This is my latest painting. It is oil on canvas like 28"x44". I have grown more and more fond of painting at around this size, and I can move through them with more ease, technically and conceptually. I like areas of total abstraction and of course the figure is my subject most of the time, and there should be areas on the figure that are shapes and colors and, up close, just marks as opposed to being strict representational interpretations. I am trying to align my work with more modern concepts, because that is at the root of what painting should be about, beyond simply the technical brilliance (thanks JOE), it must leave a taste in the mouth of the viewer.
On a related note, with the inception of personal handheld technology to aid artists and its massive development in the last twenty years, I feel oil painting is in a process of finding its place in an art world where anything goes. I certainly feel that with my self and my work as of late, but that is a topic for another day. Oil painting, because of its natural relationships to the past (archaic) and the fact that it has been the dominant medium in art for hundreds of years, will stuggle at times for place and purpose in our ever digitized culture. It is the classic "revolt" against what is perceived as the establishment syndrome, so oil painting is taking a bit of a beating right now. However, I believe it will always maintain its place as one of a number of ways to bring an idea to fruition. Digital media is also quicker ( typically) and that is all apart of our culture as well. Everything instantly and results oriented.
This being said, I really like what artists are doing digitally, envious at times, and that it is one more tool in the box for a creative person to use, which is brilliant. The more possiblities for creativity the greater the spectrum of ideas. At times I feel archaic with oils and at others times exalted, the truth lies somewhere in between.
Thinking people . . . . . . . more people thinking, regardless.
The Joe I am referring to above is a fellow artist who does sumptuos work, go see him at www.josephacross.blogspot.com.
