Back in the day working as a pictorial artist, I must have
painted a few dozen billboards with liquor ads and this little paint brought
back the memories. Always enjoyed doing those illustrations because I got to really loosen up and fling some paint around.
It is a very abstract subject to paint, the effect of refracted
light through the melting ice, liquor and glass are gratifying objects to
depict. You get to play with the medium, manipulating the best qualities of oil
paint in thick and thin passages, the looser and more abstract your brushwork the
better.
Abstraction is everywhere when you look, and in this imagery of
reflections and transparencies it can be seen easily, it's what
makes it so satisfying to paint. Using loose open brushwork that describes the
structure and creates an illusion of three-dimensional form, a real tangible
thing - is Abstract Realism. I personally prefer the term Painterly Realism because it does not sound like such a contradiction, however I consider the terms interchangeable.
It's a very hard thing to accomplish, being
descriptive while holding those abstract qualities underneath the picture. If
only I could always paint that loosely with definition. Painterly Realism is something we should work towards; but is not a technique, it is developed over
time through observation and knowledge using nature as your guide. The study of
form, space, depth and atmosphere. Often artist's rush to that "loosely
painted” brushwork where they trade expression for knowledge.
However, many great painters seem to have found that balance,
Rembrandt, Titian, Sargent and Vermeer all exhibit the unique and subtle equilibrium
in which the abstract beauty of paint combines with a recognizable image.
I am always trying to figure out where I should keep
details and where I should let things just soften. What paint quality do I need
to describe this or that passage, with color, edges, textures and shapes. I certainly will try any paint application I can think of to arrive at that result; glazes, scumbles, impasto, scratching and scraping. Whatever needs to be done to make it look
like that surface.
So the marks we make need to reflect the object and be
authentic to that specific thing we are describing. Creating lots of brush
strokes and being impressionistic tends to look formulaic and mechanical which takes away from the natural realism I prefer. Look at contemporary artists like
Jeremy Lipkin, Conor Walton or David Kassan, they maintain the abstract and yet are very descriptive. So the brushwork or looseness/tightness
of the approach follows the object you are portraying. The goal is to master
the medium and be truthful to the subject.
Form is what I am most concerned about. When people ask me
what I paint, the real answer is form. That is, translating three-dimensional form to a two-dimensional surface and creating the illusion of reality with space,
depth and atmosphere. When you can
arrive at this with some bravura brushwork and attention to detail that synthesis
is what I consider Painterly Realism.
So for me it is all abstract. If a painting is successful at
some level, the abstract beauty of paint viewed up close merges into a
recognizable image from a distance.
Wild Turkey, oil on panel, 8 x 10 in, Jim Serrett
Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim
Website - jimserrett.com
Studio Blog - jimserrettstudio.com
Landscape Blog - Pochade Box Paintings
