Portraits that speak by themselves

Traditional themes never die since they are renewed by the technique used and by what they tell us. This is portraits' case. Artists have always been interested in perpetuating other people in their works, before photography technology there was no way to get someone to be remembered, but the most interesting thing about it is that due to portraits we are able to realize how faces have been changing over the course of history. 

Thanks to the portraits we can know what the idealization of beauty was at any given moment, which wasn't the same in the tenth century or in the sixteenth century, much less in the twenty-first century. We have an idea nos of what was worn, fashion, morphology and even the predominant expressions in a time that is not ours. It's like writing history but with pencils and paintings. Therefore, portraits have always existed and will always exist, whispering to the ear the secrets of a moment or circumstance of history and a character.

It is interesting to see how things have changed, not only in the portrait's subject but also in its realization. Personally, I feel great admiration for those artists who manage to make realistic portraits and are able to show up the emotions and feelings of a character through their eyes, for example, something that photography itself often can not get. 

Today, I want to show you Marina Pacurar's work, she is a traditional and digital artist specialized, but not limited, on portraits. She has a serie of portraits based on Games of Thrones' characters, which she used as well to create a Deck of Poker Cards ( https://www.etsy.com/shop/MarinaPacurar?ref=hdr_shop_menu ). One of the things that most caught my attention in her portraits, besides their great perfection, it was the expression that this artist gives them, they are live as they could speak and tell us how they feel and how they are, what is very difficult to achieve in fact. Click on the images below to enlarge them and to know more about this awesome artist who is able to make her portraits talk with their eyes and skin.

Find your style in photography - 1 - As gentle as a cool breeze in summer

We all know that there are so many styles of photographies as photographers, but the matter is: did you find your own style? as in painting, it will make you stand out from the others. 

Art often reflects not only what we see but what we are, not only by the elements that we show but how we do it. Through our camera we can get the same scene transmit different sensations depending on how we capture the image. Besides, we have post production tools which help us to get what we really want. But it isn't so easy as we think. Some say that if they had a good camera and photopshop they could get anything they want, but that's wrong..., we can't get it if we have no talent. You can spend endless hours in front of your computer without achieving what you want as it's not just a matter of working with technology but, as usual in art, to know how to do it and what we exactly want to get.

I want to show you Leif Sohlman's artworks as an example of this, he is a photographer mainly working with nature photography such as birds, animals and landscapes. He has a personal style, not only because he's mostly focused on nature but on the way he captures it. Sometimes it's difficult to know if his works are photographs or paintings since he adds his personal touch which brings us to an emotion that goes beyond the image itself. It's like a cool and gentle breeze in a special universe of nature where a peaceful environment takes us to pleasant sensations, even when it's sometimes broken by some details as a dramatic sky it simply reinforces the peaceful scene below.

His special mood on pictures makes us distinguish his ones among others. Leif is a perfect combination between great eye and great hand, he subsumes the right place and the perfect smooth that increases reality making it become magic. I invite you to click on the images below to enlarge them and know more about the fantastic work of this great artist.

Find your style in oil - 2 - Beyond Realism

As we've been talking about, having your own and personal style makes the difference in art. There isn't a better or worse style, it's just about how you want to let your creation go. 

About oil, one of my favourites mediums, you can work with it in so many different ways that it would be impossible to describe in just a few lines. Besides, let's take into account that an artist is always improving her/his work, changing, tasting, facing challenges to find the perfect style that fits their inspiration. We grow as human beings, as persons and as artists as well. 

Regarding this post, realism is one of the most extended styles in the history but don't think that they are all the same. Each artist has a special brushstroke and a concept of contrasts and colours as well as a vision of the elements. There is one style in realism in which converge the classic figurative realistic style with the contemporary artist's vision and hand adding the effective touch of modernism that is needed now a days. This kind of art takes us further than the classic one pushing us into a reality which goes beyond the simple figure but to its environment and circumstances as well. 

As I mentioned before, we can find lot of realistic artists in history but they are not all the same even the same, just the opposite. Fortunately, we still have some artists who work with this style and oil medium and who give us as a present their wonderful artworks to our delight. As an example of this, I want to introduce you Dominique Amendola's art, which is already well know around the world. She works with realism but with her special touch and style in which she constantly works. You can click on the images to enlarge them and know more about this excellent artist and visit her site http://dominiqueamendola.com .

The hidden side of reality

There are many ways to show reality since it's not alway bright and coloured and artists know much about this. When it comes about photographs things get very interesting as they have to capture that secret and inner message that keeps hidden in the elements that are portrayed. Looking at a picture we realize about a reality which sometimes it's not the one that we could assume in advance, there many details that tell us a lot about a story and that play a symbolic rol. Of course, we have to pay attention and be opened minded enough to go beyond a simple element. 

It's amazing, for example, how just a leaf can tell us about a hard season allowing us to imagine all that exists around it, a dense forest, a gray and empty city, a failed romance, a path which no one treads, or whatever your imagination and emotions let you go. There is the magic of such photographs, those that with a couple of simple elements make us travel to ourselves, our experience and imagination. There is clearly seen the good eye of a good photographer.

As an example of this kind of modern photography, I want to show you this wonderful works by  Lynne Guimond Sabean that Janusian Gallery kindly let me use for this post. You can click on the images to enlarge them and know more about this artist and the Gallery and check  www.janusiangallery.com as well. I hope you enjoy the visit.

Ancient Traditions and Contemporary Art

All artists have a cultural and environmental background, some reflect what they have seen and experienced at certain times of their life while others pass down from generation to generation the ancient customs of their ancestors through art. In either case, the essence of the artist is like a mark on the work, an imprint that tells us about the past, the sites which have been seen, the emotions that have been felt and his/her beliefs. Since ancient times man has felt the need to convey through art what happened, what was said, what they believed, even before writing appeared as a way of transmitting the word. Those are particular symbols that tell us stories from the most distant antiquity.

Unfortunately, fewer and fewer artists represent the beliefs and stories with which they grew up, what belongs to their culture and go with them beyond where they live. 

But there are still some artists that recreate the ancient art in a more contemporary way and give us the gift of their traditions' beauty. They born with an innate talent, as if that could be passed from generation to generation, and adapt it to the techniques of today. As an example of this, I want to introduce you Aditi Maaheshwar's artworks, she's an Indian artist who mainly paints with acrylic on wood and tells us part of her tradition in her wonderful works rich on colors and symbolism. I invite you to click on the images to enlarge them and visit her gallery to know more about this talented artist.

Motion and Emotion

In recent decades the photograph emerged as a real artistic expression. New technologies and the ability to access different areas that we were previously restricted help on this, but it isn't so easy. It's not just arrive and shot, as I told several times in this blog, there are lot conditions to make art from a capture.

Personally, one of the photographic styles that I attracts my attention is the one that manages to capture scenes in motion and much more if those things are not around me daily.

We all have a relatively limited life, we can't be in different places at the same time, and we only have access to certain situations, also our eye usually lose that glorious moment that can only be captured by a camera and the eye of a good photographer. How often have we been in front of a herd of horses running, or facing a spectacular fall, or at a funny situation that we miss details? That's where photography within its wide variety of styles, occupies a prominent place to our satisfaction.

The eye of a talented photographer with a camera can show us sites that we'll never visit and stop those moments that otherwise might be unnoticed. But it's that second, less than a second in fact, that makes us feel as if we were there and give us the idea of a whole situations with just a 'shot'.
Motion makes us feel emotions, it tells us a story.

Regarding this, I want to show you Daniel Hebard's work today. He's a great photographer who developed this wornderful style, among others. Click on the images to enlarge them and to know more about this artist.

Mixed media - Dare to follow your creativity

Some people find it difficult to work with mixed media by failing to reconcile different techniques at the same time. Logically, we should know which media to use in each layer, basically to make our work lasting, or to not produce unwanted spots during the process, but beside that there should not be major complications. The truth is that working with mixed media helps us go a little further in our creativity because we can use different resources and achieve different volumes.

The problem with mixed media, at least I personally think,  is that some artists are too tied to the idea of perfection and realism, or to what was ancestrally accepted in a particular technique either watercolor, oil, acrylic, etc. We're scared, sometimes, to try something new, to have a new vision, to take some fresh air. As in all activities the artist must mature, but in art growth is much more important than in other areas since that give us some kind freedom to work without inhibitions, to try new ways of expression, what isn't easy if we are not able to break with what we have learned and reinvent ourselves in our art.

As  I use to say, there is not just a way to paint a bird, a house, a woman, a landscape or whatever. It's about us, it's about our emotions at seeing that and show it through our paintings. Today, I want to show you M E Wood's work as an example of this, an artist that works with different techniques and gets very creative and personal works. Click on the images to enlarge them and to visit her gallery.