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| Art: Seeing Through the Eyes of an Artist
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Today's Woman Expert Author:
Lynne Taetzsch
Visual artists pay more attention to the sights around them than most people. They mentally compose a landscape, a portrait, or an abstract composition as they wander through the world. You, too, can learn to see more in your surroundings by paying attention, and thus enrich your visual world.
One of the blessings of being a visual artist is the intensity with which the world appears to me. This has nothing to do with 20/20 vision, but with the attention artists pay to our surroundings. We may not notice the scent of new-mown grass or the song of nearby birds, but the play of light and dark on the landscape at dusk will fascinate us.
One of my favorite sights—probably because it is so different from the typical northeastern landscape I see on a regular basis--is the California desert, with endless sand-colored dunes undulating in the sunlight as far as the eye can see. I love the strangeness of these badlands, the sense of isolation and abandonment they give me, as if I were alone on the planet.
When I fly, I always take the window seat. Sure, clouds were exciting the first time I saw them from an airplane, but what still excites me is the view of the earth, with its varying hues and shapes. Looking down at the squares of cultivated land in brown, tan, pale green, maybe with a river winding through or a lake interrupting the flow, is like staring at an abstract painting.
Since I am an abstract painter, I am continually turning the natural world around me into abstract compositions. On walks near my house, I follow the patterns of shadows on the ground, or the sun’s reflection in puddles. I look up at the web of branches overhead forming an intricate pattern of criss-crossing lines. I study the texture of bark on the trees. Any of it might form the basis for an abstract design.
Representational artists, on the other hand, might look at the landscape around them with a photographer’s eye, selecting the best shots and “framing” them. Finding interesting subject matter is the first step in their work, and many artists travel all over the world with their cameras and sketch books to stimulate their art. Others paint “plein air” directly on their canvases, translating what their eye sees directly into the forms they paint.
Seeing like a photographer is always fun, even if you’re just sitting in a waiting room with nothing else to do. I like to compose unlikely shots of corners or doorways, squinting to clarify the major lines of my composition. A portrait painter might find the faces of those waiting more intriguing, composing a portrait of sadness, pain, or impatience.
You can teach yourself to see more in the world around you just by paying closer attention. Instead of burying yourself in a book or staring at a computer screen when you travel, relax and let your eyes wander slowly over the scene around you. Study the faces you see on buses and trains, in airports, passing you on the street. Or make a study of clothing—its textures, colors, style.
The most exciting times to see nature, even scenes you see every day, is when the light changes. In early morning, at dusk, or when the weather causes changes in the lighting, ordinary images stand out in starker, more surprising contrasts. The first blanket of snow changes everything you see around you. A sunny morning after an ice-storm brings you into a metallic-like alien landscape. The arrival of Spring presents you with colors you only get to see at this time of year—the startling yellow-green shades of new growth that soon turn the more common darker greens.
Artists are blessed with a natural interest in the visual world, but others can cultivate this sense by paying attention to their surroundings. Take off the headphones, put down your book, and see. You will be amazed at the joy you can experience by just looking.
About the Author
Lynne Taetzsch is an artist and writer who has been bipolar since she was a
teenager. Her latest book, The Bipolar Dementia Art Chronicles: How A
Manic-Depressive Artist Survives Being the Primary Caregiver for Her Father and
Ex-Mother-in-Law, is a memoir. For more information, see
Artbylt.Com
Source:http://www.todays-woman.net
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| Posted on Wednesday, April 19 @ 16:59:53 EDT by Rose |
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Re: Seeing Through the Eyes of an Artist (Score: 1)
by joanne on Sunday, February 04 @ 12:08:50 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) http://www.TheEastEndSite.com | | You are sooo right my friend, I have been an artist all my life and indeed it has made me a perfectionist. I used to watch my father when i was very young paint and decorate our house, as that was his profession it fascinated me. I am a self taught artist which started the moment i could hold a pencil, I then went on to painting in oils. And it is true, I am never bored with gazing at the different colours in nature, I tend to let my pen fly when feel at one with nature and express it both in my poetry and paintings. My poor husband suffers when he puts anything up i'm always saying 'it's not straight' even if the spirit level says so, I know if it's straight or crooked by eye. I guess we are really and truly blessed. Thanks for sharing this. |
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Re: Seeing Through the Eyes of an Artist (Score: 1)
by Zoya on Wednesday, August 23 @ 04:05:04 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | Yes, dear Lynne, keeping your eyes open is indeed useful. What an inspiring article you have here. Though I am a doctor by profession but I like to paint and as a hobby did learn the techniques of oil painting, water colour, 'Batik' and 'Tie and Dye', in childhood, but sadly enough had to give up that but the artist in me lurks somewhere, and I have taken to Photography, calligraphy, and some times do some sketching...it gives me a lot of satisfaction, makes me more observant and gives me a chance to express my inner self, which I do by writing poetry too. The creative satisfaction that I get out of this is very, very satisfying, relaxing absorbing and elating experience, and rejuvenates me, and I go back to my work refreshed.
I also love Nature!
Thanks for this lovely article.
Love,
Zoya
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Re: Seeing Through the Eyes of an Artist (Score: 1)
by quantum on Sunday, July 08 @ 07:07:12 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | | Very interesting article. I have no painting skills but have spent many happy hours browsing through art galleries. Indeed as a student in London I was a regular visitor to the Tate Gallery of modern art, and had a couple of prints from Picasso's cubic phase hanging on my walls. I often wonder how abstract artists get their inspiration. Gazing at natural phenomena is indeed a delight, but what makes you want to distort it into abstract art. I have Picasso's 'Madam Z' on my wall at present and greatly admire the simplicity and the elongated neck which imparts such a haughty feeling. Is abstraction a way of enhancing the emotional appeal of a painting or is it intended to delight the eye and puzzle the observer? Do you have a link to examples of your art? |
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