Capturing the Impression, Gaston la Touche.

It was not long ago that I came upon this painting by Gaston la Touche entitled Pardon in Brittany which is about a regularly held festival honoring a saint, this picture taking place in northern France.

The subject matter really isn't my concern here, but looking into Gaston's history and how he came about painting the subjects he did, and his relationship with Manet, is extremely interesting, and worthy if its own post.

As a Post Impressionist I find him of a higher caliber than most who carry that label. Earlier last year I stumbled upon this painting, and every time I've been back to the Art Institute of Chicago it's been to see this picture. I make sure its the last one I look at before I leave.

I've always thought it a much harder task for a painter to capture the impression of something than it is to just render it. Rendering has its difficulties, ones that I admire when done well, but personally if you can trick the viewer into seeing detail where there's just a blob of paint upon closer inspection, I have nothing but respect for you.

This painting is exactly that. Pardon in Brittany from a distance is a beautifully soft scene capturing the meditation and quiet of a religious service in dying light. From afar you can make out some of the individuals who are moving along with the mass of them while holding candles. It's a luminous painting while still being low key, and through the style he painted it in, is also able to capture the movement of the masses of people as well.

On closer inspection the painting turns into globs and brushstrokes. He first painted thick passages with his brush and then went in and flattened certain sections with his palette knife, and left mainly the brush strokes that lead the eye to the right, flowing with the crowd. From a distance this is what gives the painting it's sense of movement.

Some of the tones are muddy, but work with the color range, the details are extremely subtle and most of them don't make sense up close. This painting truly captures a moment in time, with the only sharp lines being that of the woman on the horse, leading the procession and the eye along with the group.

A thought on Sargent

I think that a masterful painter makes every painting feel like a performance when you look at it. That from start to finish every inch of the canvas was something to get lost in, only to come out of it and be directed back to the purpose of the work. It's all a reflection of a mindset.

Sargent is the epitome of that sentiment for me. There have been more paintings I've seen by him, than any other artist so far, where I've felt that every brushstroke had had a distinct place in his mind before he put it down. Or he at least he aimed for it, but more than that it's a painters ability to breathe life into the work. Using his personality to capture the personality of the people or the scene he was painting.

It's that indescribable thing you can't figure out right away with good painting because it's inside of the gesture and particular movement of the paint somehow. I really think it's a kind of empathy towards working to understand everything about what you're looking at. It's the parts of the "art" that justify the romantic notion attached to actual artistry. A painting can be a symphony if the painter is able. In every work there can be a performance. I don't think the world will ever see a painter like Sargent again.

I like that, it's mine!

Still sketching, but getting close to having the cartoon done for Death in Malaga, so a post will be coming about all that.

For right now I'm going to share with you my process of how I steal from other artists better than myself.

When I start a painting it's important to determine what the color range is going to be, and in those harmonies I like to see how other artists rendered some of the same things I'm after.

-Leon Maxime Faivre Death of the princess de lamballe

In this painting here I'm looking at a number of things the artist has done that just blow me away. The light is very much the same kind of light I'm looking to get in my painting. I'm studying the stone, stucco and flesh under this kind of light, how the range of values are pushed to accentuate the point of the picture, how the crowd in the background is done, the softness of the edges, the atmosphere and sense of depth even in a relatively small space...the lessons never end. It's important to study nature yes, but seeing how someone else has solved a problem I'm getting ready to tackle is really helpful.

Another thing I like to do is wander around video game worlds that have a similar feel for the scene I'm wanting to do. In this case Fallout 3 is perfect.

If you take into account how much work that needs to be done for a game from start to finish, the concept all the way through to actually creating the world that you can go walk around in, I think it's a waste not to take advantage of the amazing talent behind these games.

So I go in the game and I walk around, in this case I'm looking at the destruction, as well as the post apocalyptic grey and brown tones used in the destruction. I've used video games to explore perspective, mood, lighting, and whatever else I need for just about every thematic painting I've done. It's not only a lot of fun, but a lot of help too.

Whatever you end up using, seeing what other artists have done to accomplish something similar that you are aiming at, can help you set the bar high for yourself, and get your eye used to seeing art that is on a whole different level.