What is art? What is an artist? Why does it matter? One school of thought, art must begin with a subject, and the result must look like its subject. A cute puppy, a car, a human face or figure, a plane, a snow-capped mountain reflecting on a deep blue lake. Degrees of detail will vary, but the general shape must be discernibly representative.
The above painting, created with acrylic paint on the illustration board, is of the ” T-Ville Diner.” It is the most detailed piece I’ve ever accomplished. It results from a request from the family who owned the diner, which was scheduled to be demolished. They wanted a keepsake of that unique piece of history in Thomasville, North Carolina.
At first, I was a bit apprehensive. The family trusted me to recreate a believable facsimile of a real place that was etched in their memories, attached to decades of fond interactions with locals and those just passing through.
The stories shared over tasty meals more closely bonded families and friends. Children grew up in the booths with their families. As teens and adults, they migrated to the stools at the bar. That’s just the way it was in small towns around America. It was where a famous actor left a fifty-cent piece as a tip. The actor Humphrey Bogart. It was a place in time, an era long since faded.
It was an honor to have been asked to take on the challenge. It was incredibly humbling and immeasurably satisfying to have pleased the family and provided what they desired from me. If I never apply another drop of paint to a canvas or illustration board, the painting and limited edition prints will have fulfilled my purpose as an artist.
Even though writing and developing stories is my passion, I believe other serious pieces of art are in my future.
What is your purpose as an artist?
Sometimes less is more. The insightful journey to discover a cover. Determined to create my own cover, the final version for “Return to Faith” required an involved process. Several diverse concepts were whittled down to a couple of finalists that shared the same background image. The above image is the eventual selection. which became the Divine Default.
This would be the perfect time to thank two special and dear friends, Laurie & Clifton Reed. I took the sunset background photo at their Baden Lake home on December 31, 2014. The last sunset of that year. I took 27 photos as God gradually painted the western sky with increasingly dramatic amber, orange, and golden hues. This frozen moment in time was captured during the middle of the event. God is the ultimate Artist!
An abandoned, old, rusty truck? To achieve subtle yet in-your-face symbology required hours and hours of searching the web to discover the perfect, rusty old truck. The perfect discarded hulk of metal at the precise angle. Then came the long, intense hours of manipulating and blending the two images in Photoshop. This took several grueling days. As a pit bull-determined Photoshop novice, I stumbled through a great deal of trial & error. Yet, in the end, it was a gratifying adventure disguised as an intensely laborious task. Surprisingly, a dear friend, an expert in Photoshop, was very complimentary of the end results.
Numerous attempts to contact the photographer for permission to use his photo failed. Opting to be safe than sorry avoiding art pieces copyright issues led to shelving the concept to the right. Once the difficult decision was made, it took a while to accept. The experience was akin to a film director who, during production, realized he’d just directed the most impactful scene of his career. Only to agree with the editor during post-production that the fantastic composition of character performances, blended with a perfectly lit and dressed set, wasn’t justification for placement in the final edit. Most people who have been asked their opinion have overwhelmingly chosen the more simplistic cover. What are your thoughts?
This piece began life horizontally on the easel. Its original title was “Ten Thousand Colors” because my intent was to create that many colors and tones in one painting. However, while rotating the canvas to show a friend, she said, “I like the lips.” I peeked around to see what I never saw. From my perspective, while painting, they were two curved vertical lines. Artists know it helps to rotate the paper or canvas while working, regardless of their subject or media. A wise artist will at least listen and carefully consider a close friend's thoughts.
As the second in this color series, a dramatically lighter background was important. It was also essential to keep the process of building multiple layers using a clear gloss coat.
Several people have pointed out that all three paintings in this series have a common theme. Pointing or reaching upward. The vibe is positive, even if the motion appears random, if not chaotic. As with every human, each painting has its own unique personality. While human nature is prone to focus on the surface, we must always be willing to look much deeper.
Every human being has many layers. Some are simple. Others are more diverse and complicated. Every personality is an amazing mosaic. Please glance back and review the other two images, then study all three compositions. Each one has dominant "top layers." Take a few minutes to venture into the depths. You will never know how many rich tones and textures you will discover...until you do.
Be willing to employ the same techniques with people. You might like what you see when you are curious and humble enough to look.