Impasto Technique Exploration

“My business is to paint what I see, not what I know is there.” — J.M.W. Turner

Envision

In thinking about this week's challenge to stretch my style by trying out new media and techniques, I began looking for images that would jive with the thick, textural approach of impasto painting.  At first I focused on two images from a wedding this spring, which were fun to explore with some small studies, but I was easily distracted by good old Instagram and fell in love with the image taken by a friend while visiting Maine. The sky had me hooked, and the depth of the piece presented some great opportunities to lay on some thick paint!  

Stretch and Explore

The studies this week really helped me narrow down what I was most interested in pursuing as a final painting.  The garden scene still intrigues me, but it was hard to work out some of the building features on such a small canvas board.  The addition of a flexible modeling paste and fluid matte medium in all of my work this week helped in the development of the heavy texture I was looking for.  I really enjoy the modeling paste, pushing you to work in a swift and responsive way. 

Engage and Persist

  
“A painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness, and some fantasy. When you always make your meaning perfectly plain you end up boring people.” – Edgar Degas
This quote from Degas resonated with me during this week's adventures.  With Kipp Sky #1 the painting was to a point where I wanted so badly to leave it alone . . . but wasn't completely satisfied.  So . . . I reached out to Professor Meneses for an in-progress critique and her insights were spot on and a game changer for the piece!  The notion of "leaving air" in the painting is something I had heard before, but never really intentionally applied to my own work.  I tend to want to provide resolution in too many parts of the work, and often sacrifice, as Degas says, a little mystery or vagueness.  
Through pondering this idea of leaving space in the painting I began to realize how much I am drawn to artworks that allow me to find the resolution in my own way.  I am a huge fan of Jenny Saville's figurative work -- the sweeping, confident brushwork, filled with energy, chaos, and power balanced with areas of resolution and focus -- captivating and engaging!

Putting Professor Meneses's advice into action, I put my first painting aside and began working on more than one piece.  Click on the images to see how things progressed.
Kipp Sky #1
Kipp Sky #2: Small Study
Kipp Sky #3

​Share and Reflect

Kipp Sky                                                              acrylic 9" x 12"
Well,  thank you Sarah Kipp for snapping such an inspiring image!  This was so much painful fun to engage in and I love the way it pushed me to contemplate the choices I make in the process.  In my work I strive to put a pause button on fleeting, ephemeral moments within the natural world, to capture a familiar sense of awe and wonder. 
Though there are a few spots in the foreground that are still troubling me, I feel like this is a great spot for this piece to live.  Working with the modeling paste and pallet knives adds to the energy of the scene, and the nature of the medium forces a certain level of confidence that is quite liberating.  One thing about this process that I will share with my AP Studio Art crew is that it requires A LOT of trail and error . . . sort of a dance back and forth between the values, the edges, and the positive and negative spaces.  However, as I like to say to the learners -- the more you do it, the better you get.