The Sublime, Thoughts On Landscape Interpretation
The Sublime
Thoughts on Landscape Interpretation
I wanted in this my latest ramblings to talk a little bit about the ideas of The Sublime. And how these thoughts can translate to landscape painting.
Im sure that many people by now know that the romantic artists of the nineteenth century are a huge inspiration to me. It was not only the visual art, but also the poetry and ideas circulating around this time that I find intriguing. The sublime is often seen, certainly in literature as witnessing the beauty of the natural world. And can also be interpreted (and this is the interpretation I adore) as seeing not just the beauty of nature but also its malice, something dramatic happening within a scene. That wonderful feeling of unease for example, as the sun dips behind the curvature of the earth and everything is suddenly bathed in a dark blue sombre light. Its these subtle, but powerful moments that we can sometimes witness that I interpret as sublime. Or at least following on those original ideas and theories. Edmund Burke had some fascinating ideas on the subject of The Sublime. He believed that fear was a primary reason we as viewers enjoyed looking at the stormy paintings of Turner for example. The idea that fear stimulated more emotions (understandably!) then merely looking at a scene that was more peaceful would. And in viewing a painting of a storm, we could do so without the real worry of coming to physical harm. Thus we could be awe inspired by the power of it all, without being washed away or struck by lighting. And certainly with my own work, I also enjoy painting a moment that is both peaceful, but also maybe a little unnerving in its appearance.
So the romantic ideas are hugely important to my thinking. But I have also been rather obsessed with British art from the first half of the twentieth century. Its a time that I think has huge significance to modern art as a whole. And maybe, its sometimes a little overlooked? Certainly I think that there were some quite incredible and experimental artists working and creating some really cutting edge pieces of work around this time. As well as the thinking behind these avant-garde movements. Before the first world war, there were the Vorticists for example. A short lived movement that wanted to portray the dynamic and changing energy of the modern world. Wyndham Lewis was its founder, a controversial character maybe, but he alongside some other rather brilliant artists (Wadsworth, Epstein to name a couple) created some incredible and modern work for the times. Some of which still looks incredibly contemporary. It was however a very short lived movement. But I think it stands as a prime example of just how forward thinking some artists where around this time.
But of course for me, I look to the landscape artists working around this time. The incredible and sublime works of Piper for example, especially his works during the second world war. He like many artists became an official war artist, and was commissioned to record scenes related to the fighting. War artists where a mix of different artists all specializing and recording different subjects during conflict. John Piper was commissioned by her majesty the queen to paint the castle at Windsor, some incredible and very powerful water colours resulted. And then there was Paul Nash, our surrealist painter. Again a war artist, who not only recorded the first world war, but also the second. “We Are Making A New World” one of his most famous, and haunting paintings. A muddy, desolate scene of destruction, all beneath a new sky, with dark red clouds. The rising sun making a total mockery of the scene, a new world of nothing but dust and death. Another painting that plays on the ideas of fear and sublime, the horror of this of course amplified beyond by the fact that so many people did witness such a horrific landscape for real. A sunrise isn't always a thing of beauty and hope.
I suppose again though, its a testament to how critical the work of landscape painters can be. The war artists were able to capture some of the most intense and powerful scenes through their art. And the results I think hit harder then many of the photographs of the time manage. There is an extra element of course to a painting, that of the artists touch, their interpretation coming forth in the image they are creating.
Many things are described as sublime, some beautiful and quiet, others powerful and even menacing. But certainly its an idea that always gets me thinking when Im out sketching. The sky is vast, the landscape around us can overpower us, the huge clouds can be dark and foreboding, and the ocean can appear infinite. What a marvelous subject nature is!
Many thanks for your time.
Till next time
AViner
Plein Air
“Plein Air” The Joys (And Challenges) Of Painting Outdoors
The sun had been been shining when I had left the comforts of home, flask in hand all topped up with Heinz (other brands are available) Tomato soup. The wind was crisp, as one should expect for Autumn, but not unbearable, in fact it was a very pleasant day to be outdoors doing any sort of outdoors thing. For me, that was sketching, oil sketching to be precise. The time honoured (and invaluable) tradition of getting ideas for new paintings. In fact it is impossible for me as a landscape painter to paint any new oils without referring to my sketches, either in pencil (2B lead usually!) water colours, probably my favorite medium thinking about it! And on occasions oil paint. So off I set keen as mustard and loaded down with my travel easel, oils and brushes, liquin, paper towels, bag for my rubbish (remember leave nothing but footprints behind when out and about) my sketchbooks and notebooks, water colours, lunch bag, folding easel, three gesso prepped boards and two small canvas, and of course two flasks, one for tea and one for soup! So why all this effort, why be loaded down like a mule and head out rather precariously into the unknown? Why is it so critical a practice to painting landscapes? Well in my view it is the only way to inspire the pictures I paint later in the studio.
Now Im not exactly breaking new ground here, very far from it in fact, as I said only a few sentences ago the “Time Honoured” tradition of heading out and drawing what you see. Maybe the word see is a little inaccurate, not record, not to copy either, no the job of a sketch is to capture a feeling, a moment you have experienced. A little note, sometimes in black and white, sometimes in colour, just to jog the memory back to that feeling you experienced. It works! Very well in fact, I have piles of sketchbooks at home as I never travel anywhere without one so am often filling them quickly, and I can look through any of them no matter how old and be reminded of exactly the moment that I experienced when I scribbled it down. I can recall the feeling of the place. The feeling of being somewhere, and even what mood I was in at the time. A sketch can be as complete or as loose as the artist desires. Mine are rarely neat or in any real order. Some are a few marks in lead with notes at the edges of the page. Others are water colours, images of the skies above me and the landscape all around me. Some are structured and more detailed, some are limited to a few sweeps of colour. Its enough for what I need. And from these I recall how the place felt, how the sky was behaving, how the light was reacting, how the trees where swaying and even the sounds around me. This is no special skill or gift, its simply slowing down and looking hard. That is the first and most important lesson for any landscape painter, looking!
So back to me, currently hauling a load of easels and flasks over a wooden stile and trudging to one of many spots I know well and always enjoy to work from. Its always different the world around us, even standing in a place we may of visited over a hundred times before. Its one of the many gifts this world gives us is its always new to look at. The sky is never the same, the clouds are always different, the light is different. We just need to stop sometimes and notice it.
So the fun begins, by that I mean setting up my travel easel. A job that never seems to go smoothly, and no matter how often I unfold it, it never seems to go to plan! But once Ive managed to wrestle it into submission, my paints are laid out on the palette, tea is poured…..I sit down. I never start painting for at least half an hour or more after setting up. This is the time I look, I filter out all the other static in my mind, and look. And I encourage anyone and everyone to do this. Sit somewhere and look. To start with your brain may be wandering, worries there still floating in the forefront, but after a time they start to sink away. And you begin to notice things. It can be some birds flying to and from a tree. It could be the way a particular tree is moving in the wind, the branches heaving up and creaking as they sway. You will take note of the clouds, their shapes and speed as they hurry across the sky. You will look up higher and see the subtle tonal change of the sky. You will see the shadows of the clouds as they roll along the plowed fields, a tractor busying itself with some sort of trailer. Oh there`s that small bird again, darting back into his tree. I start to sketch it, the sky and the clouds, the fields and the trees, all the variants before me providing a wonderful challenge of different textures and movement all preforming just for my entertainment. And as I sit or stand trying to capture these snippets and fleeting moments, it all begins to unravel slowly. You see the landscape differently, it breaks down almost into just colours and shapes all dominated by the emotive power it evokes, always so different every time. And once I have depleted my tea and soup, I begin to pack away my paints and again start a fight with my easel, I have now in my possession a few small moments that have already passed the world by, had they not been scribbled into a sketchbook that is.
There are challenges to working outdoors granted, however these I think merely add to the whole experience of being surrounded by the moments your trying to capture. It doesn't always work, many times you can find that you return with nothing that can be used for a larger painting. But sometimes the freshness of an oil sketch painted at the location it was inspired by can be somehow more evocative. And the marks on paper will always be able to transport you back to the place and the feelings it stirred within you.
Many thanks for your time
Till next time
AViner
The Landscape, what actually is it?
The landscape, what actually is it?
Welcome all to my second attempt at some sort of blog. And I must say firstly a huge thanks to everyone who read my first one, and for all the very kind feedback I received about it. Im genuinely so pleased that it was an interesting read, and more importantly that it made some sense!
Now we must move on and take ourselves out and into the wilds!
Well maybe wilds is a little dramatic, but certainly we must all try and place ourselves outside, amongst the kaleidoscope of colours and variety of textures and sounds that when combined become very neatly summed up as "The Landscape”. Although this poses a question, what is meant by the term “Landscape” in the first place? I mean I always call my work “Landscapes” but what is that? Is it the collection of foliage and mud that sits outside our windows, or that thing we occasionally find ourselves traveling through on route from one place to another? That changing scene we see sometimes, that maybe we pause to appreciate when the sun set makes it look so very romantic. Certainly the term Landscape can be a generalization for a multitude of different things that we may or may not encounter when surrounded by the great outdoors, all of which vary greatly depending on the place, time and climate of wherever we find ourselves upon this planet.
This landscape ideal has always been something that we as humans have found to be romantic, certainly here in the UK it has often been elevated far beyond its humble merits. In the past it has become something that we have clung to in our deepest and darkest moments, the charms of a thatched cottage set amongst some beautiful farmland and rolling hills has become a beacon of hope, something to fight for. This despite the fact that it appears as it does largely because it has been molded and engineered by us into a means merely to provide. The fields though beautiful have been created and tended by us to provide food, the thick hedges that border them, serve to do exactly that, provide a border (as well as supporting wildlife of course). And my beloved trees are loved merely to provide timber. And yet, despite the fact that the beautiful and wild landscape we are fortunate enough to be surrounded by isn't really that natural anymore, it still never fails to give us that feeling of wonder and joy. And yes, certainly there are great swathes of it that are still relatively unkept and left in a more natural state. But even these places often have footpath's carved through them for our convenience, although admittedly some of these walkways are ancient!
And it makes me think sometimes, being somewhat of an old fashioned painter, is the Landscape still a suitable subject to paint? Does the scene of rolling hills and woodland still hit the mark in a fast paced digital age? Yes, yes it does! I think so anyway! I truly believe this because we are thankfully becoming more aware of this world we inhabit, its frailty, its importance, so anything that helps people to stop and look at it all a bit harder is only a good thing.
Now do not think for a moment that this is me having a bit of a moan! I certainly do not think that the tailored and farmed land around me is somehow uninspiring and dull. On the contrary I adore the way the fields are plowed and the hedges are kept so tidy. It has such a beautiful structure to it, and can still appear on occasions completely untouched by human influence. But I do think sometimes how much more amplified the world would be if we could see it before we had had such a role in its function, and an impact on its condition. I was traveling by train only this morning into Rye, and had just passed Winchelsea station. And it struck me then as I sat gazing out of the rather grimy carriage window, how tame the land appeared, all plowed and ready for the new crop. Its ordered and controlled appearance is a fascinating subject really, and it never fails to impress me how the rotation of the land and seasons work so beautifully together. Farmland is an absolute wonder! But that doesn't mean as a painter that we have to paint it this way. And I think this is the point that Im trying to get to, so please bear with me! The landscape painter I feel has a duty to create this amplified world. The world that we see sometimes in our mind, the scene from a really good chapter in a novel for example that we then play out in our minds eye. The real world can serve as a perfect base for the imagination. The great JMW Turner would create incredible images inspired by sometimes quite humble vistas. A moment he may of seen on a sketching trip to Yorkshire for example, would be amplified by his incredible mind into an epic painting of Hannibal crossing the Alps. This is an idea that I personally adore, and have tried in the past to emulate in my own work, taking a watercolor of a fishing boat caught in a storm in Cornwall and attempting to turn it into a painting of the Kraken rising from the depths of some deep dark ocean! This idea of grandeur within nature, this is the part of painting the landscape I love, its powerful and scary sometimes, but beautiful and awe inspiring always. I would take a stormy sky over a sunny one anytime. The landscape has, and I have no doubt will, always inspire me to paint. It is a never ending source of change and visual stimulus that never fails to excite me. From the neat plowed fields of Autumn, to the barren skies of Winter, to the dress rehearsal of Spring, to the full show of bright sunlit power that is Summer!
So back to the original question, what is meant by the term “The Landscape?” Well within art anyway, it is a question that maybe cannot be easily answered as its something that has different significance for every person. We can all agree it has a place, a purpose, it exists just as we do, and will always exist in one form or another after we have gone and been returned to it. So I guess The Landscape is whatever the individual wants it to be. And its certainly a very valid and wonderful subject for an artists brush to record. In my opinion at least then, the landscape is not a singular thing it cannot be condensed down, nor does it generate a singular emotion. And here a very nice parallel can be drawn, as a good landscape painting can also generate a multitude of emotions for the viewer. The landscape painter, (of which I call myself very proudly!) can sometimes manage to stir similar feelings of wonder and joy from the flat surface of a canvas, all possibly derived from quite a humble scene or sketch. They can through whatever medium they favor transport this viewer into an entirely different space and time, and fuel this journey along with awe and inspiration! And that is quite a special thing to do, and speaking for myself, its something I will never tire of trying to achieve.
Many thanks for your time,
Till next time.
AViner
Painting…Why I Do It.
Welcome all to my new, albeit somewhat creaky Blog/Rambling section of my website. This is something I have been meaning to create and do for so long, and finally I have built up the courage to have a go!
Now, a quick disclaimer before we get into the swing of things.. I enjoy writing immensely, but I am NOT a writer, nor is my grasp of grammar and punctuation that accurate. And, to make matters worse, the way I write is very similar to how I talk..I ramble a bit. So please forgive me if the methods I use here to wrestle my speeding train of thought into something physical, are on occasions an insult to the English language.
So with that covered let us begin this journey into my take on art, what interests me (and what doesn't so much) my inspirations and some discussions on the way and the reasons I paint. I do hope you enjoy!
Someone, I'm sure at some point must of asked me why I am so obsessed with painting the world around me? And to that person, who ever they where, thank you for putting this question my way, as its probably the most critical question to ask me regards my work, because without any doubt the landscape has always been my truest inspiration. For me, it has always been evocative, Ive always enjoyed being in it, exploring it, wandering through it, and just experiencing the unique feelings of being outside in all weathers and at all times of the year. These experiences have never failed to inspire me. Sometimes its a subtle thing, it can be light (its actually very often the light) the way it changes on a group of trees, the way the cloud shadows roll over the hills. Or it can be something far more dramatic, a storm being summoned and cascading down a valley like an angry god of the sky, rain swirls blotting the blue sky and turning it dark gray as it passes. The landscape is a living thing, its a legion of intertwined organisms, all obeying the changing seasons, all obeying mother nature. And if we stop and just consider this point for a moment, how incredible it is that the leaves turn red and orange and drop, how the ground freezes and the plants whither with the coming of the frost, how the birds sing different songs, and how the small fresh buds appear each new spring. With all this wonder around us, the question should be in my opinion anyway, why wouldn't you want to paint it?
But here we have maybe the first of many conundrums regarding this romantic idea of landscape art, and that is how? How can we manage to capture this rapturous, vast and awe inspiring world that surrounds us? How can we select that one moment of rain, or light or cloud that we are so very fortunate to witness and record it with nothing more then a swirl of ultramarine blue on a hog hair brush? Its a challenge to say the least. But one that artists have gladly faced up to for hundreds of years.
For me personally, I suppose the first memories I have (or maybe moments would be a better description) to me responding to the landscape around me would be walking with my dad and our golden retriever along Winchelsea Beach. Even now, some thirty years later, I can still vividly remember these walks, particularly in the winter months when the sea was crashing so hard upon the shore that you could feel the shingle shaking beneath you as you walked. It was these early moments Im sure, as well as one particular teacher I had at primary school that helped stir this eagerness in me to stop occasionally and look at what surrounds me. His name was Mr Dean, and his was a unique and rather wonderful method of teaching us Year fours. Often we would visit the Nature reserve near Rye Harbour, and there we would all look at the birds busying themselves amongst the tall grasses. Sometimes the class would head out to the local woods to build dens, and we would pay particular attention as we grazed our knuckles tackling the fallen tree branches, as to which tree it was that they had fallen from. Looking back now, its obvious to me that he was a man who regarded nature as paramount and he felt strongly that it was vitally important for the younger generations to learn about it. His enthusiasm in this certainly transfered to us, well me at least. After this, well I would ride my scooter up to Winchelsea and using willow charcoal, I would sketch the trees and the churchyard, or look out over the valley at the sky as it changed above the fields. I would take my small water colour set and sit amongst the grass and try to capture the shadows or the shape of the trees as they swayed along the rivers and ditches. It was also around this time that I began my obsession with this country's greatest ever artist (In my opinion!) J M W Turner
Its not a huge surprise to those who know me, or those that know my work that Turner is my top, all time most enamored of painters. I however, and rather shamefully cannot remember which painting of the great man I first saw that began this obsession. It may not of been one of his oils at all, as I did have a book on his watercolour sketches, and these did, and continue to inspire me.
I will certainly talk more about Turner in a future post, as well the other artist who have inspired me and my working practice. But I feel like this will certainly do for a start!
Huge thanks for reading this, and apologies if the grammar has been painful!
Till next time
AViner.