INSPIRATION CAN COME FROM ANYWHERE

I think a lot of artists think that only artistic inspiration is important and that we always must know other artists who are inspiring us. A lot of people think the opposite and that it is important to have other influences like nature. I find that the combination of the two is very important and it shouldn't be a battle of which is more important.

Having a list of artists who influence your work is very crucial to growing and improving. Following big name artists or really any professional artist will allow you to see things within their work that influence your own. For instance, Jenny Saville, an artist who I will talk about later in the month, has a variety of influences one of them being Francis Bacon. So just to see the connection lets compare two of their pieces:

Jenny Saville, Rosetta 2, 2005-6, oil on watercolor paper mounted on board

Francis Bacon, Self Portrait with Injured Eye, 1972

When you first look at the two paintings there are obvious similarities, like portraiture. But going beyond that there are similar ways of how their paint and the colors they use. Both of these artists use colors not necessarily noticed in real skin tones, they're slightly exaggerated. For instance in Saville's Rosetta 2 there are beautiful purples and blues throughout the piece and in Bacon's there are purples, blues, and reds. Another similar characteristic is the brushwork they use. There are parts which are carefully worked but others that are just one generic swoop of the brush like in under the right ear and on the chin of Bacon's and on the left cheek into the neck of Saville's. 

On the other hand it is important to be influenced by what is around you and other things not related to art. Subjects from Geology and Nature to the mechanics of a car can be used for inspiration. This is the basis of what we do and what motivates us. When we find something we find beautiful we want to create art from it and that could be anything. An artist like John F. Simon Jr. who does multimedia pieces is inspired by Geology. You might not be aware of it from first looking at the piece but once you make that connection everything has a different meaning. 

John F. Simon Jr, Endless Bounty, 2005

As artist's we are allowed to be in awe of really strange things. We should take advantage of that and not allow ourselves to get embarrassed for staring at a tree for an abnormally long time in public. Own it and fully let it inspire your work so that you can be the best artist you can.

Photo Cites:
Rosetta 2: http://www.gagosian.com/artists/jenny-saville/selected-works
Self Portrait with Injured Eye: http://www.queerculturalcenter.org/Pages/Bacon/FBFaces.html
Endless Bounty: http://artdaily.com/news/67295/John-F--Simon-Jr--s-multimedia-works-inspired-by-geology-and-Kandinsky-on-view-at-the-Phillips-Collection

DETERMINING DAILY RITUALS

I recently got the book “Daily Rituals” by Mason Currey. I thought this book would not only being just a fun and easy read but also hopefully make me want to create. I was right. Now, this isn’t going to be a review (but I could do that in another post if you wanted) but more of a something-sparked-in-my-mind-now-I’m-going-to-blog-about-it thing. This book is jam packed with artists and philosophers and writers who were successful in one way or another. Each little section about a creator has a mini bio (if you could call it that) and their daily schedule or habits. Now don’t think I’m shamelessly promoting this book. I’m not getting anything out of promoting it besides the fact that I enjoy it and find it interesting.

Okay so moving on,

My schedule as of right now, like most students, is based around my classes, internship and work study. I don’t exactly have a set plan everyday besides get what needs to be done, well, done. Now in comparison to most situations where people go off to their desk job and work and go to lunch and work and go home and maybe draw or paint, this book shows how the creative get the most from their days. Let’s compare:

One of the artists mentioned in this book is Francis Bacon. Now, Bacon’s days included “eating multiple rich meals a day, drinking tremendous quantities of alcohol, taking whatever stimulants were handy, and generally staying out later and partying harder than his contemporaries.” At this point some of you are probably thinking he could’ve done so much more and spent his time more wisely. Well, the book continues “Painting came first. Despite his late nights, Bacon always woke at the first light of day and worked for several hours…” His lifestyle is shown through his interesting portrayal of figures with multiple angles shown. While his style is almost a mix between Salvador Dali and Cubism, Bacon’s slur yet rich lifestyle is definitely shown in his compositions. Here's an example of one of his pieces "Figure in Movement"

Francis Bacon, Figure in Movement, 1976, oil on canvas, 198x147.5 cm, private collection

(http://www.francis-bacon.com/paintings/?c=76-77)

Another artist mentioned in this book is Willem de Kooning. Now let’s try to work backwards trying to guess his lifestyle from his style of painting. Here is one of Willem de Kooning’s paintings “Pink Angels”

Willem de Kooning, Pink Angels, 1945, oil and charcoal on canvas, 132.1x101.6 cm, Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, L.A. © 2011 The Willem de Kooning Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

(http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1149)

There is definitely lines of structure but yet the gestures are mainly fluid. There are areas where Kooning has clearly worked over many times and there are moments of frustration. How could his lifestyle compliment his painting?

Well, Willem de Kooning, according to Mason Currey, his days were pretty simple. “He generally rose around 10:00 or 11:00, drank several strong cups of coffee, and painted all day and into the night, breaking only for dinner and the occasional visitor.”  No crazy partying like Bacon, but then again, there are few people who did party like Francis Bacon and still manage to lead a successful career.

In any case, reading these rituals of successful creators really is inspiring and makes me realize that you don’t need to have a set type of lifestyle just because of your career path. You just need to figure out when you are the most productive and creative and work around it. Because we all know what is most important in the art world: continuing to produce works.