The Beast

[gmotto]

Hi All,
I was asked where my ideas for paintings come from. I can only tell you that my ideas are triggered by lots of things, feelings about a subject, dreams, phrases or music,etc.
Sometimes they just pop up out of my Tar Pit of a mind. Then I sit and doodle, the doodles may or may not work into a finished picture. I might have an image for months, sitting in a file, waiting for something to be done to it. The image can be a drawn doodle or an old photo. Then when it is looked at again, in a different light so to speak, it starts to take on it's own reality and goes in a new direction almost by itself (I don't know how else to explain the process). That to me is part of the magic of this whole thing.
The Beast started out as one of the doodles. I think the idea was that there is good and bad in all of us. BR isn't the only one who has a darker side to his work. I tend to get dark in the wee hours myself.
Darn, this is getting long winded.
http://www.serenitystudios.com/Paintertut/Beast3_.jpg
I will put my disclaimer in here " I am not a teacher". I will try to answer any questions about what, why or how I did something.

[gmotto]

Hi All,
I was asked where my ideas for paintings come from. I can only tell you that my ideas are triggered by lots of things, feelings about a subject, dreams, phrases or music,etc.
Sometimes they just pop up out of my Tar Pit of a mind. Then I sit and doodle, the doodles may or may not work into a finished picture. I might have an image for months, sitting in a file, waiting for something to be done to it. The image can be a drawn doodle or an old photo. Then when it is looked at again, in a different light so to speak, it starts to take on it's own reality and goes in a new direction almost by itself (I don't know how else to explain the process). That to me is part of the magic of this whole thing.
The Beast started out as one of the doodles. I think the idea was that there is good and bad in all of us. BR isn't the only one who has a darker side to his work. I tend to get dark in the wee hours myself.
Darn, this is getting long winded.
http://www.serenitystudios.com/Paintertut/Beast3_.jpg
I will put my disclaimer in here " I am not a teacher". I will try to answer any questions about what, why or how I did something.

[Jinny Brown]

Your process is very similar to mine. I have a rather large number of "beginning" files collected on my computer waiting for "the rest of the story" to come to me.

I, too, find that my images come from some unknown (or not conscious) place and love that mystery. It's exciting, and a real pleasure to experience that process.

Your "Beast" struck me the first time I saw it as an image that was interesting, rather beautiful, and (obviously) I liked it a lot.

Thanks for sharing your work with us. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Jinny

Jinny Brown
http://www.pixelalley.com
________________________

[BR]

Hi Greg,

When I visited your online gallery, I was impressed with those older pen and inks of yours!!, but what really grabbed my eye was "The Beast". Or should I say it's eyes grabbed my eyes, so much so that I didn't notice, till you posted it in the Forum here, that it's ears and top of head were really human forms. God!, I love that "trick of the eye" sort of stuff. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif[/img]

BR....

[athena]

Hello Greg! (our fabulous Monastic Bat [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] ),

This image reminds me of an old song by Peter Gabriel (maybe shortly after he left Genesis) called the Mother of Violence

In it he said. . . Fear, She's the mother of Violence . . . It scares me to see the way she breeds

Your image here is as profound as Peter Gabriel's song. A dark trinity behind the beast . . . just amazing. Darkly beautiful.

Thank you so much for posting this.

I almost always bumble into an image. But that is the most fun. . . using my creativity to successfully use the positive shapes and negative space my bungling uncovers.

I wonder. Do any of you know Susan Seddon Boulet's work (mercy, I hope I got her name right). She does these images of animals and people and there are seemingly hundreds of other delicate images hidden in her work (people's faces etc.) It is also pretty amazing to look at. The reason I ask is because I often wonder if the artists are plagued or blessed by seeing things. For example in the cracks of the paint of a doorway of my grandmother's house I always see the profile of an American indian wearing a head-dress. Then if I look at it differently it looks like the profile of a womans' face (you know like when you'd make believe that the clouds were forming shapes for you). I wonder what that is called is there an art term for that ?

Athena

[img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[ghi stecyk]

athena

you're beginning to get into the realm of neuro processes. basically the brain is a pattern maker, always scanning abstract sensory data and constructing, or assembling pieces of prior experience, into a conscious narrative we call 'reality'. but i'm sure you already knew that [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] as for an actual art term? how about ‘wild imagination’.

i’m going to think a little bit more about this one. the accuracy of a brain’s experiential constructs is an age old philosophical problem, and modern scientific investigation is yielding even more,factual, paradoxes. for instance, color does not exist outside of our experience. it is totally manufactured by photosensitve organisms.

stecyk66

[athena]

Stecyk66,

When I first read your profile, I'd hoped to draw a topic out that you'd appreciate. I'm glad I found one. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Hmmmm

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> the realm of neuro processes. basically the brain is a pattern maker, always scanning abstract sensory data and constructing, or assembling pieces of prior experience, into a conscious narrative we call 'reality'. but i'm sure you already knew that <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

well, not in so many words. But if my recollection of reading Socrates is to be believed then we all knew that and you just helped us recollect something we already knew. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

In short, Stecyk66, I love the way you said that. Why couldn't my philosophy professor have said it so succinctly? . . .(of course, now I remember because we were studying Immanuel Kant ... the antithesis of succinct [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] ). Actually Kant is where my study of epistemology stopped . . . I badly wanted to graduate (besides, I had so much more fun in my major seminar on Aristotle with Professor Alexan Mourelatos. . . one of the best professors at UT Austin -- he's an absolute joy to study with).

Wild Imagination:
Whew! that's a relief. As long as it's not a form of insanity . . . I'm all for it.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>color does not exist outside of our experience. it is totally manufactured by photosensitve organisms. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Amazing. . .


Thanks for the post.

Athena

[img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

PS looking forward to the rest of your thoughts on this

[This message was edited by T. Athena Hatton on October 31, 2000 at 04:22 AM.]

[athena]

But hopefully this will help some of you see the jest (granted this is probably not fuel for a big, belly laugh but perhaps a smile will appear.)

<DL>
<DT>Socratic Method of Teaching.</DT>
<DD>Here's one where my memory may be fuzzy but the idea is that the teacher doesn't tell you anything. The teacher fills your day with a successive series of questions that you must answer (in the order presented to you because the next question will build on your answer from the first) and your answers to the questions gently uncover the Truth. The implication being that if the teacher didn't tell you, then you came up with it on your own or remembered it. If it turns out I'm way out in left field on this one, I apologize</DD>
<DT>Immanuel Kant</DT>
<DD>Author of the Critique of Pure Reason and The Critique of Practical Reason . One of the most convoluted writers of all time. He could easily put many lawyers to shame with his obtuse and convoluted writing (ehhh his works were translated from German so, arguably the difficulty is with the translation from German to English. But I doubt it because German and English are not a new languages so I really don't see a translation problem (it could happen though)

If a person's writing could be considered straight forward, then Kant's writings were curvey and backward. Just an odd man to read.</dd>
<DT>Epistemology</DT>
<DD>In the field of Philosophy, there is a subsection (branch) called Epistemology which is typically defined as the study of knowledge or, How do we know things? People like Descartes and Kant are famous for their views on Epistemology but this study is as old as philosophy itself</DD>


Athena

[gmotto]

Athena and Stecyk,

All this talk of philosophical stuff and the comments regarding sanity
and senses has me a little nervous. The parts about wild imagination,
insanity and color being a product of photosensitve organisms in particular. I
think that I may fall into the Nut catagory. When I listen to a
symphony, I can hear it in full living color. Oh well, over the years I
have learned not to delve to deeply into such matters. Those types of
questions and statements used to haunt me. At this stage in my life I
just say to hell with it and enjoy the status of a Senior Nut on board.

Athena,

Thank you for your very kind words regarding my work. To answer your
question of several days ago. I did not use a water color brush on the
Painting of Nickie. I used the captured bristel brush on the background
the went over it with the Just add water brush. The filter I used
softened it even more [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[This message was edited by Monastic Bat on November 02, 2000 at 06:40 AM.]