Monday, November 10, 2014

Wolf Kahn, grays / bright colors and field, early morning


10x11 pastel
This week I was asked why do I put so many bright colors in my paintings? You don't really see those do you? My only answer was that "my painting was a response to the scene rather than a depiction." I hear in my head, "Loriann you need to balance all that bright color with grays." That's what we have been taught, right?  I think balance is true, but does it have to be just neutrals? Can't the weight of volume and density of color answer the call as well?
So I turned to reading about Wolf Kahn, a master of color and balance. He too was asked how does he make all these brilliant colors work in a painting. (great company to have) WK answered, “The only time I feel comfortable is when I don’t know why the colors work,” he says. For him the act of painting is a conversation. You don’t control it; you respond to it. “It’s useful to think of a painting as a pet. If you have a pet, you give it food and it doesn’t overeat. Yet somehow if you haven’t given it enough, the pet will let you know it and you give it more so the pet is satisfied,” he says. “Painting isn’t really all that mysterious. You just give it enough till it’s satisfied.” Sounds easy, eh?
Letting go of control seems to be the answer of the month.

2 comments:

Ann said...

Absolutely love the colors, but I had to laugh at the pet analogy. That would't work in some households. I've seen a lot of little bowling ball shaped pets. What if the pet eats non-stop?! A diet is often in order.

loriann signori said...

I guess there are pets like that. Lucky for me not one of my kitties eats with abandon...although my color love sometimes needs a diet.