#33 - The Emotional Content

"A Man and his Dog"

"From the Window I"

"From the WindowII"

Fellow Art Lovers:

I’ve been talking quite a bit about the emotional impact of paintings, and of course this is very important. Well, I want to show you what I’ve been doing, and let you be the judges.

One recent painting is very important for me. It’s a commission of a man and his dog, and I want to tell you that I put an awful lot into the painting, in terms of thought, care, my own emotion, and the time I spent actually painting. I wanted to show the man and his dog in his home environment, in this case his porch, and at the same time, reflect the emotion that he feels for his dog. Well, the man likes the painting and accepted it.

This is an accomplishment for me. In writing about my painting, I can say I think I accomplished this and that, and I tried this and that, and I’m pleased with this and that. But the only judge who’s valid is the viewer. Now, I’m asking you for your input.

One note of caution: I’m realizing more and more that looking at photos of paintings on line, even though you can double the size by clicking on the image, is not like looking at the painting itself. Of course the image is smaller, but in addition, the colors lack the subtle nature they have on the canvas. But showing you the image here will give you an idea.

In addition to this commission, I’ve been working constantly on urban scenes. I’m showing you just two paintings of Philadelphia, which I painted from windows of the building where my studio is. For those of you who have looked out the windows of my studio, you will be able to see that one painting is from my studio, and the other is a window on my floor, but near the elevator.

These paintings bring up several things I’d like to share with you. One of them is that I’m putting a lot more thought into the actual techniques I use in painting; that is, the consistency of the paint, how I load my brush, the pressure of the brush on the canvas, those kind of technical questions. But at the same time, I remain an intuitive painter. That is to say, when my hand takes over in moving the brush, I accept it and let my hand control the result. My feeling is that if the gesture comes from my heart, it has to be right.

But at the same time, I keep thinking about a word one of my teachers, Jean-Marie Creuseau of Fresnes, France, used to constantly repeat: “Simplify, simplify.” He meant, what is simple and direct has greater power. Therefore, the simpler of the two paintings has more impact for me.

Right now, I’m working on another series of urban scenes. What I do is to work on perhaps two or three paintings at the same time. I’ll show these to you when they’re ready.

If you’d like to come to my studio and look at the works in person, please email me at: billkosman@gmail.com

I’d also like to mention that I’m in a position to accept more commissions for portraits, with or without pets, and I’m planning to do more versions of one of the two urban scenes you see here, one version four feet by four feet.

Thanks for your time and your support.

Sincerely,

William Kosman