Tuesday, March 9, 2010

another much better nocturne and more whistler quotes

6x16 oil on wood
Another try at a memory nocturne. Pushed the value of the land to be darker which implies about 4:00am, while yesterdays' was right before sunrise. I am working on wood again..birch this time-love it!
Scratching, rubbing and stroking the oil paint to experiment with what it will do.


I will once again end with two famous quotes from James Abbott McNeill Whistler in reference to his nocturnes:

They are "not painted to offer the portrait of a particular place, but as an artistic impression that had been carried away [from the scene]."

I wanted to indicate an artistic interest alone, divesting the picture of any outside anecdotal interest which might have otherwise attached to it. A nocturne is an arrangement of line, form and colour first. the picture is throughout a problem, that I attempt to solve. I make use of any means, any incident or object in nature that will bring about this symmetrical result.

He said these quotes during the court case Whistler vs. Ruskin. This was the case where Whistler became bankrupt. He risked everything for an opportunity to assert the supremacy of art over the increasingly powerful domain of criticism (Ruskin). Yay Whistler!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful colors. This has that early-early morning feeling. I like what you say about working from memory and notes. It helps focus the mind on what caught one's eye about a scene in the first place. In the end, that is the story to be told.

SamArtDog said...

I really like this one!

Ooo, I have a great idea... can I build a clubhouse out of these when you're done with them? Sleepovers would be dreamy in it!

Jill Berry said...

Very Nice~
& interesting...

Anita Stoll said...

Beautiful Colors. Enchanting piece.

loriann signori said...

Hi Donald, Thanks for dropping by.Memory is so essential and it's weird how we just don't trust it enough. I am learning.

Hi Sam and thank you... what an unusual clubhouse that would be!Would it be all nocturnes or just paintings on wood?

Thanks Jill!

Thanks you Anita!

SamArtDog said...

Nocturnes, of course. Best for ruminating, napping and dreaming.

loriann signori said...

Sam, nocturnes... hmmm so far I can help you with a small wall, but stay tuned!

brian eppley said...

I really like the directional marks on the vertical panel. Big space with some close feel...very nice

SamArtDog said...

Hey, I was not begging; neither was the dog. It was just a chateau en Espagne.

I agree with Brian's observation that the vertical marks add another dimension. Thank goodness someone here can string a sentence!

loriann signori said...

Hi Brian and thank you. Some of the marks are scratches and some are from my brushes. Interesting comment about the big space and close feel. hmmm.

loriann signori said...

Sam...a visionary project hmmmmm that would be nice. Does the dog agree?

SamArtDog said...

The dog agrees with everything I say; I've got the food.

Lisa McShane said...

Very nice!

It must be the season: I'm studying Whistler, working on early dawn paintings and trying to train my memory too!

loriann signori said...

Hi Lisa,
Wow..twins! And thank you!

Takeyce Walter said...

Beautiful, Loriann. So peaceful.
Do you prime the wood before you paint on it?

loriann signori said...

Hi Takeyce, Thank you. Yes, I prime it with many thin layers of gesso and sanding between layers.