Vanitas II - Etiquette - Finished

"Life imitates art far more than art imitates life."  - Oscar Wilde.

Intuition.

I get an idea and tend to just run with it, focus on the process and let the concepts evolve as I go. When working in a series, one piece will feed into another and things will lead in interesting directions, if you let them. This awareness of the painting experience is directing your decision making and aesthetic choices. The process is always asking questions as you answer them, what hue, value, chroma, shape, edges, scale and on and on, and hopefully with experience you are doing all of this intuitively. I find a lot meaning, energy and satisfaction within this chain of events.

Media – Popular Culture and Dumbing Down

It seems that where ever you go today there is someone staring at some little device lost in a vortex of texting or in some loud authoritative one-sided conversation. I wonder how much of their life is spent with their head down and eyes glued to a screen. People have become so dependent on these devices, if not addicted, starring and constantly checking their smartphone. Having a conversation with someone while they are texting is not multitasking, it’s just bad manners. When my earliest cell phone rang it was usually a client or art director in a panic about some deadline, commission or change needed. Silence was a good thing…

I am very supportive of the technology, but I wonder what it says about society and its direction. With all this conversing we actually seem to be becoming more anti-social, less tolerant and self-absorbed…the synonym for Narcissism is Vanity. (We just had the most narcissistic/egotistical public display in history the 2016 Presidential election.)

We always study the culture of past civilizations by the artifacts they leave behind, we analyze their art, literature and music in hopes of getting a glimpse into the conscious of that society. I wonder what a future archaeologist will think of a society in which a dead shark formaldehyde preserved or a real-life bed strewn with empty liquor bottles, soiled underwear, and stained sheets is considered high culture? Does it take the absurd and obnoxious to get us to look up from our cell phones? With great interest and at times contempt I’ve watched the “official” art establishments join the conceptual art carnival where ruder and cruder is worth more. I mean what does an 18-karat golden toilet installed in a Guggenheim Museum bathroom, by Maurizio Cattelan’s titled “America”— yes an actual functioning gold toilet – says? Conceit, arrogance and snobbery, more synonyms for Vanity.

Ugly – is easy.

I try to be open minded and tolerant, but I don’t get the joke, postmodernist art seems to me to be elitist and exclusive, a system in which mediocrity is rewarded and validated by a self-contained circle of critics and promoters. And it’s no secret that the real value is its importance in monetary exchange and more its utility as an unregulated commodity.

When we approach art from the oppose end, that of beauty. We are judging it by a different set of metrics. We look at art through our human experience, a personal, truthful and honest view of the world. Great art transcends time and subject matter, not because of the artist’s technical prowess, but because it embraces universal ideas. It has an intrinsic power, some sensation of perfection that bypasses the intellect, in the same way that we receive sensual pleasure from the scent of a rose. John Ruskin referred to this as Simple Beauty, but also spoke about Ideal Beauty which he calls Relation. The artistic idea of relation goes a step beyond Truth, Beauty, Power and Imitation, into a realm that requires intellect. This is art that produces expression, sentiment and character. I see that as the gateway to understanding/creating artistic beauty- it is to see with the mind (intellect) and heart (emotion) These are the core universal ideas.

I enjoy writing/blogging about art but it truly is more for me than you. Writing is my way to work out some of my thoughts and concepts, engage in a bit of exchange and learn something new.  I hope you take my opinions with a grain of salt, for they may change. I believe it is very important for artists to give insights into their ideas, share those opinions, explore and conduct critical thinking about the world around us.

Who better to speak about art then those who make it.  That seems to me to be the proper etiquette.

Vanitas II - Etiquette, oil on panel, 11 x 14 inches, Jim Serrett

In the Vanitas genre people look at the skull imagery as macabre and morbid symbolism peppered with some moral instruction. That is one of the obvious interpretation, but I see it more as a cautioning reminder that life is precious, so they better not waste it on frivolous and meaningless things. Often included in the Vanitas or memento mori images is the phrase Memento vivere - Remember to live.

Live in the present moment. And recognize how we spend our time is important, what are we really cultivating? Is it improving our lives? Does binge watching hours of junk TV (which I am painfully guilty of) enrich your intellect or cultivate a skill? We need to have a balance, things we do that are frivolous or fun and those which are worthwhile.

Links:

The Emily Post Institute, Inc.

Life imitating art.......

Narcissism

Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim 

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Vanitas II – Etiquette – WIP

Here is an update and progress shots of my second Vanitas painting. I've made a couple of passes over the underpainting and I'm starting to model the form. Looking for a very sculptural feel, I want the illusion of space to govern this piece and to have all the objects sit and recede with a sense of dimension, which moves the viewer into the picture by means of light, form and depth. This is very important to the narrative of this Vanitas.

My still life set up is a shelving unit draped and boxed in with black fabric to block out any light.  I light it from within and balance the same light on my canvas and palette. I often use my pochade box as a standing palette, and will normally use a hand held palette in unison to work out color mixtures.

On the palette I premix mix a string of colors for each object representing it's hue, value and chroma. If I see there is any color shift as it moves from light to dark along the string I will tap warm or cool into it from my color palette as needed. This way I am never tied to those premixes and as I see reflected light or a temperature shift I can quickly punch it up or tone it down without breaking the flow of the painting process. Because if am really way off on my judgement, I can make those finite adjustments as I return for my second or third pass. Each time I visit a passage, the subtle differences in color and value become easier to find.

This way I can just stay in the zone.

The Vanitas or memento mori imagery is a fascinating genre to explore and is full of interesting symbolism. My concept of the Vanitas or certainly the core idea behind them is to use it not just as a platform to speak about the struggle of life and death, but of art and life.

I will save more of that conversation for later and as I work through this piece I will share those thoughts. I do want to share this link to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the amazing series “The ArtistProject” in this episode’s artist Roland Flexner discusses the 16thcentury Vanitas painting by Jacques de Gheyn II.

Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim 

Link: The Artist Project: Roland Flexner

"the Met" -  http://www.metmuseum.org/

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Vanitas II – Etiquette - Drawing and Underpainting

Preliminary pencil drawing for my next Vanitas oil painting, originally it was intended to be a simple contour drawing to transfer to canvas, but I was just having too much fun with a pencil.

The majority of my still life works begin with a simple but descriptive contour drawing, which works out the composition and suggests the shadow side or turning point on the form. This is typically more than enough information to move on to the next stage of paint. Especially for any monochrome underpainting.

I pushed this one quite a bit further. In a preliminary drawing you can do a great deal of problem solving. By simply dissecting the imagery, exploring the shapes, form and value relationships. You really familiarize yourself with the subjects and those nuances that first attracted you to it. This process seems the most natural for me and the most challenging. I feel that I am looking through a lens and slowly turning it, focusing in on the subject through my mind’s eye, interrupting it as I go. Becoming more aware and knowledgeable about this thing before me as I progress through the process of creating the image.  As I describe the effects of the light, it becomes more and more dimensional and real to me. And enjoyed fleshing out the value relationships in this drawing.

I transferred the drawing to board. With the subject in front of me and the value study as reference, I painted a quick wipe out umber underpainting, to truly reinforce the value relationships before my first color pass.

If we attempt to translate the natural world into paint with some type of optical fidelity (faithfulness to how that object looks in real life), what you paint is light. I know this is the vague common answer you hear when you ask an artist - what do you paint? But it is the simple truth, the truth of physical properties when describing form, what is illuminated and what is in shadow? No matter what the subject is; skulls, flowers, apples and oranges, I paint the effects of light first and the narrative second.

Our perception of everything in this world is described by light or the lack of.
It is the universal narrator, the chronicler, storyteller and poet.

"The purpose of art is to stop time." — Bob Dylan

Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim 

Link: Fun with a Pencil By Andrew Loomis


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Vanitas I - The Death of Superman

Here is my finished piece exploring the art of the Vanitas. What a fascinating subject matter to dive into.

Vanitas I -  The Death of Superman, oil on panel, 11 x 14 inches © Jim Serrett

Memento mori is a Latin phrase which means "remember that you have to die", the phrase certainly speaks about the frailty of life and our mortality. Originating from a practice common in Ancient Rome; as a general came back victorious from a battle, and during his parade ("Triumph") received compliments and honors from the crowd of citizens. He ran the risk of falling victim to haughtiness and delusions of grandeur; to avoid this, a slave stationed behind him would say "Respice post te. Hominem te memento" (“Look after you [to the time after your death] and remember you're [only] a man."). Memento mori!” Remember that you will die!”

The early religious imagery surrounding death was often used as motivator to live a good, meaningful and virtuous life. Churches would commission and display memento mori art to compel viewers to meditate on death, reflect on their lives, and re-dedicate themselves to their theology. 

By the seventeenth century Dutch Masters like Adam Bernaert, Pieter Claesz and Willem Claesz Heda had turn this imagery into a genre of its own called Vanitas, still life paintings which often contained religious and allegorical symbolism to remind us how vain and insignificant our human concerns are and consequently, how important it is to turn to God/deity. The term Vanitas comes from the opening verse of Ecclesiastes 1:2 in the Latin Bible “Vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas’, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

Still Life with a Skull by Philippe de Champaigne,

 Vanitas c. 1671 is reduced to three essentials Life, Death, and Time

Keep in mind we are talking about the Golden Age of Dutch culture, the Netherlands was an economic and cultural powerhouse in the seventeenth century, the Dutch East India Company was the largest commercial enterprise in the world, controlling more than half of all oceangoing trade. The Dutch were enjoying a very high quality of living for the era, and artists like Rembrand, Frans Hals and Vermeer were producing works of art at a caliber and quality that still astonish us today. With the wealth and exotic goods of it's far-flung trade, there seemed to be a considerable interest in religious themed imagery that had a moral lesson with some symbolic reminder of death to underscore the “vanity” of life and the need to be morally prepared for final judgment.

A Vanitas Still Life with Skull, Books, Römer, Oil Lamp and Pen, by Pieter Claesz, 

c. 1645 Oil on wood 15.5 x 23.5 in

The Oligarchy Vs Theocracy of the seventeenth century Dutch Republic and Painting in the Dutch Golden Age are pretty interesting subjects, certainly a fascinating period of history. Below I have added a couple links that go further in depth. 

However, I want to stay speaking about the imagery and metaphors that these Dutch Master were creating. The symbolic meaning of objects used in Vanitas paintings runs a gambit of psychological nuances and subtleties. Common vanitas symbols include skulls, which are a reminder of the certainty of death; rotten fruit (decay); bubbles (the brevity of life and suddenness of death); smoke, watches and hourglasses, (the briefness of life); and musical instruments (brevity and the ephemeral nature of life). The skulls and empty glass are fairly obvious. Some of it may be a little ambiguous today, decaying flowers, insects and fruits, but for most I think the allegories can be interpreted to where they still reveal a hidden meaning or truth. And in that is the universal truth, the one thing, that no matter what socio-economic background or theocratic religion, the same reality exists, just how short our existence is. And what we do with it does matter.

As the late great comedian Gene Wider said, "Time is a precious thing. Never waste it." That is the meaning or narrative I get from those Vanitas and memento mori pieces. Yes, remember that you are mortal humans, that yes each of us will die in time. We are not ten feet tall and bulletproof, little reminders that we are not Superman might be good for us. So the candle will go out, we must come to terms and know our mortality/humanity.

But we must also not forget, Memento vivere - Remember to live!

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Links of interest.

Vanitas from Wikipedia

Vanitas still life symbolism.

Symbolic Meaning of objects used in Vanitas paintings

National Gallery of Art - Painting in the Dutch GoldenAge - A Profile of the Seventeenth Century

The Death of Superman. DC Comics

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Memento Mori - Vanitas WIP

Having spent much time sketching the anatomy skull it is understandable that I would become interested in the significance or meaning of such an enigmatic image. The skull certainly represents the frailty of life and the inevitability of death. Building on this theme I’ve become interested in other symbolic imagery I can add to this narrative. All which has led to a close study of the art of the Vanitas, the seventeenth century Dutch paintings filled with allegories and symbolism illustrating the impermanent nature of life and the vanity of human activity. And what kind of painting I could create that communicates the temporary nature of our existence.  More about this subject matter as I push through this painting. So here is the contour drawing of my idea on the easel.

Memento mori - Remember that you will die. Know your mortality.
Memento vivere - Remember to live.

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Memento Mori No.4

Very interesting subject. I love a drawing challenge, and this skull with it multiple planes is more of one than I thought it would be. To describe form, think light and shade and it will explain the object.

Memento Mori No.4, Graphite pencil with white chalk on Strathmore toned paper, 5.5 x 8.5 inches

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Memento Mori No.3

The more you know about a subject, the more you’ll discover what you don’t, and the more you will want to learn. As I pursue these drawings, it is beginning to shed new light on how I look at the face, I am beginning to see the structural framework of the skull in people’s faces and visualizing all the relationships of the features.

Memento Mori No.3, Graphite pencil with white chalk on Strathmore toned paper, 5.5 x 8.5 inches

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Memento Mori No.2

Learning the proportions of the head, by understanding the anatomy of the skull.

The two main parts of the skull, (Cranium) the skull and (Mandible) the lower jaw and chin.

The round cap of the skull, (Calvaria) the bony ridge below the eyebrow (Supercialiary Arch) the (Zygomatic Bone) commonly referred to as the cheekbone. The goal is to expand my practical understanding of anatomy and the ability to apply it to observations from life.

Memento Mori No.2, Graphite pencil with white chalk on Strathmore toned paper, 5.5 x 8.5 inches

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Memento Mori - No.1

"Say Hello to my little friend!"

Received this great anatomy skull for my Birthday, going to be working on some drawings.

Memento Mori I, Graphite pencil with White chalk on Strathmore toned paper, 5.5 x 8.5 inches

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