Because today we discussed the idea (difficulty, reluctance, reward) of overpainting, changing and repainting your paintings, I've included here some clips from a well-known film documenting Picasso's painting process.
"The Mystery of Picasso (French: Le mystère Picasso) is a 1956 French documentary film about the painter Pablo Picasso, directed byHenri-Georges Clouzot, and showing Picasso in the act of creating paintings for the camera. Most of the paintings were subsequently destroyed so that they would only exist on film, though some may have survived.[1]" -Wikipedia
le mystere picasso by ketchupamora
It was spectacular to see the time lapse videos of Picasso's artwork in this short film, not only because we got a glimpse into the style and techniques of one of the worlds greatest painters, but for the fact that all the images were destroyed after the short film was created. In the other videos as well, I was intrigued by the layers that Picasso utilizes in order to create a master piece. He starts off with a simplistic, almost childlike sketch of a figure which is then transformed through shadowing and colors into an amazing painting. Especially in the third video, the image starts off as a series of lines that are unidentifiable until Picasso later fills them in and adds detail. Its also interesting to see that once Picasso adds detail, he takes most of it out to get his symbolic style of shapes to create images.
ReplyDeleteMy personal favorite video is the final one, in which Picasso is painting a mystical goat-creature. In the video I was able to see how many layers and changes are undergone before Picasso finishes a work of art. It is always hard for me to do this, because I feel like adding all these extra layers make me start over or will ruin the painting, so it was interesting to see Picasso's steps in making a painting.
Peri Levine
Being able to view Picasso's work in action was mind blowing and spectacular to watch. Seeing such a magnificent artist at work not only gives the viewer insight into the artistic process, but allows us as viewers to feel as if we are there in the moment as the piece is being created. What I took away from watching Picasso at work was style of layering. Although simplistic, he starts his pieces with very free form brush strokes and then layers paint over the loose images he started with. This relates to some of the techniques we have been learning in class. Instead of meticulously outlining on the canvas, Picasso freely , and somewhat rhythmically, applies paint and is able to work quickly by layering the paint. This was most apparent in the last two videos. The video of the goat especially shows this method. What starts out as a quick sketch, turns into a very detailed and realistic image beautiful image by the end of the film, just by his simplistic style of layering. This is something that I think I would keep in mind when creating my own work, as I have a habit of working slowly when starting a piece. I think if I started off with a more free form approach, and then worked over that, in layers, it would enhance my skills.
ReplyDeleteCandace
The process of overpainting will always be a difficult talk for all painters. When beginning a body of work with a purpose or direction in mind, a preconceived painting might already exist. The difficult part of painting is realizing when to stop. There may have been a point when painting where the piece had achieved its beauty and no longer needed to be worked, but when it is overpainted the painting has this mature quality and we associate it with hate or love, then to decide to either destroy it or accept it as is. Mystery of Picasso is evidence to us, beginning painters, that not everything starts and ends out perfectly. To document while painting is very important, because even though we may not have the physical painting we will always have the still photo(s) of the work in it's phases of development.
ReplyDeleteSeeing the many phases of Picasso's paintings made me realize that in laying the paint in layers, the development of the overall composition comes together more easily, and then the smaller details and colors comes after the more widely based under paintings. Seeing this process made me look at my own processes without any emotional attachment, which helped me a lot. It was uplifting to see that a painter like Picasso went through such an ever changing process. It was interesting at one point to see how he worked the canvas so many times, darkening one portion and later in the process making that part of the canvas completely white again. ~Frances Maggio
ReplyDeletePicasso is one of the most widely recognized artists from the past. Watching the videos for the “Mystery of Picasso” shows the process that Picasso used to create some of his pieces. He altered his pieces multiple times before he reached the finished product. I think that many newer painters are afraid to re-work what they have already done. Personally, once I start something, I just want to finish it through on my first try. I do not like to rearrange the composition of my piece once I start it and am close to finishing it.
ReplyDeleteHowever, watching Picasso work his pieces ten or more times over is what makes his pieces so recognizable. He uses that process to his advantage and makes it a part of his art. This is probably the result of years and years of practices as well as the confidence he has in his skills as an artist. Since I am a new painter, I do not have that much confidence in my own skills yet. Although, I hope that one day I will be able to have that confidence and be able to rework my pieces (if needed) in order to make them better.
*Danielle Sargent