Pierre Bonnard was an avid sketcher, filling countless sketchbooks and scraps of paper with drawings he would later peruse for painting inspiration when in his studio.
From a previous V. Note: Bonnard did not paint from direct observation. He said he felt ‘weak in front of nature. …The presence of the object, the motif, is very cramping for the painter at the moment of painting. The point of departure for a painting being an idea — if the object is there at the time of working, there is always a danger for the artist to allow himself to be too involved in the incidences of the direct view, and in so doing to lose the initial idea.’ Instead of painting from direct observation, he painted from his drawings, and the memory stored within them.
This process of sketching on site and then painting without the view of nature allowed Bonnard to “digest” the image artistically in two stages: first translating what he saw into his own language of marks, allowing shapes to form a nuanced grid that straightens curves and rounds right angles. Typically a painter differentiates shapes by applying light and dark values, but here Bonnard distinguishes each shape by its own language of marks. See how many different marks he can make with a dull little pencil! The scene is transformed a second time as these marks are translated into reverberating colors. Painter Patrick Heron compared the effect to the way a spider’s web holds raindrops. (Source)
As preparation for this Saturday’s workshop Paint like Degas, I’m digging in some art history to get perspective on the range of Degas’ art. Although he was eternally unsatisfied with his work, and he could a miserable jerk to people, early in his career it seems he was especially extra miserable with his artwork. He …
[image_with_animation image_url=”8901″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Last night’s Big League Show was a Big League success, due to the generous contributions of many. There were 198 artworks from 70 artists, and we estimate 150 people attended the reception. The quality of the work was excellent, widely varied in style and content, and incredibly interesting. There …
In recent posts, we talked about Cezanne’s process. In particular, we talked about the process seen in Cezanne’s drawings. Yesterday, in figure drawing class, we looked at how Cezanne tends to make short marks when he draws. Those short marks accumulate into longer contours and form descriptions, but they don’t trap or the whole object …
Bonnard’s Landscape Sketches
Pierre Bonnard was an avid sketcher, filling countless sketchbooks and scraps of paper with drawings he would later peruse for painting inspiration when in his studio.
From a previous V. Note: Bonnard did not paint from direct observation. He said he felt ‘weak in front of nature. …The presence of the object, the motif, is very cramping for the painter at the moment of painting. The point of departure for a painting being an idea — if the object is there at the time of working, there is always a danger for the artist to allow himself to be too involved in the incidences of the direct view, and in so doing to lose the initial idea.’ Instead of painting from direct observation, he painted from his drawings, and the memory stored within them.
This process of sketching on site and then painting without the view of nature allowed Bonnard to “digest” the image artistically in two stages: first translating what he saw into his own language of marks, allowing shapes to form a nuanced grid that straightens curves and rounds right angles. Typically a painter differentiates shapes by applying light and dark values, but here Bonnard distinguishes each shape by its own language of marks. See how many different marks he can make with a dull little pencil! The scene is transformed a second time as these marks are translated into reverberating colors. Painter Patrick Heron compared the effect to the way a spider’s web holds raindrops. (Source)
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As preparation for this Saturday’s workshop Paint like Degas, I’m digging in some art history to get perspective on the range of Degas’ art. Although he was eternally unsatisfied with his work, and he could a miserable jerk to people, early in his career it seems he was especially extra miserable with his artwork. He …
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[image_with_animation image_url=”8901″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Last night’s Big League Show was a Big League success, due to the generous contributions of many. There were 198 artworks from 70 artists, and we estimate 150 people attended the reception. The quality of the work was excellent, widely varied in style and content, and incredibly interesting. There …
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In recent posts, we talked about Cezanne’s process. In particular, we talked about the process seen in Cezanne’s drawings. Yesterday, in figure drawing class, we looked at how Cezanne tends to make short marks when he draws. Those short marks accumulate into longer contours and form descriptions, but they don’t trap or the whole object …