joseluisnunez

Artist's Thoughts

ON PAINTING

Painting is a visual creation that deals with beauty or any kind of emotional expression.
Nowadays almost anything is valid in painting, any material, any topic, any painting style. We can say that there are no guidelines. So painters are free, really free. This poses a problem for the general public, which often does not know what good painting is. Museums and Galleries contribute a good deal to their confusion. There is no remedy for this. The essential solution for the spectator to know good from bad painting is to observe, observe and observe art. Intelligent observation will educate the eye.

A painting must be self‑sufficient. A poem does not ask painting for help, nor do ballet or music. In the same way, a painting should not need any external assistance in order to be enjoyed. Obviously, sometimes a good explanation can “add” to our understanding and enjoyment of a painting. My point is that painting cannot depend on explanations to be understood or enjoyed.

21st Century painters realize that almost everything and any topic has already been painted in one way or the other. That is why in the mid 20th Century some people proclaimed the death of painting. Some painters are participating [caught up in] in the race for innovation. This race consists of painting something new and different, many times not caring for quality. The concern is innovation for the sake of innovation. I think this can become a social obsession, of which I, obviously, do not want to participate. In the past, some painters were innovators, but most just tried to paint superbly. For some the history of painting can become a burden, but we have to set it aside, and paint.

Painting will go on forever–it is part of human nature. Let us all enjoy it!

ON TALENT

Artistic talent is a special skill that some people have to make others feel what cannot be expressed through ordinary language. In my opinion artistic talent is the ability to transmit an authentic aesthetic experience to other people, to make people feel, perhaps vibrate with the work of art. The artist wants his work to touch people’s souls, to move them.

Some artists create art based on something similar to an instinct. They are not exactly aware of how or why they do what they do, nor can they give an explanation. Talent just flows. Others can explain why they built a work of art the way they did. Many times they are aware of why they do things. Either of them can give us a great piece of art.

During the 19th Century, public started to believe that artistic talent was favoured by emotional suffering,, poverty, addictions or special mental disorders. I do not think any of these is necessary for talent to pop up. All it takes is a soul that gets in touch with itself and tunes with subject and the media the artist is using.

Almost anything is a potential subject for art, but the most sublime moments of art have been when the great artists have dealt with the deepest human emotions, those ineffable and unutterable inner experiences that many of us have, but few know how to express. I am sure most people have felt in their innermost being the emotion of a great concert, a poem or a good theater play.

In the case of painters, talent is the ability to see. That’s all it takes. No more, but no less. The ability to see a painting subject where others don´t see it. The ability to take it to a canvas, the ability to see what tones and brush strokes are coherent with the goal, the ability to see with the eyes of our imagination, the ability to see color harmonies, the ability to see when a painting is finished. We can try to paint the sublime, but we can also try to paint an apple in a sublime way.

Talent cannot be taught, either you have it or not. But some people have more than others. Talent is like a seed, it has to be cultivated and developed. Nobody ever knows how tall talent will grow. I think more people have talent than they think; but there are a few who think they have it, but don´t.

Talent cannot be taught, but it is triggered. Talent explodes with the correct stimuli. Talent gets inspiration from other artists and their works. It is contagious. That is one of the reasons why we have the movements of French impressionism, Dutch baroque painting and the schools of the Italian renaissance.

Talent does not mean that things are easy for the artist, only that there are great results.

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