Friday, March 12, 2010

Composition in Umber and Red



Composition in Umber and Red (tribute to Chardin and Leffel) - oil on canvas - 12"x10" - sold
(created after an original artwork entitled 'Composition in Purple and Green' by David Leffel)
(amended 24th Feb 2014)

Just finished this piece yesterday.
By studying some of these old and contemporary masters I find I am really learning a great deal about the stuff of paint.

I will never forget a few months back while I was visiting the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid I saw from a distance a Chardin - I was immediately drawn to it even though it was one of the smallest paintings in the large room and in a inconspicuous place. I'm sure it was the harmoniously earthy palette and flowing brush strokes that captured me.

His work was so fresh and spontaneous that I feel he managed to really capture the essence of what he was observing and never got caught up in finicky detail. The approach Chardin took in my opinion allows the viewer to really get into the painting and become a participant.

Several of my favourite artists have within their work these labour-less 'flowing brush strokes' and naturalist fresh spontaneity.

I will try to expand on this idea in my next few posts.

Reworked my last painting, 'The Artist's Boots' and took a new photo of it for the blog.
See below or follow this link.

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