CP WARRIOR

I used to be quite competitive in my early years in most things. I have mellowed somewhat over the decades, but one thing that still “drives” me is my passion and competitive spirit when it comes to coloured pencil art versus “the rest of the world”.

CP art doesn’t receive the respect it deserves and every chance I get to enter an open medium art prize, means another opportunity to tackle the “big guns”; oils, acrylics and watercolours. I’ve had my successes, but I’ve struggled to match my record in art prizes with sales of my work.

The art market is fickle and at times rather naïve when it comes to taste. Attitudes have changed little. The established mediums have always attracted patronage sufficient to remain economically viable. Any art in pencil is usually labelled as drawing or sketching, with no thought that in the case of coloured pencil it could gain the status of being a form of painting.

What can be done?

Changing attitudes can take decades, even centuries. I can’t wait that long!

Time for action!!

I need a plan (or many)…

1. I should invent a crossbow that shoots coloured pencils, so I can stand near my artwork in galleries and “persuade” people to like (and buy) my work. I’ll need to wear body armour and a helmet. Na, too radical and extreme. Anyway, it would get very hot, very quickly in such a suit. Galleries are very hot sometimes!

2. Wear a T Shirt that says, “Coloured pencils artists are for real”, or something along those lines.

3. Change my name to” CP Warrior”.

4. Have all art mediums except coloured pencil made illegal.

More thinking needed…

If you believe in a cause, then you must persist.

I’d better get back to painting……… with coloured pencils.

This weekend I’m in Hobart conducting a 2-day CP workshop. A report later next week.

MONDAY: The value of a website.

Richard

CON ARTIST

One of my favourite tv series was the British production “Minder”. George Cole (Arthur Daley) was superb in his role as a con artist, a man whose dubious livelihood was deception at any cost (as long as he paid very little and was rewarded with a large return).

Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that artists are dishonest or dubious in any way, but we do paint pictures that aren’t real, they just look real or believable, to the observer. The more “real” or “believable” the painting, the happier the buyer, or “punter”, as Arthur would say.

If you are sure that the painting you are buying is convincing, then it doesn’t matter how accurate (honest?) and detailed it is. When it comes to buying art there are few rules. We like a painting; we buy the painting, it’s that simple. Why people buy artwork is of no importance to anyone but the buyers themselves. Whatever the reason, the artist is probably the happiest person in the deal!

I have seen art bordering on “terrible” sell, while on other occasions I have been privileged to view brilliant exhibitions where there were no red stickers. Why does this happen?

There are a multitude of reasons why some art sells and some doesn’t (and some probably never will). There’s no accounting for taste!

Honest art comes from an artist’s soul and is an essay expressed in an appropriate medium. The artwork “speaks” to the viewer. There’s a message, a meaning, maybe even a story.

Each artist should try their best in every painting they create, but at the same time they should leave their “mark”, their own way of seeing and painting.

I struggle with the work of artists who strive for pure realism at the expense of their own style. An artist’s style is the greatest asset they have and it’s the reason people buy their art, isn’t it?

Today’s featured painting is of the North Esk River, just East of Corra Linn, not far from the city of Launceston in Tasmania. This is a beautiful, natural place where the sound of babbling water, birds, frogs, landscape and the wind combine in a symphony that has inspired many an artist including yours truly.

But is this painting a true and accurate record of what is actually there? Well, no, it’s my interpretation, my summation of the “scene”. I chose to paint a “feeling” for the subject, not a photo-realistic account. This is how I work; this is how I “see” my subjects. Maybe I’m a con artist after all. If you enjoy my painting, does it really matter?

The painting looks much like my source photo, but it isn’t an exact painting of that particular photo. If it was, then it would be an imitation and imitation is not art, it’s craft. There are things missing and things have been added, but the “spirit” of the scene still remains, or I hope it does.

This painting still needs more work, but another session in my studio should see it completed.

Friday: My new sets of Prismacolor pencils have arrived.

Richard

IS IMAGINATION DEAD?

I drew this abstract in 1993 and it never sold. It’s an arrangement of geometric shapes set in a composition that shows depth. It’s a bit of fun and doesn’t have any academic or emotional depth. I still like it, but these days I wouldn’t even contemplate creating such work for display in a gallery.

There is no doubt that our standard of living here in Australia has improved dramatically over the past 50 years. We are the lucky country and have so much to be thankful for.

Our high standard of living has had its casualties. People aren’t as trusting as they used to be. Credit is too easily acquired. We are told, “retail therapy is the cure for your woes”. Depression is on the increase.

We have so much, but are we really happy?

The art market is closely tied to our economy. When there was plenty of money about in the 70s and 80s art flourished. People regularly bought work for their homes. Art was a luxury item that was affordable. Styles varied, but so did taste, resulting in many imaginative artworks finding their way onto welcoming walls.

Today things are quite different. Many of the imaginative artworks of the past have been superseded by society’s embrace of all things “photographic”. While I acknowledge the skill of such artists, I ask myself why is this “movement” so popular?

Artworks are supposed to make you think, whereas photographs are there simply to “look at”. Most photographs don’t require any serious study, their messages are clear. Of course there are “art photographers” whose work has deeper meaning and I have great respect for them, but they are few in a world of billions of amateurs.

What is the point of painting everything in such a clear, precise and detailed way? Imitation of a photograph is “imitation”; that’s craft, not art.

A “real” painting gives us a message, a story and an element of mystery. There are things to discover and work out. We should be stopped in our tracks as we gaze intently. Add a personal style and you have the ingredients for a great work of art.

The problem with society’s great advances has been that we have been bombarded with realism to the extent that we have forgotten what imagination is. We are told what to do, what to see, what to wear, where to go, how we should look and what we should eat.

The biggest culprits are flat-screen TVs and the Internet.

Our attitudes have changed and art has been a major casualty.

Richard