The lesson of the darkness.

Some years ago I was making a point to my students: that we do not see objects, but tints and tones, flares and smudges, flashes and blurs; and that in fact we have little idea of what is in front of us. Our mind is constantly exploring and interpreting a shifting visual feast, making sense [...]

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The Christmas visitor.

I have a fond and overwhelming belief, echoed in Native American philosophy, that nature talks to us. The only difficulty lies in realising that it is happening all the time, and then, in reading the mesage.
Sadly Christmas has recently lost som of its magic for me, until a few minutes ago, that is. Anne and [...]

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The dangerous women of Gustav Klimt.

Gustav Klimt loved women, but he loved them dangerous. His life was filled with gorgeous women, one of whom was his long time lover, Emilie Floge.
The story goes that at any time he would have as many as 4 models in his studio, indulging in the most sensual behaviour, while he drew and drew (apart [...]

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Norman Rockwell, photo-addict.

The following quote by one of America’s great illustrators illustrates the danger of copying photographs:
The artist most in conflict over this issue was Norman Rockwell, acutely sensitive to the moral implications of the camera’s presence in the studio. Urged by his art director to incorporate new angles and poses into his work, Rockwell saw no [...]

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Hercules

What is the subject of this picture by Antonio Pollaiuollo?
Is this just a man, a Greek hero, fighting against a many headed snake, a simple illustration of a simple legend? or does it have meaning – is it a true myth? Is Hercules you and I? And is this meaning of consequence to us today?
Here [...]

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Starlight.

Light and dark. Day and night. Chiaroscuro. Sunlight and moonlight. Starlight. Direct and reflected light. Consider the work of two of the great masters, Rembrandt and Turner. Rembrandt’s work is dark and gloomy, with deep darkness enveloping the canvas, making us think that he has a dark personality; whereas Turner’s work is luminous, with [...]

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Lucky accidents

All the money in the world cannot buy you an accident.
Most especially watercolour, but, in fact, all painting, all art, thrives on what we refer to as lucky accidents, and we admire those artists who have the uncanny ability to have this kind of accident, wondering how it came that they had this seemingly unfair [...]

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Dancing in the dark.

At Mavericks, good dancing, old fashioned decor, Cape Town was having one of its all too frequent power cuts, but I had a few hours for sketching.
Inside everybody was looking rather bored. Bored, and sulky, and pouty. It was dark and gloomy, and, with the air-conditioning gone, hot. The bar was operating with cash. Waitresses [...]

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The overwhelming beauty of the specific.

Beauty, I wrote in one of my sketchbooks many years ago, is in the general; truth is in the particular.
What I meant is this: that in general terms young animals are beautiful, but the full power of beauty (in the place where beauty meets truth) is only revealed when we look at one specific young [...]

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Chords of colour.

Painting, when thought of as great art, has the same character as great music. Harmony, tones, notes, chords, slurs, hard edges, lost edges, soft edges. Orchestral colour, melody line, texture, transparency, palimpsest, rhythm, percussion… each of these concepts has to become our friend, our muse.
If I may illustrate… imagine two snooker balls on a green [...]

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