Tuesday, August 3, 2010
WHY DON'T HE WRITE
I have been on the road and am currently finishing paintings that are over due and trying to prepare for a show in Napa Ca. I have so much to blog that the excitement and anticipaton are wrecking my life--I won't feel normal again until I am spilling my interior all over the blogshpere for the entertainment of those who are bored with Dr. Phil and Opera.
My workshops in La Jolla, California and Lewiston, Maine were joyous, and I have thoughts and photos to throw at you--so be patient--I will never leave you (permanately)or forsake you--your art hero and guru--Don
Monday, July 26, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
MASS, VALUE, COLOR, TEMPERATURE--NOT LINES!
The real determinate in drawing skill is taste--not drawing from life. If you know how something SHOULD look in its painted form--then you will draw or paint it WITH THE POSSIBILITIES THAT PAINT OFFERS--according to your personal artistic vision. How do you learn how something should look in its painted form?--stare at great paintings for two thousand hours, then love the creation, then cover three football fields worth of canvas--bingo--YOU HAVE IT! Staring at others solutions may even be a hinderance--I just love doing it since I am so limited--I just try to knock off others who have gone before.
All of this academic stuff about drawing is a bunch of horse dung--except for those who own these academies that discourage creativity. Over emphasis on drawing is designed to distance humans from artistic expression--drawing or rendering is the enemy. Lines, or marks as I prefer to call them, are only temporary designations that indicate where masses should be initially laid in. The bringing together of colorful masses in the correct value and temperature is the ticket--lines separate masses artificially and prevent the merging of shape, value, and color--avoid over rendering and develop your personal sense of how something can be expressed in paint using your imaginaton--maybe paint from your dreams and memories like the Nabis. They are perceived by some critics as the greatest colorists--their approach was unrestricted by the academics of their time.
You may choose to render the hell out of everything, but don't tell me that you have to draw well before you can paint well--if you have a sense of how something looks to you--then you will put the shapes, values, color and mass in the right place--but this takes conviction and a fearlessness that is rare indeed--Dan McCaw is the only one out there I know of who practices this approach.
If the value, color and shape of the mass are on target--then a general placement of them will suffice--it is value and color that give the painting the snap and the authority not accurate rendering--always leave room for the viewer's imagination to wander--don't insult the viewer by giving too much information--by rendering every detail to death.
The logic of value and color in a painting equals the EFFECT OF LIGHT. Painting value and light with distinction and taste will make you rich and famous--I promise. Only two or three every half century achieve this-- so have fun! All of nature provides a point of departure for painting light--LIGHT EXPRESSED BY COLOR AND VALUE --this is what I am chasing in my own work and what I try to teach when given the opportunity. See ya down the road--Don
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Pithy Aphorisms
Gotta tell ya the following:
1. I checked my mouse traps this morning and found two new victims. This after a three week delay because my wife, Janey, loves animals so much that she couldn't stand the thought of killing the little things. I tried to convince her that sharing our forest home with these critters is a loosing proposition. She finally caved in after one of these guys started eating her fine wicker chair--you could hear the thing crunching all night long. We have a pet semitary under the redwoods where two dogs and three cats are memorialized with home made custom monuments--yes we love animals. Albert Einstein would not kill mosquitos because of his profound respect for all living--I AM NO EINTSTEIN !
2. I drive so slow that I create back ups on our country roads. I always pull over and let those in a hurry pass--but I get pissed when I don't get the "thank you" wave. Most men will acknowledge my kindness, but women seldom do--this morning a women gave me the big "thank you"--A FIRST IN MY LIFE!
3. When I want to fall asleep I read the book of Leviticus in the Bible--its boring as hell and puts me to sleep every time. This habit has changed at long last. I now read how to paint books by famous authors like Richard Schmid. IT REALLY WORKS!
4. I find that if I postpone commissions I get guilty. If I get guilty I paint better. The more behind the work--the better the result. Conclusion: put off commission work so that you produce a better result. THE CLIENT WILL LOVE YOU FOR THE EFFORT!
5. If your paintings don't sell--then give the damn things away. It helps to be on social security when you do this. We have all made too much money for our efforts over the years anyway. IT IS TIME TO GIVE BACK!
6. Why is representational painting in the modern era so inferior to that of 130 years ago? We know more about the science of oil painting, about the physics of light, about design, about technique--we have better equipment, better materials, more information about everything--what's up? Here comes the answer: In 1880 the brightest and best were still seeking careers in oil painting. Today the brightest and best seek careers in film, in cyber technnology, in science and industry. Its a matter of demographics--THE REALLY SMART ONES DON'T PAINT ANYMORE--SORRY! OK--I know you are smart, but you are the exception.
7. Why then do people still paint at all? The answer: ITS THERAPUTIC!
8. Why do some still make big bucks selling representational oil paintings. The answer: Because they are rendered to the knats ass, and there is a boat load of bucks out there for paintings that look like photographs. This is an expression of taste that you may or may not think is lacking in oil painting purchases today. You have to read Robert Hughs for a fuller answer--see "Nothing if Not Critical"--the final essay on Art and Money. It has to do with the amount of money flying around in the modern era--especially F....you money as we call it in California--mostly gas and oil money. O BOY, YOU'VE DONE IT NOW!
9. Why did I say the above--BECAUSE I AM JEALOUS OF THOSE MAKING BIG BUCKS!
10. And Finally (thank God)--what would I do if I made 5 million on one painting? I would stop painting altogether, hire a golf coach, hire a masseuse, hire an organic cook, move to Majorca and study Bobby Fisher on how to beat the computer at chess. FOR SURE !
1. I checked my mouse traps this morning and found two new victims. This after a three week delay because my wife, Janey, loves animals so much that she couldn't stand the thought of killing the little things. I tried to convince her that sharing our forest home with these critters is a loosing proposition. She finally caved in after one of these guys started eating her fine wicker chair--you could hear the thing crunching all night long. We have a pet semitary under the redwoods where two dogs and three cats are memorialized with home made custom monuments--yes we love animals. Albert Einstein would not kill mosquitos because of his profound respect for all living--I AM NO EINTSTEIN !
2. I drive so slow that I create back ups on our country roads. I always pull over and let those in a hurry pass--but I get pissed when I don't get the "thank you" wave. Most men will acknowledge my kindness, but women seldom do--this morning a women gave me the big "thank you"--A FIRST IN MY LIFE!
3. When I want to fall asleep I read the book of Leviticus in the Bible--its boring as hell and puts me to sleep every time. This habit has changed at long last. I now read how to paint books by famous authors like Richard Schmid. IT REALLY WORKS!
4. I find that if I postpone commissions I get guilty. If I get guilty I paint better. The more behind the work--the better the result. Conclusion: put off commission work so that you produce a better result. THE CLIENT WILL LOVE YOU FOR THE EFFORT!
5. If your paintings don't sell--then give the damn things away. It helps to be on social security when you do this. We have all made too much money for our efforts over the years anyway. IT IS TIME TO GIVE BACK!
6. Why is representational painting in the modern era so inferior to that of 130 years ago? We know more about the science of oil painting, about the physics of light, about design, about technique--we have better equipment, better materials, more information about everything--what's up? Here comes the answer: In 1880 the brightest and best were still seeking careers in oil painting. Today the brightest and best seek careers in film, in cyber technnology, in science and industry. Its a matter of demographics--THE REALLY SMART ONES DON'T PAINT ANYMORE--SORRY! OK--I know you are smart, but you are the exception.
7. Why then do people still paint at all? The answer: ITS THERAPUTIC!
8. Why do some still make big bucks selling representational oil paintings. The answer: Because they are rendered to the knats ass, and there is a boat load of bucks out there for paintings that look like photographs. This is an expression of taste that you may or may not think is lacking in oil painting purchases today. You have to read Robert Hughs for a fuller answer--see "Nothing if Not Critical"--the final essay on Art and Money. It has to do with the amount of money flying around in the modern era--especially F....you money as we call it in California--mostly gas and oil money. O BOY, YOU'VE DONE IT NOW!
9. Why did I say the above--BECAUSE I AM JEALOUS OF THOSE MAKING BIG BUCKS!
10. And Finally (thank God)--what would I do if I made 5 million on one painting? I would stop painting altogether, hire a golf coach, hire a masseuse, hire an organic cook, move to Majorca and study Bobby Fisher on how to beat the computer at chess. FOR SURE !
Monday, June 14, 2010
See You In Maine on July 16 through 18
Napa Valley Artist Don Hatfield to Hold Painting Workshop in Lewiston
Artist, Don Hatfield, will teach a 3-day oil painting workshop at L/A Arts' DownStage on July 16-17-18. It will involve two days of figure painting and one day of portraiture, with optional still life studies set up. Cost for all three days is $330, but 2-day and 1-day slots are also available.
Many consider Hatfield one of the most innovative impressionists of our time, whose style of painting softly blends the figures of realism with the gentle touch of classic impressionism. His masterful use of color and light draw the viewer to his intimate serene scenes. Although his work is traditional in concept and technique, his works portray strong quiet emotions through subtle but rich textures, and with warm and inviting hues.
Having first been a pastel artist, Hatfield’s painting technique involves sculpting form with gray tones and adding pronounced color over. His ability and results are amazing. It is no wonder that he has collectors from Asia, Europe and the US. His works have been on covers of magazines and some have even appeared in films.
As an individual, Hatfield is comical and animated. He is an experienced teacher, holding ongoing classes in and near his Napa Valley home. He works with students at whatever level they are at and gives individual attention as needed. Though laid back in his teaching method, he is very serious about painting. He has a wealth of knowledge and is committed to sharing it. Video clips of his teaching, from his newest DVD Fantasy Portraits In the Garden, can be viewed on his website: www.donhatfield.com Images of his artwork and an on-going blog that reveals a sense of his personality and style are on Don’s website as well.
Hatfield will be visiting Maine for the first time this summer, creating a unique opportunity for local artists and students of art to study and paint with a talented West Coast artist who has over 40 years of experiences to share. The workshop will be held at The Downstage at L/A Arts, # 5 Canal St. Alley, Lewiston (just off the first block of Pine Street). Friday and Sunday will focus on portraiture and Saturday will focus on figure in a costume. Register on line at www.laarts.org . For more information contact L/A Arts, (207) 782-7228.
# # #
contact info:
Cheri Donahue, Marketing Director cheri@laarts.org
L/A Arts 221 Lisbon Street Lewiston, Maine 04240 ph. (207) 782-7228 fax (207) 782-8192
Artist, Don Hatfield, will teach a 3-day oil painting workshop at L/A Arts' DownStage on July 16-17-18. It will involve two days of figure painting and one day of portraiture, with optional still life studies set up. Cost for all three days is $330, but 2-day and 1-day slots are also available.
Many consider Hatfield one of the most innovative impressionists of our time, whose style of painting softly blends the figures of realism with the gentle touch of classic impressionism. His masterful use of color and light draw the viewer to his intimate serene scenes. Although his work is traditional in concept and technique, his works portray strong quiet emotions through subtle but rich textures, and with warm and inviting hues.
Having first been a pastel artist, Hatfield’s painting technique involves sculpting form with gray tones and adding pronounced color over. His ability and results are amazing. It is no wonder that he has collectors from Asia, Europe and the US. His works have been on covers of magazines and some have even appeared in films.
As an individual, Hatfield is comical and animated. He is an experienced teacher, holding ongoing classes in and near his Napa Valley home. He works with students at whatever level they are at and gives individual attention as needed. Though laid back in his teaching method, he is very serious about painting. He has a wealth of knowledge and is committed to sharing it. Video clips of his teaching, from his newest DVD Fantasy Portraits In the Garden, can be viewed on his website: www.donhatfield.com Images of his artwork and an on-going blog that reveals a sense of his personality and style are on Don’s website as well.
Hatfield will be visiting Maine for the first time this summer, creating a unique opportunity for local artists and students of art to study and paint with a talented West Coast artist who has over 40 years of experiences to share. The workshop will be held at The Downstage at L/A Arts, # 5 Canal St. Alley, Lewiston (just off the first block of Pine Street). Friday and Sunday will focus on portraiture and Saturday will focus on figure in a costume. Register on line at www.laarts.org . For more information contact L/A Arts, (207) 782-7228.
# # #
contact info:
Cheri Donahue, Marketing Director cheri@laarts.org
L/A Arts 221 Lisbon Street Lewiston, Maine 04240 ph. (207) 782-7228 fax (207) 782-8192
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Portrait Refurbishment
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Oil Painting, Art, and Presence
Should I paint today or take the car to be serviced? Maybe I should empty the cat box, or pay my bills, or answer emails, or play computer chess, or check the price of gold, or go to the gym, or have the doctor check the mole on my ass, or maybe just make my wife happy for once--maybe just stay in bed all day watching classic movies? I know! I'll just put in some chew and pee off my second story studio deck! I love the simple things most anyway--I can paint later. What did happened that is interesting and profound is that I discovered today, 6/1/2010, that it makes absolutely no difference what I do next--with a few tiny exceptions.
Have you ever been doing one thing and wishing you were doing something else? Have you ever been with somebody while thinking of another? How about being in one place wishing like crazy you were somewhere else? Most of my life is spent being three places at one time--pretending to be listening, hoping she would just shut up--painting while wishing I was on the golf course, being on the golf course wishing I was painting--saying one thing while meaning something else. I could make this list a mile long!
Do you know what I am describing? I am describing your life my dear fellow artist! O yes I am! Now come on--who loves ya? Hell--you probably don't even know--you're so distracted!
I have just painted a picture of living in hell. I know about this because I have spent decades in a semi--no complete--State of Non. Did you know that Non is a state?--its capitol is Everywhere, and its zip code is 12345--ready, set, go--non-hearing, non-presence, non-passion, non-art, non-life.
I have lost fortune, family, friends, fame, face, fraternity, and other things beginning with "f" from fleeing focus and friendly forces and following instead fiendish fettishes feigning friendship--finished?--foowey! Well fine! Yeah, right--you didn't do this because you read the book and went to therepy and became a Buddist--not so fast, Bucko! If I think I am imperfect and have not lived a perfect life--then think how much I believe you are not perfect and have not lived the perfect life--are we still friends?--hope so.
Several things come to mind here. Sorolla said he was doing art all the time--even while in conversation with an interviewer. Robert Henri said that the person, not the painting, is the art. Oral Hershiser said he was singing Amazing Grace while on the mound pitching for the Dodgers in the world series--which they won. Sergei Bongart said--"...don't think, just paint." What do these things suggest?
I am not sure what they suggest--sorry. They may suggest that more is happening than meets the eye--something very profound and wonderful may be happening that is multi-layered--I don't know. One thing is fairly clear to me, however--time, aging, events, Jesus, the Holy Ghost, and the Virgin Mary are converging in my life--showing me that my time is short and that the Second Coming is in the present--that it has already occured---that I have already been included in the rapture and, most of all, that the time is now for this stuff--what stuff?
Well I don't know all about the "stuff", but I do know where it happens for me--it happens in my existence--in my real life here and now, in the moment second by second--in an existence interrupted, nudged, whispered to, invaded by something that is mysterious and faint (yet screaming)--intersected by something that interrupts the train of all that is selfish, self absorbed, self indulgent, self destructive, and dangerous--this something I did NOT create, can't control, can't exploit, can't begin a start-up with or make money off of or hand to you free of charge.
It seems that an intersection occurs in the moment, and can be grasped internally by any man, any time, in any circumstance. An "intersection"--that's as good as I can come up with. Is that oblique enough for you? You took Philosopy 101--right? You read the book, took the class, went to the ashram, heard the sermon, watched Dr. Phil, Oprah, Tony Robbins, and that other asshole whose name slips me at the moment. OK--then why hasn't anything changed? Why are you so absent? I am not begging the question here--I am just being rude! It comes naturally for me--remember?
Well, this "stuff", this "intersection" happens to me--in my life, my time, my heart beat, my bones, my art, and my soul--while I still have breath. I know that this sounds very Californian--more like Southern Californian--where preoccupation with the self is a cultural trait. But what I am suggesting here is that art, success, meaning, satisfaction, healing, pleasure--even glory confront every man. Presence, not transcendence, is every man's heritage--no matter what his circumstances. Presence mingled with irony, mystery, and confusion--this is the ticket to heaven.
Many believe that your life is what you make it, and that the great game of chance leaves some in and some out. Make hay while the sun shines, keep your hand on the plow, your ear to the ground, your head up and your mouth shut--try to play golf in that position--hell with'em!
What about that little boy or girl playing in the garbage heap in the third world, what about the stroke patient that requires three aids for a butt wipe, what about the baby born with no cranium to protect his precious little new born brain? We are better off than they--maybe. Maybe not. Since you are so sensitive, so smart--you tell me. Since I am writing this--I will venture a few closing (thank God) thoughts or ruminations on the above profundities.
I'll make is simple. If you are profoundly present in your own life, in the moment--a moment that is open to intersection with mystery, irony, and confusion--then you are an artist. It doesn't matter if you paint, sculpt, change transmissions, farm, shovel manure, teach school, are a nanny or the president--or live on a pile of dung that is your life at the moment--art is happening. You see--art is not what you do--its what happens to you--you don't do it--it does you--you don't create it--it creates you--you are the art, silly.
So, then, whatever you do for the rest of the day--art is going on. If you get to paint a little--then you get to leave a record that others may see and think--another human was here and left us this nice record of her journey--wow!
Have you ever been doing one thing and wishing you were doing something else? Have you ever been with somebody while thinking of another? How about being in one place wishing like crazy you were somewhere else? Most of my life is spent being three places at one time--pretending to be listening, hoping she would just shut up--painting while wishing I was on the golf course, being on the golf course wishing I was painting--saying one thing while meaning something else. I could make this list a mile long!
Do you know what I am describing? I am describing your life my dear fellow artist! O yes I am! Now come on--who loves ya? Hell--you probably don't even know--you're so distracted!
I have just painted a picture of living in hell. I know about this because I have spent decades in a semi--no complete--State of Non. Did you know that Non is a state?--its capitol is Everywhere, and its zip code is 12345--ready, set, go--non-hearing, non-presence, non-passion, non-art, non-life.
I have lost fortune, family, friends, fame, face, fraternity, and other things beginning with "f" from fleeing focus and friendly forces and following instead fiendish fettishes feigning friendship--finished?--foowey! Well fine! Yeah, right--you didn't do this because you read the book and went to therepy and became a Buddist--not so fast, Bucko! If I think I am imperfect and have not lived a perfect life--then think how much I believe you are not perfect and have not lived the perfect life--are we still friends?--hope so.
Several things come to mind here. Sorolla said he was doing art all the time--even while in conversation with an interviewer. Robert Henri said that the person, not the painting, is the art. Oral Hershiser said he was singing Amazing Grace while on the mound pitching for the Dodgers in the world series--which they won. Sergei Bongart said--"...don't think, just paint." What do these things suggest?
I am not sure what they suggest--sorry. They may suggest that more is happening than meets the eye--something very profound and wonderful may be happening that is multi-layered--I don't know. One thing is fairly clear to me, however--time, aging, events, Jesus, the Holy Ghost, and the Virgin Mary are converging in my life--showing me that my time is short and that the Second Coming is in the present--that it has already occured---that I have already been included in the rapture and, most of all, that the time is now for this stuff--what stuff?
Well I don't know all about the "stuff", but I do know where it happens for me--it happens in my existence--in my real life here and now, in the moment second by second--in an existence interrupted, nudged, whispered to, invaded by something that is mysterious and faint (yet screaming)--intersected by something that interrupts the train of all that is selfish, self absorbed, self indulgent, self destructive, and dangerous--this something I did NOT create, can't control, can't exploit, can't begin a start-up with or make money off of or hand to you free of charge.
It seems that an intersection occurs in the moment, and can be grasped internally by any man, any time, in any circumstance. An "intersection"--that's as good as I can come up with. Is that oblique enough for you? You took Philosopy 101--right? You read the book, took the class, went to the ashram, heard the sermon, watched Dr. Phil, Oprah, Tony Robbins, and that other asshole whose name slips me at the moment. OK--then why hasn't anything changed? Why are you so absent? I am not begging the question here--I am just being rude! It comes naturally for me--remember?
Well, this "stuff", this "intersection" happens to me--in my life, my time, my heart beat, my bones, my art, and my soul--while I still have breath. I know that this sounds very Californian--more like Southern Californian--where preoccupation with the self is a cultural trait. But what I am suggesting here is that art, success, meaning, satisfaction, healing, pleasure--even glory confront every man. Presence, not transcendence, is every man's heritage--no matter what his circumstances. Presence mingled with irony, mystery, and confusion--this is the ticket to heaven.
Many believe that your life is what you make it, and that the great game of chance leaves some in and some out. Make hay while the sun shines, keep your hand on the plow, your ear to the ground, your head up and your mouth shut--try to play golf in that position--hell with'em!
What about that little boy or girl playing in the garbage heap in the third world, what about the stroke patient that requires three aids for a butt wipe, what about the baby born with no cranium to protect his precious little new born brain? We are better off than they--maybe. Maybe not. Since you are so sensitive, so smart--you tell me. Since I am writing this--I will venture a few closing (thank God) thoughts or ruminations on the above profundities.
I'll make is simple. If you are profoundly present in your own life, in the moment--a moment that is open to intersection with mystery, irony, and confusion--then you are an artist. It doesn't matter if you paint, sculpt, change transmissions, farm, shovel manure, teach school, are a nanny or the president--or live on a pile of dung that is your life at the moment--art is happening. You see--art is not what you do--its what happens to you--you don't do it--it does you--you don't create it--it creates you--you are the art, silly.
So, then, whatever you do for the rest of the day--art is going on. If you get to paint a little--then you get to leave a record that others may see and think--another human was here and left us this nice record of her journey--wow!
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