Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Men's rebuttle

Cove Harbor Sunrise__6x8 study/demo_____$150 unframed
The trees weren't really there, but it was a good teaching moment when I dropped my loaded brush on the canvas...right in that spot. I could have scraped it off, but it was more fun to show the group how to make "lemonade with a lemon!" As usual, we had amazing sunrises at Cove Harbor!

Artist Chatter....
After Friday's post I EXPECTED some hefty comments from my man artist friends! ...And I got a few!
Many of us have had this discussion before! Are men artists better? Then why are there more men showing in the "big" shows?
Some of the women say there is a gender bias (and that is why they sign their name as an initial...so no one will know the gender. Like V....Vaughan).
Some men say that women's art is often too...."pretty", with nice soft pastel colors.
It is true that a strong piece of art usually has more powerful contrasts of value and texture and that women tend to "see" color better, so they push it differently.
My PERSONAL opinion is that there is room for both, but that MOVING FORWARD is the job of every good artist. (I also think that good strong value contrasts make for a better painting!)
Women might claim the bias, but the men artists I know claim to walk an even tougher road than the women, because often they have to be the main breadwinners of their family.
One thing ALL artists have in common. None of us just stumbles onto success. It is hard work, and takes years of development and "dues paying"...there are no shortcuts. Good thing for us is that there are as many different tastes for art as there are artists. That's why I often pray for the people coming to my art shows....If I feel like my work looks bad, I remind God that even people with bad taste need art too, and hopefully they will come by my booth! (wink!)

4 comments:

Pam Holnback said...

Great painting. Great points. I agree an strong painting has strong values.

Douglas Clark said...

Really makes me wish I was down at the coast, a strong painting can make you feel that.

Susan Hediger-Matteson said...

I love the lesson of working with the accident! Sometimes there are happy accidents.

Love the paintings.

fg said...

What a chuckle I had this morning about people with bad taste. Thanks for praying for me.