Painting with a big brush and lots of paint

The idiom, "the devil is in the details" most likely is derived from the slightly more common phrase, "God is in the details" and is generally meant to warn of potential pitfalls. As idioms go, we are left to apply meaning and purpose to suit our need. Today I want to talk about the painters fall from grace if caught in the seduction of moving to details too soon, or perhaps going into detail at all. Often a painter will say, "this is only a study." Often this is code talk for, "Im not confident that this piece is good so...". Why do artists feel the need to call attention to the length of time spent on a piece, as if more time or less time equates to strong or weak art?

We all appreciate the deceptively easy appearance of a well executed painting. Strong paintings have an air of simplicity and the ill-informed may mistake this simplicity for a painting that was easy to execute.  To consider this dilemma more deeply lets consider Sargent's watercolors. A Sargent watercolor is powerful and apparently executed with great bravado and confidence. Small gems of supreme design and maximum communication with bare minimum of consideration for minutia and detail Sargent's aqueous creations make me feel the same way my mother's lava cake does: hungry for more!

 In comparison Sargent's portraits executed in oil-masterful down to the apparent detail of jewelry and other accoutrement. Equally powerful as his watercolors, yet different. No doubt few would argue the merit of either example.

Apparent detail. Perceived versus actual, implied versus directly stated. The devil may be in the details, but the painter is in the ability to make decisions regarding what to emphasize, and what to downplay. Strong design, a sense of light, color, masterful use of value to indicate great depth any or all of these could lead to a stunning piece; however, rarely if ever will someone exclaim look at ho the artist painted each blade of grass, leaf, or hair. The apparent level of realism or suggested realism can and often does stir in the viewer a strong response of admiration and respect for the artist's skillful application of technique. Case in point, Richard Estes the photorealist and his incredible use of value, color temperature, and skillful application of chiaroscuro to create paintings that appear more real than even a photo.

A question for us to consider: Why are there countless volumes of books available at Barnes and Noble on the Impressionists and artist like Sargent, but not of the photorealistic painters? People appear to be drawn to the simplified, pared down version of life that is void of extraneous detail, and infused with a version of reality. Another question for those of you who are artists reading this, why does all of this matter?

I will offer my response to you. It matters to me because I encounter the debate of what to add, subtract, minimize, or capitalize upon in my own work each and every time I paint. The debate exists because I have a manner in which I like to represent reality, a preference for simplification of shape, an exaggeration of atmospheric perspective, and a bit of a fixation on pushing the use of color. Conscious, intense effort to sort out my own desire to join the devil and capture extreme detail, or to simplify and denounce el diablo results in my increased capacity to engage like minded viewers and patrons. Style may very well begin in your decision whether to get down and dirty with a small brush and ample patience, or to embrace the big brush and lots of paint campaign.

I leave it to you to decide if artistically speaking the devil is in the details or not. By the way all of this began as I glanced at a small painting I did of some pioneer re-enactors (see the main image on this blog). I saw the simple change of value and color temperature in the frying pan and how easily it read as a dimensional object and how simple the figures were handled yet still read as figures and I came to understand my own journey just a little bit more. I hope each of you takes one time to consider your own art, art you create or art you collect. What would have your favorite artist have to say about the details?

Thank you for taking the journey with me.

JR Monks

jrmonks.com