|
|
|
If a painting is a window
There are two ways of looking at a painting, either as a surface, a panel, or as a window, a window onto another world, an inner world or one outside of us. Compositionally, if we regard the canvas as a panel, it can be subdivided and broken into sections at will, or according to systems like the golden rule. If, however, we regard the canvas as a window onto a world, this one or another, no such subdivision and compositional manipulation is possible, because the world beyond the window has its own laws, atmosphere and character. All that the artist does is to open this window and to reveal a world to which there is no other access, a world that continues beyond the boundaries of the frame into infinity. The artist (and his guests) is no more than a privileged visitor. The universe of JK Rowling demonstrated this. The reader is not limited to the story or the locations but gains access to another reality, in which we can have adventures form and friendships of our own. The window of the frame is the gate of perception, the gateway of Zen and of the Tao which marks the passage from past to future, the portal between consciousness and experience. Modern galleries are filled with painted planks; the lover of art walks inside another universe. Composition rules deal with a plank, but the composition of a window deals with conmsistency, inner logic, charm, drama. It is discovered, uncovered, rather than manipulated. Working with my model in a turn-of-the-Century cancan outfit, dark green with white underfrilling, I say to her, "You know, Fiona, if a picture is a window, we should be able to move past the frame into the world behind. "We would move into the other world, a world in which, beyond that door there is not a house with two teenagers playing on a computer, but a completely different world; a world of magic in which you can be living this supernatural beauty as a matter of everyday reality." "Imagination," she laughs. But imagination is the truest reality. This world conforms to our imagination. Slowly it comes to be the world of our dreams. "That is how I come to be in this studio, in the presence of beauty I could only have dreamed about as a young man; and here I am, living the dream. Not fully, maybe, but one day I shall go through a door, and there will be Johann Strauss, and Gustav Klimt, and Rodin, bowing and smiling and saying, 'Come in, come in!'"
Cold mornings and hot toddiesFor the last two Thursdays, and for a few to come, a group of students and myself have been drawing and painting at Kalk Bay Fishing Harbour, starting just after 5.30 a.m. It is a glorious summer in Cape Town, but we seriously underestimated just how cold it gets with the sea winds blowing up from the Antarctic and over the jetties, so a few of us got those nasty colds which call for gentle loving care. I love a cold, because as often as not I can persuade Anne that the only thing that works for me is a hot toddie, and Anne makes the world's best hot toddie. Here it is: Stir in 3 teaspoons honey Lie down and make yourself comfortable before you drink your hot toddy, because this is not a toddie to mess with. Your cold does not stand a chance! Proportion by Triangulation
Achieving perfectly accurate proportion. Triangulation is the third system of proportions that I use, and of the three it is the most accurate. In fact, if used carefully, it will render perfect proportions. Although ignored by artists, the method of trangulation has been known as long as time. It is the basis of astonomy and of land surveying, even of mathematics, but for some reason, over the centuries, artists have been saddled with the clumsy method of plumb lines and rule of thumb. I present it here as a new method for painting and drawing. For example if we take the top of the head as our first point (A), and know that our second point is going to be the left shoulder, we need to draw a line through point A in the exact direction of the shoulder, running beyond the position of the shoulder. We know now that the shoulder lies somewhere along this line. Where we place it will determine the scale of our picture; if we place it close to A, we shall have a small study, if far, a larger one. Choose how big you want to work, mark off the position of the shoulder and call it B. To find the right shoulder, we have to draw a line from the top af the head (A) in the direction of the right shoulder, but beyond it (this shoulder must now be somewhere along this line). Now from the left shoulder (B), draw a line in teh exact direction of the right shoulder (which has to be somewhere along this line), and mark the intersection of the two lines as C. This is the exact location of the right shoulder. To find any further point, such as the joining of the hands in my study, we have, once again, to establish the exact direction towards our new point from two known points (I used A and C), and where the two lines intersect we can mark point D. Any other points, such as the chin, can be found in the same way, by projecting an angle from A, for example , and from C. The intersection at E would mark the position of the chin. There is no easy way to exact proportions (other than tracing from photographs), but while hard work, the triangulation method has the advantage of being perfectly accurate, while bringing a pleasing abstract quality to the drawing or painting. |
In this issueWorkshopsInformation on planned workshops can be found here Pass it onIf you know someone who may be interested in receiving this newsletter, you can easily forward up to five copies at once. |
|
|
|