Stanley Lewis, View from the Porch, East Side of House , 2003-2006, Acrylic on canvas 38 3/4” x 48”
Yesterday I posted drawings by Stanley Lewis. Lewis was one of the influences listed by Charity Baker at the New York Studio School. Looking through Lewis’ art and writing, I found an interview on Painting Perceptions that talked about his methods, and his influences:
“[Painting from perception] often feels like a horribly impossible thing to do but you somehow do it anyway.” – Stanley Lewis on Painting Perceptions
Lewis says that one way to paint what you see accurately is to figure out the proportions and use a frame. The rectangle of the frame helps to determine the relationship where the verticals and horizontals intersect. Then you work to unify and relate the pieces spatially to each other.
View from Barn Window , 2008, Oil on canvas 14” x 14”View from the Barn Window (Detail) 2011,Oil on canvas 16” x 23 1/4”
Honestly, if I hadn’t taken Jonathan Harkham’s class I would think Lewis is talking about the standard struggle to paint as I knew it, the way I learned it in school, but these guys are using the language in a different way, their paintings have something special in them. They’re doing a different thing. It’s complicated and exciting … and I’m starting to get it.
Stanley Lewis, Still Life with Photograph of Karen, late 1970s, oil on masonite 48″ x 54¾”
“It can get very complicated; it’s difficult to explain. When you try to get everything working like this you realize that it actually can’t be done. How do you find a consistent stabilizing position? That’s what I’m interested in and that’s what I’ve been trying to do for my whole life.” – Lewis
Stanley Lewis, Corner of Connecticut Ave. and Calvert St. , 2002, acrylic on paper, 40″ x 45½”
Wilbur Niewald
Lewis worked with Niewald at Kansas City Art Institute for 17 years, and says that Wilbur Niewald, now approaching 95 years old, had a huge influence on his style, and carries the key to perceptual painting in America.
“You have got to find out about his paintings (…) Wilbur is an interpreter of Cézanne and Mondrian.” – Lewis
Following his advice, I looked up Wilbur Niewald. More in the next post.
I’m in Portland, taking a 3-day figure drawing intensive with Fran O’Neill. Saturday was Day 2 of my intensive, and though about mid-day I was cranky, I ended the day on a high. I did not want to stop. I learned a new way of drawing. Isn’t it thrilling that I can draw for so many years, …
Whatever you have is fine. Really. You don’t need to feel bad or unprepared if you don’t have a #6 brush. You don’t need it. What you need is around you, at your feet. You need that scrap of paper from the bin, the broken plate, the corner of your dirty shirt, and some beet …
[image_with_animation image_url=”11410″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] From yesterday’s V.Note: “Though I thought I should give it a try, I really thought I wouldn’t like drypoint because every time I heard the word “drypoint” I heard nails on a chalkboard, and most of the prints labeled as “drypoints” seemed less rich and subtle than the etchings …
If you haven’t seen Wayne Thiebaud’s cakes, his gumball jars, the ice cream cones in rows, you simply MUST check them out. They are what made Thiebaud famous, and with good reason. But don’t look here for gumballs and meringues. They are not here. This post has a few of his sketches, and less common …
Stanley Lewis talks about his mentor
Yesterday I posted drawings by Stanley Lewis. Lewis was one of the influences listed by Charity Baker at the New York Studio School. Looking through Lewis’ art and writing, I found an interview on Painting Perceptions that talked about his methods, and his influences:
“[Painting from perception] often feels like a horribly impossible thing to do but you somehow do it anyway.” – Stanley Lewis on Painting Perceptions
Lewis says that one way to paint what you see accurately is to figure out the proportions and use a frame. The rectangle of the frame helps to determine the relationship where the verticals and horizontals intersect. Then you work to unify and relate the pieces spatially to each other.
Honestly, if I hadn’t taken Jonathan Harkham’s class I would think Lewis is talking about the standard struggle to paint as I knew it, the way I learned it in school, but these guys are using the language in a different way, their paintings have something special in them. They’re doing a different thing. It’s complicated and exciting … and I’m starting to get it.
“It can get very complicated; it’s difficult to explain. When you try to get everything working like this you realize that it actually can’t be done. How do you find a consistent stabilizing position? That’s what I’m interested in and that’s what I’ve been trying to do for my whole life.” – Lewis
Lewis worked with Niewald at Kansas City Art Institute for 17 years, and says that Wilbur Niewald, now approaching 95 years old, had a huge influence on his style, and carries the key to perceptual painting in America.
“You have got to find out about his paintings (…) Wilbur is an interpreter of Cézanne and Mondrian.” – Lewis
Following his advice, I looked up Wilbur Niewald. More in the next post.
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Measured Marks
I’m in Portland, taking a 3-day figure drawing intensive with Fran O’Neill. Saturday was Day 2 of my intensive, and though about mid-day I was cranky, I ended the day on a high. I did not want to stop. I learned a new way of drawing. Isn’t it thrilling that I can draw for so many years, …
Materials, a manifesto
Whatever you have is fine. Really. You don’t need to feel bad or unprepared if you don’t have a #6 brush. You don’t need it. What you need is around you, at your feet. You need that scrap of paper from the bin, the broken plate, the corner of your dirty shirt, and some beet …
This is not an etching: Jake Muirhead
[image_with_animation image_url=”11410″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] From yesterday’s V.Note: “Though I thought I should give it a try, I really thought I wouldn’t like drypoint because every time I heard the word “drypoint” I heard nails on a chalkboard, and most of the prints labeled as “drypoints” seemed less rich and subtle than the etchings …
Uncommon Works from Thiebaud
If you haven’t seen Wayne Thiebaud’s cakes, his gumball jars, the ice cream cones in rows, you simply MUST check them out. They are what made Thiebaud famous, and with good reason. But don’t look here for gumballs and meringues. They are not here. This post has a few of his sketches, and less common …