John Murray classes week of November 17, 2014

Monday morning's Oil and Acrylic Workshop class will have a model next week.

Think about a narrative for the figure and what concept you can bring to the execution of your piece.

I am not interested in academic figure representation and try to use the human form as a starting point

for a visual discussion.

The work I've shown above does this in some way.

Although human experience is varied by individuals and cultures, we all carry a story.

Bring some of yours to your painting of the model.The model for this Monday is female.

All classes will have a model before the end of the term.

See you next week, John.

John Murray classes week of November 10, 2014

No figure class on Tuesday the 10th due to Veterans Day holiday.
All other classes on Monday and Wednesday will be in session.
Above is Marsden Hartley's homage to a WW1 German officer.
For those artists, how about a painting that starts with the concept of militarism and becomes
a decorative pattern piece, as Hartley's painting, based on his love for a military officer,
did 100 years ago.
Nothing has changed, the same old jingoism that drives patriotism and our experience of the resultant
horrors seem to have no effect on our specie's war-like instincts.
So why not turn to these into art.
See you next week, John.

John Murray classes week of November 3, 2014

Gesture and the stroke/mark

For centuries the artist has considered and explored the paint stroke as a means of expression, an aspect of  his/her language.

Cezanne worked in small almost triangular strokes.

Frank Auerbach pushed his paint in thick swirls of pigment and modeled his subjects in fervent plasticity.

Pollack threw away the brush and flung and dripped/spattered his paint to achieve a transcendent, symphonic picture space.

Think about your means of making a stroke and explore new methods and tools

The brush is a given that the artist does not have to accept.

My Tuesday figure class will have 2 models next week, a male and female: Kim and Ginger. I hope this situation will inspire some off-beat approaches to the model(s) in the classical studio space.

See you next week, john.

John Murray classes week of October 27, 2014

Art makes life bearable. It isn't a luxury. 

Like our capacity for understanding, and our experience of love, it is a vitally important part of life.

-Gillian Pederson Krag

Don't forget my Figure/Narrative/Large Scale Workshop on Saturday and Sunday afternoons November 1 and 2. We have an excellent female model for both days and I will take the class step by step through the development of the painting.  

See you next week, John 

 

John Murray classes week of October 20, 2014

Representation and its discontents,

 

Plasticity and its adherents.

What does this mean to you?

Why did Manet deconstruct his work? 

Why do I and other artists (including Nancy Blanchard from my Tuesday figure class) work from a model and come up with images that are so stylized?

Next week let's talk about this concept of Modernism.

See you then, John.

John Murray classes week of October, 13, 2014

No classes on Monday the 13th due to holiday.
My Tuesday figure painting class and Supercharged painting classes on Wednesday are all in session.
Next week try playing with alternative approaches to your painting.
Don't be afraid to work over a piece...start with charcoal and use it as a thinking exploration...wipe it out if you don't get what you want at first.
Every layer of a painting should be pushed. Consider the weight and color (darkness) of your line...smudge
erase, use your non-dominant hand for vulnerability and freshness.
Fix it when you get it.
Start painting by mixing color and viscosity...try using a wider than usual brush.
Good luck!
See you next week, John.

John Murray classes week of October 6, 2014

making art is a constantly changing challenge
Finding a fresh way to begin is a big part of the process
Once you're on the surface the paint charcoal blood piss mud... Will help lead you forward
Generating the initial marks is a leap of faith for an artist
The virginal surface is a killer
Mess it up...spill stain scratch drip 
Break the spell of the void...

See you next week, John...