post for this series can be found here. If you want to start doing these for your own blog, the "how to" of quick link buttons can be found here.

Announcement:

Now I would very much like to hear from the readership. What is the trait (or traits) that you hold high for the artist?

Artist, Know Thyself

Photo: Lorie Klahn

"Know yourself. Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful."
Ann Landers.

Self Understanding is imperative to the risk-taker. Often, I look to my days as a rock climber for analogies to explain something. When I did the daredevil sport, and it came time to try the next harder grade, it was only when I could do a thorough self-diagnostic that I knew I was ready to advance. Energy? Check. Fitness level? Check. Equipment? Check. Weather? Maybe, well okay-check.

The artist may advance his images with greater confidence if he knows what his limits and abilities are. When you began the painting, you were envisioning a Michelangelo. In the end, for some reason, it turned out as a Klahn. Not that it's bad, but still not what you envisioned!

"Trust not yourself,
but your defects to know;
make use of every friend
and every foe."
Alexander Pope.

Do I mean introspection? Navel-gazing? Not too much. We are not writing philosophy; we are making pictures. Wasn't it Oscar Wilde who said, "...the shallow know themselves"? But, a little self-awareness of, for instance, the will to finish a particular painting might be good to have. You may ask yourself, "Do I care enough about trees-in-a-glen to make this image really speak?"

Some self understanding will keep you against that day when the nay-sayers come about and denounce your work. "If I ever decide to buy something like that, stop me!" "Everyone can't be Rembrandt!" "Art is okay for you, if you can make a living at it!"




Why do you make this art? Are you strong in yourself? Do you feel the art in your bones? It might be good to know the why of it for when that day of doubt arrives.

"To reach any knowledge of oneself is a rare and precious bonus. Most people live to the end in doubt and uncertainty. What a torment! It's not a matter of finding the right path, but of finding one's own path, as Nietzsche said, 'Become who you are.' Alas! for [sic] one moment of certainty, how many hours of doubt!" Henri Edmund Cross

I think that having a solid "first person authority," knowing what you think, understand and believe, can help in making your art unique and authentic. It is one piece of the originality puzzle that all artists seek to solve.

Have you ever had the experience of revisiting a painting that you haven't looked at for a while, and discovering that it has a trace of van Gogh in it? You didn't know you had that in you, and you are wondering how that happened. There is no end to the delight of self discovery through art.

"I know...that I myself have no special talent; curiosity, obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my ideas," Albert Einstein.

Another common phrase for the self-seeker is "Don't fool yourself". Once in a while, use some tools for checking in on your own ideas and beliefs about yourself. Sometimes, the mirror is a good device, and sometimes it is the mirror of a friend that tells the truth.

Have you ever overheard others speaking well of you? I hope you get the chance, as it is a wonderful thing to hear un-solicited praise. And, at the same time, the truth can be helpful when it's not exactly praise.

Another fun example of third party input is to secretly observe people looking at your art. I once posted some cartoons on a bulletin board, and a friend of mine made sure that I stood ten feet away and watched reactions. Didn't Mark Tobey make a point of going to his own openings in disguise?

Next Post: I'll be asking you to add your traits-to-be-gained. What are your desired traits for the artist's life?

References:

Stanford on Self Knowledge.
Extreme self-thought.

War & Remembrance - Veteran's Day 2008

Contemporary.




My father's time.




Remember the veterans. They take the insults of the few with silence; they take the thanks of many with humility.

Knowledge & Art

Casey Klahn
Photo: Lorie Klahn

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream. Vincent van Gogh

In our last post, we studied the trait of generosity, as exemplified by Vincent van Gogh. How do we make the transition from the world's best known self-taught artist, van Gogh, to the subject of knowledge? Is there a contradiction here? Isn't knowledge the stuff of formal education?

In order to be fair, we may have to ask if art training is necessary. Before we go too far in this, I have to say that I have never found it becoming when someone brags about their lack of letters. I prefer to speak of the merit of someone who excels in spite of their deficit in formal training.

Cafe Terrace...
1888
Ink and Graphite
Vincent van Gogh

One of my favorite creeds is: "Be, Know, Do". Art is a "doing" activity, and one "is" an artist. By contrast, knowledge is not art. Need an example of the limits of knowledge in art? A highly valued characteristic of good art is the quality of "looseness". Can one even teach "looseness"?

The ultimate "loose" artist, Mr. van Gogh, was as pitiful a student as ever darkened an art academy doorstep. He was dismissed from the Royal Art Academy in Antwerp, where he was disappointed in the pedantic character of the training. My feeling is that if the art environment (art school, for instance) values open marks, then the artist has that much greater chance of being loose.

"Now, if you can forgive someone for immersing himself in pictures, perhaps you will also grant that the love of books is as sacred as that of Rembrandt, indeed, I believe that the two complement each other." VVG

Knowledge and art appreciation fit together hand-in-glove. For me, it is true that the more I learn about art, artists and art impedimenta, the broader my love of it all becomes. I seem to appreciate more and different types of art, and at the same time, paradoxically, I feel that my critical faculties get sharper, too.

The long and short of it is that knowledge is essential to the growth of the artist. Didn't go to art school? Make it up with a lifetime of personal study. Go to museums and galleries. Look at as much notable art as your sore eyes will devour. Read about art, the lives of artists and study art history. Look online at the current world of art.

You say you did go to art school? You're not finished learning, either, Rembrandt. As every true student finds out, learning is a lifelong task that only begins with proper schooling. Thirst for knowledge is the hallmark of the learned.

Many times we have heard that it isn't what you know, it's who you know. I say, know thyself.

Next Post:
Self Understanding

Artist's Traits Widget

Matisse Seeing
8" x 7"
Graphite
Casey Klahn

I am gratified by the response that the Artist's Traits series has generated. Certainly I am impoverished in the trait department, and there is no doubt that I need this goals-study more than any. Your readership, comments, links and encouragements are a great blessing to me, and I am thankful for that.

You may access the whole Artist's Traits series via this link.

Generosity

Self Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gauguin
o/c, 1888
van Gogh

Early in my career as an artist I was advised to never give away my art. The idea is to establish your value, and often people who get something for nothing hold that something to its ticket price.

Maybe one model for the uncertain economic times we are living in will be for the (established) artist to now, sometimes, gift his art. The goodwill can't hurt, and there is that old word: exposure. My own path has been to donate at least one work per year to organizations.

An artist can also give time, expertise and labor.

One of the great examples of generosity in art history can be found in the life of Vincent van Gogh. He loved humankind, and really created his inimitable body of works for our enjoyment.

Here are musicians Chet Atkins and Don McLain performing Vincent, which is about VVG's unselfish love. Find the words to the song here.

The youth here may not remember this song, but those of us in the 50 plus category will now go for a tissue...





“I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people,” Vincent van Gogh.

Excellence

Bouldering at Joshua Tree

Photo Credit: Lorie Klahn

There has been a strong case put forth against excellence in art. The whole Postmodern Art movement declares that "dominant paradigms" need upturning, like beauty and skill.

My contemporary hero, Wolf Kahn, wrote that he regrets his latter-day skills in technique, because formerly, without his expertise as an oil painter, he was freer to "overwork" his images. Our current subject, Henri Matisse, worked years to undo his formal art training in order to create his Modern Art statement of pure, "over-wrought" and sensational color.

Because of Wolf Kahn's influence, I frequently take a pastel work and bring it well past any coherent finished point. I literally ruin the artwork, over-filling the tooth of the paper and muddying the colors. In the process, many wonderful discoveries occur! New color combinations and compositions come about. New possibilities with the medium are revealed.

In the dock for excellence, one can argue that the very definition of the word "artist" includes the idea of skill. And as my prime exhibit, I refer you to the high quality of current art. Evidence of Postmodernism's faults is everywhere present.

How to reconcile my personal beliefs about rudimentary values in art versus excellent technique? Maybe there doesn't need to be a reconciliation when one considers that there is a continuity to the artist's progress from his early to his late works. The unity of an artist's corpus is undeniable in the fact that both his early works and his later works are created by the same hand.

I feel that many more paintings await me with greater powers as a pastelist. I'll be thinking about the finer use of my medium as my studio life progresses this year.

Decisiveness - Drawing the Line

Kanji Writing
15.5" x 9"
Pastel
Casey Klahn

In the post, Characteristics & Goals, we began a path of exploring some traits that it would behoove the fine artist to acquire. See the traits posts here.

The artist that I aspire to be has:

Commitment
Courage
Creative Integrity
Decisiveness
Excellence
Generosity
Knowledge
Self Understanding

Decisiveness

Matisse said something to the order of, "Make your lines decisive!" Unfortunately I have lost the attribution to this quote, but our great Modernist is known for his superb rendering of the simple, graceful and purposeful line.

By the way, I have quit using Matisse images because I was reminded that he has an active estate, and is also not past the 70 year rule vis-a-vis fair use. Try this site for an pictorial homage to the man (apparently with rights?)

The trait of decisiveness comes with competency. If you believe in yourself and your materials, you can be bold with marks and with colors. Draw much. Make a promise to yourself to draw at least 1,000 drawings this year.

Be Keen

Mental agility helps. Test yours here.

Now that you (may) hate me for that, let's get back to mental agility. In order to be resolute in one's art, I suggest having a keen mind.

Our Henri Matisse was known for his sharp wit. He generally dominated in groups, sometimes taking over the direction of his class of art students from slow teachers. He was a class clown and a general agitator. A rather unusual story is told of his having defeated a master hypnotist when he was a youth - Henri being the only one to resist the powerful stage man.

Art itself has been held up as a pursuit beneficial to honing the mind. Other general fitness activities, social interaction, active learning, and one of my required pursuits, reading, can keep the gray matter healthy.

Is your I.Q. hardwired? Is there any wiggle room for your brain to grow?
Make these smart choices to become a smarter artist:

• Hang out with people smarter than yourself.
• Blog.
• Study language.
• Become interested in new things.
• Read an artist's biography.

Henri Matisse & the Artist's Integrity

Deer "Cast" Drawing
14" x 12"
Charcoal, Conte and Compressed Charcoal
Casey Klahn

"A colorist makes his presence known even in a single charcoal drawing," Henri Matisse.

Integrity can be measured by the way others speak about you. That may seem harsh, but legacy is a hard judge and strict. Will you ever be mistreated by others' words? Of course you will. But, with time and distance, if you are remembered at all, people might say nice things about you. Your integrity will be the reason for your fine reputation.

In the case of Henri Matisse, his artistic integrity was evidenced by his groundbreaking work as a founder of Modern Art. It cost him dearly at a psychological level, but he pursued color as a subject (a trademark of Fauvism) and gave the world a legacy of exquisite joy in art. He lost two marriages (one legal and one common law) partly because of his single-minded adherence to his art and his art direction, and he suffered sleep disorders much of his life due to his "not painting like the others".

Matisse was a self-integrated artist; one who painted according to his own authentic vision.

What is the path to artistic integrity? A young Henri Matisse was searching for answers, and just beginning to follow his independent path. In the 1890's, he came under the influence of the Impressionists, who were not universally popular. No lesser light than Camille Pissaro himself said to Matisse, "...you are gifted. Work, and don't listen to anything anyone tells you." (circa 1897)

In memoirs, his friend Maurice Boudot-Lamotte testified that, "Matisse respected nobody and nothing." Matisse's artistic direction was purely his own; unique and self-directed. A legacy worth more than gold, I'd say.

Artistic Integrity Red Meat:

Integrity (Stanford definition)

Artistic Integrity:
"Holding to artistic values; incorruptible; exhibiting wholeness; self-integration." Unknown attribution.

Artistic Integrity

Character Will Out. Henri Matisse on the Cover of Time Magazine.

It is a pleasant surprise to see that the dictionary definition of the word integrity includes "artistic integrity" as a prime category of the virtue.

Merriam-Webster has it as follows:

Integrity 1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : Incorruptibility.

While the topic of artistic courage leaves much room for study, here we have a term that artists may "own": artistic integrity. What is it, and how does one get it?

Here are some general quotes on integrity to chew on:

Albert Camus, "Integrity has no need of rules." 1.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, "A little integrity is better than any career." 2.
Eckhart von Hochheim, "In silence man can most readily preserve his integrity." 3.
Oliver Goldsmith, "Both wit and understanding are trifles without integrity. The ignorant peasant without fault is greater than the philosopher with many. What is genius or courage without a heart?" 4.

More to come in the next post.

Working Integrity

Ice Climbing Trip on the North Side of Mt. Hood, Oregon. Mounts Adams and St. Helens in the Distance.
Photo Credit: Tom Heins

Look for my next post on Creative Integrity soon. Right now, I'm on my annual vacation.

Artistic Courage - Get It!

Matisse Seeing
8" x 7"
Graphite
Casey Klahn

Artist's traits are worth exploring if one wants to grow as an artist, or to understand what makes the artist tick. My list of growth traits for the next biennium is: Commitment, Courage, Creative Integrity, Decisiveness, Excellence, Generosity, Knowledge, and Self Understanding.

Explore my previous posts on the traits here.

Courage is a two-bit word, and my exploration of artistic courage has been a head-scratcher, to say the least. What is it, and how do you find some for yourself?

What is Artistic Courage?

"All art requires courage." Anne Tucker

Some disparage the hero as a social or literary myth, but don't tell that to me. I have walked among heroes of the martial kind, and have seen first-hand the results of their self-sacrifice. For me, heroism is not abstract myth, it's oral history told to me first hand.

Somewhere down the scale of societal value lies the sports hero, and I have not only met and listened to the tales of mountaineering legends, but I have actually gotten to climb with a few. Their acts are real, and not literary vehicles.

Artist Samuel Morse, Bemedalled

The art hero is a fairly rare beast compared to the ones mentioned above. I like JafaBrit's comment on artistic courage:

"Artist courage for me is putting yourself out there even knowing that the world doesn't exactly love what you do. Risking being authentic and true to self knowing that your work has a fat chance of selling, but you try anyway and face the rejection or indifference." JafaBrit

See all of the comments on my courage post here.

Simon Schama's Power of Art series is an excellent study of the artist as hero. Schama and the heroic artist are not without their detractors. I credit Schama with his clarity of focus in our age, where convoluted and messy thinking discounts the personal courage obvious in the artists spotlighted in this series.

"The effort to see things without distortion demands a kind of courage; and this courage is essential to the artist, who has to look at everything as though he were seeing it for the first time." Henri Matisse

Matisse faced open derision from the public and art critics alike when he exhibited at the 1905 Salon d'Automne in Paris. Rude viewers would scratch at his canvases, or puddle the wet oil paint with their fingers. He was on the cusp of his revolutionary changes, and he would eventually remake art in the face of overt institutional prejudice.

Italian Olive Grove
22" x 28"
Pastel on Diane Townsend Paper
Casey Klahn

Get Some Courage

"Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared." Eddie Rickenbacker

Using examples of courage has been a time-honored way to teach both respect for the trait, and perhaps put acolytes on the pathway to gaining courage. Being around courageous people, and studying about their lives and actions can help define and arouse courage in yourself.

Wolf Kahn studied under Hans Hoffman; Albrecht Durer was influenced by a constellation of important artists, including Bellini, Raphael and Leonardo. I have gotten advice from artists whom I respect, and have used them as mentors when I need direction.

In art, the study of artists who exhibit courage - artistic courage - is of great value to the one who seeks this trait. Even though the Internet is bare of examples, I find plenty of text about artistic heroism in my book reading.

In the Matisse biographies, Hilary Spurling relates the epic that involves the boy who must overcome the powerful social and bureaucratic inertia of 19th. century France to find his (singular and timeless ) artistic voice. Spurling describes his courage in bucking familial mores to go to academy in Paris, and then the impoverishment of life on meager coin, and the endurance necessary to advance in the narrow and competitive world of the atelier. And then, to buck that overbearing system and create his own statement and help found the era of Modern Art.

"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others." Winston Churchill

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." C.S. Lewis

The quotes by prominent Britishers C.S. Lewis and Winston Churchill seem to "bookend" courage around the other great traits. "Courage...guarantees all others," and "Courage is...every virtue at the testing point." If you will take these truths to heart, the bedrock of your courage will be established.

Personality & States of Mind
Photo credit: Lorie Klahn

The following traits may be directly related to establishing the courage you need when confronted with an artistic challenge:

How to Build Courage Through Personality Traits and States of Mind.See my source here. This information is from Sean Hannah and colleagues (Hannah, Sweeney & Lester, 2007) from the United States Military Academy.

Traits:

Have Openness to Experience & Creativity.

"Creativity takes courage." Henri Matisse

Options are good, and may lead to greater creativity. The counter to this is fencing in the artist's opportunities. Don't let him draw abstraction; keep her painting indoors only; limit their voices to one world view only. These limits are sure to snuff-out creative courage and generate fear.

Be Conscientious.

Engage in things that not only benefit yourself, but others as well. The good news for the older artist is that this trait has been shown to increase with age. Family, social, work, and marriage commitments can all be beneficial to your character, and that goes towards standing firm when the challenges hit.


Have Self Control and Emotional Stability.

While these traits were wholesale lacking in our favorite courageous artist, Vincent van Gogh, they do score big points in leading most of the rest of us towards improved backbone when courage is required. Clue: if you think that you have little or no control over life outcomes, and are prone to use the old saw, "they won't let me..," then your locus of control needs to be reviewed. Practice and review your "I can" inventory to improve your internal locus of control.

Be constant in your emotions.

Immediate State of Mind.


Have Self Confidence.

"Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions." Earl Gray Stevens

If you believe you can do it, then you will be more courageous when facing the dreaded fear of the blank page, or the overwhelming fear of the audience.



Exhibit Technical Prowess.

Do you have the tools, and do you know how to use them? Practical power can be found in buffing your technique. Want artistic courage? Draw 1,000 pictures this year, minimum.

Art Medals

Take Hope.

"Tell a person they are brave, and you help them become so." Thomas Carlyle

Have confidence that the task is doable. It helps to succeed a few times, then keep those successes close at heart. This is one of the benefits of that old time device: the art medal. Post those victories; frame your certificates and awards.

Be Resilient.

Keep a positive attitude and a sense of humor! Decide to bounce back; get back in the saddle. Maintain your level of interest in things; read or have a hobby. Try a new medium. Study art history.



Got Core Traits?

Independence, selfless behavior, personal integrity and honor are fine core traits. Become influenced by things greater than yourself. You do recognize forces greater than yourself, don't you? Civilization, societal beliefs, religion, and philosophy are resources to look up to.

Seek out and engage courageous people. We've covered this ground, but remember to hang with successful artists, and think about what kinds of traits they exhibit.

Finally, let me leave you with this thought:

"Leadership is not about genius. It’s about courage." Brian Clark

Be Brave

Lead Climber
11" x 6.75"
Graphite on Paper
Casey Klahn

"If you're looking for something to be brave about, consider fine arts," Robert Frost

More next time on how to be brave in art. I'll be out of pocket somewhat for the next two weeks with my annual recreation time.