Any serious artists on FOH?

[Wookie]

I’m from a family of artists but I quit young and am now working hard on learning.  I’m doing the Bargue plates, also part of an online academy.  I know (think) @canadianbeaver is a professional.  Any others? My biggest struggles are fabric and making the transition from drawing to oil/color.  Would love to hear any advice or feedback if anyone is willing.  My favorite time alone is drawing and a cigar. 

[joeypots]

I have made a living making pottery since 1987. I have a BFA degree from a major university in the Boston area and I work with high fire stoneware and porcelain. I do a bit of wood firing to mix things up. I make a lot of repeat work, functional items that will sell like mugs, bowls, and dinnerware. I try to spend half my working time on one of a kind pieces. I sell 95% of my work out of my own gallery in Massachusetts. Here’s one from last winter.

 

[dominattorney]

20 minutes ago, joeypots said:

I have made a living making pottery since 1987. I have a BFA degree from a major university in the Boston area and I work with high fire stoneware and porcelain. I do a bit of wood firing to mix things up. I make a lot of repeat work, functional items that will sell like mugs, bowls, and dinnerware. I try to spend half my working time on one of a kind pieces. I sell 95% of my work out of my own gallery in Massachusetts. Here’s one from last winter.

Joey, can't open the pic. Would be interested to see 

[Hammer Smokin']

20 minutes ago, joeypots said:

I have made a living making pottery since 1987. I have a BFA degree from a major university in the Boston area and I work with high fire stoneware and porcelain. I do a bit of wood firing to mix things up. I make a lot of repeat work, functional items that will sell like mugs, bowls, and dinnerware. I try to spend half my working time on one of a kind pieces. I sell 95% of my work out of my own gallery in Massachusetts. Here’s one from last winter.

your handle and avatar makes more sense now, lol. 

[joeypots]

1 minute ago, dominattorney said:

Joey, can't open the pic. Would be interested to see 

Better?

[dominattorney]

Just now, joeypots said:

Better?

Much. Looks awesome. 

[MrBirdman]

2 hours ago, Wookie said:

I’m from a family of artists but I quit young and am now working hard on learning.  I’m doing the Bargue plates, also part of an online academy.  I know (think) @canadianbeaver is a professional.  Any others? My biggest struggles are fabric and making the transition from drawing to oil/color.  Would love to hear any advice or feedback if anyone is willing.  My favorite time alone is drawing and a cigar. 

I feel that if you can master the skills for drawing well, you can eventually learn to paint. The hardest parts of painting are perspective, line, and (above all) value. If you can incorporate those into drawing well, it just becomes a matter of understanding your materials, some basic color theory, and of course practice. I taught myself oil painting, and think my struggles to get to the next level are in large part due to never having really learned to draw. I've had to put down art for now while I pursue a new career in law, but when I have more time I plan to take classes in drawing before returning to painting. 

That said, I'm pretty well versed in the material nature of oil painting and color. If you are interested in talking more about those areas, please feel free to PM me. Always happy to talk shop when it comes to oils.

[NSXCIGAR]

49 minutes ago, MrBirdman said:

I feel that if you can master the skills for drawing well, you can eventually learn to paint.

I agree. I think I'm close. Entirely self-taught.

[greenpimp]

33 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I agree. I think I'm close. Entirely self-taught.

I will gladly pay you 10,000 for that piece of art. It will go well with my spider collection an artist was kind enough to email me.

Oh and Joey, nice lookin pot right there.

[MrBirdman]

1 hour ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I agree. I think I'm close. Entirely self-taught.

You can laugh, but that's where I started from! I have horrible fine motor skills and sucked at art as a kid. But the truth is that if you have the dexterity to throw a baseball, you can learn how to draw and paint. What attracted me to painting what realizing that most of the hard parts are mental - recognizing values, hues, etc. 

[Wookie]

2 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I agree. I think I'm close. Entirely self-taught.

Seems you have a sense of line, but value/light and perspective needs some work…..unless you are a ruthless modernist.  My sister went to a famous northeast art school that lost the old atelier methods of teaching and she never became a competent draftsman. Realism seems to be making a comeback, at least as a basic tenet of being considered a real artist.  I’ve always admired abstraction, minimalism, etc.  But I kinda think to do that stuff you ought to have made your chops as a competent figurative artist first.  I have huge respect for the illustrationists, comic book artists, etc….they can do stuff from imagination at light speed. 

 

4 hours ago, joeypots said:

I have made a living making pottery since 1987. I have a BFA degree from a major university in the Boston area and I work with high fire stoneware and porcelain. I do a bit of wood firing to mix things up. I make a lot of repeat work, functional items that will sell like mugs, bowls, and dinnerware. I try to spend half my working time on one of a kind pieces. I sell 95% of my work out of my own gallery in Massachusetts. Here’s one from last winter.

I took ceramics from an artist named Tom Lollar growing up in Michigan. He was a wizard.  . Love your work. 

[ha_banos]

I cannae draw for sh!t. And I expect that's the reason I don't have a lot of appreciation for art.

The pot looks great!

 

 

[Kitchen]

My wife and I are both commercial photographers, and we make our sole living from it, and a good one at that.  I photograph architecture & interiors and just started a second business with a partner (who is a printer) doing backdrops for film and TV, and my wife photographs food and beverage.  We both work in the higher end of the market and out price ourselves for most projects we bid on. 

As a photographer, I paint with light, and I would say it took me about 6 years to hit my stride when it came to working competently with it.  However it really took about 10 to 12 years to get to the point where I could walk into a space and know in about 5 minutes exactly how I was going to light it, even down to knowing the specific time of year and time of day that would give the best angle of sunlight.  From what I gathered, this tends to be the case with every profession.  

(Unfortunately due to scheduling, I can not always shoot at the best time of year.  Plus, not many clients like to hear that it would be best to wait 6 months, but I have a few who do.)  

As with any thing, you are developing an expertise, which takes more time then most want to hear.  It also takes the ability to brutally self critique your work down to the smallest detail spending, some times, hours agonizing over your mistakes and how you would have improved them if you could do it again.  If you can do this, then you will improve.  

Unfortunately it tends to be a trait that once developed you cant turn off. 

Perhaps a dozen of my photographs I am pleased with, but in five years, once better then I am now, I will be displeased with all of them and a new dozen with emerge.   

P.S.

Also, it would be good to find a group where you can show your work and get feedback.  Obviously these need to be people who are at least as good as you are, but preferably better, much better, and who have no reason to be kind to you.  You need to be as open as possible too.  You will get pissed off and want to fight everyone in the room some nights, and it will be impossible in the moment to distill true critiques from opinions generated through differences in personal style that everyone would be biased by.  So, take it in, try not to be combative, and in a weeks time, you will have forgotten about most of the banter but the truly meaningful critiques will still be burning in your sole.  Those are what you need to resolve; not necessarily agree with but resolve.  

[Puros Y Vino]

I've been doing stuff since I was a kid.  No pro mind you, but I enjoy it now and then.  Mostly painting, watercolors, acrylic, oils. Sketching, comic style art and a little bit of sculpting in clay.  Some samples.

 

 

 

[joeypots]

10 hours ago, Kitchen said:

I would say it took me about 6 years to hit my stride when it came to working competently with it.  However it really took about 10 to 12 years to get to the point where I could walk into a space and know in about 5 minutes exactly how I was going to light it, even down to knowing the specific time of year and time of day that would give the best angle of sunlight.  From what I gathered, this tends to be the case with every profession.  

Well said. Some propose it takes 10,000 hours to master any skill. Here’s a little art school speak. Technique mastered can be used to effectively convey an idea. It’s the idea that separates the great from the good. 

Writers, because they write, write about ideas a lot. Henry James proposed that one can ask three questions to help judge any work of art.

1. What did the artist want to say?

2. Did the artist say it?

3. Is it worth saying?

And Truman Capote, who BTW, did not go to college,  said it better than any else ever could. When asked what he thought of Jack Kerouac’s new book,

Capote replied, “That’s not writing, that’s typing."

You can also argue that the great thing about naive artists is the fact that without formal technical training, just the desire to make something , have made some very significant work. Jean-Michel Basquiat comes to mind for his lack of formal training and uber success. 

So master the skills or just make stuff, it’s all good. It’s the doing that makes art and it is always worthwhile.

 

[Wookie]

I appreciate all the feedback.  This is where I’m at now….starting to be able to draw human form and trying to begin to transfer that to canvas/watercolor 

[Murphestopheles]

I used to be a glass blower but access to a proper studio has made it hard to continue that pursuit. I do miss it some days though. 

[Wookie]

14 hours ago, Puros Y Vino said:

I've been doing stuff since I was a kid.  No pro mind you, but I enjoy it now and then.  Mostly painting, watercolors, acrylic, oils. Sketching, comic style art and a little bit of sculpting in clay.  Some samples.

 

NICE STUFF! Seems like you might have been considering a career in art at some point? 

 

[Wookie]

Here’s a few more.  Learning to render three dimensionality is a challenge. Drapery is very difficult for me.  And then doing it in color.  Watercolor is extremely unforgiving. Amazes me what Anders Zorn could do with watercolor.  

[Mikeltee]

16 hours ago, Kitchen said:

My wife and I are both commercial photographers, and we make our sole living from it, and a good one at that.  I photograph architecture & interiors and just started a second business with a partner (who is a printer) doing backdrops for film and TV, and my wife photographs food and beverage.  We both work in the higher end of the market and out price ourselves for most projects we bid on. 

As a photographer, I paint with light, and I would say it took me about 6 years to hit my stride when it came to working competently with it.  However it really took about 10 to 12 years to get to the point where I could walk into a space and know in about 5 minutes exactly how I was going to light it, even down to knowing the specific time of year and time of day that would give the best angle of sunlight.  From what I gathered, this tends to be the case with every profession.  

(Unfortunately due to scheduling, I can not always shoot at the best time of year.  Plus, not many clients like to hear that it would be best to wait 6 months, but I have a few who do.)  

As with any thing, you are developing an expertise, which takes more time then most want to hear.  It also takes the ability to brutally self critique your work down to the smallest detail spending, some times, hours agonizing over your mistakes and how you would have improved them if you could do it again.  If you can do this, then you will improve.  

Unfortunately it tends to be a trait that once developed you cant turn off. 

Perhaps a dozen of my photographs I am pleased with, but in five years, once better then I am now, I will be displeased with all of them and a new dozen with emerge.   

P.S.

Also, it would be good to find a group where you can show your work and get feedback.  Obviously these need to be people who are at least as good as you are, but preferably better, much better, and who have no reason to be kind to you.  You need to be as open as possible too.  You will get pissed off and want to fight everyone in the room some nights, and it will be impossible in the moment to distill true critiques from opinions generated through differences in personal style that everyone would be biased by.  So, take it in, try not to be combative, and in a weeks time, you will have forgotten about most of the banter but the truly meaningful critiques will still be burning in your sole.  Those are what you need to resolve; not necessarily agree with but resolve.  

I find "painting with light" fascinating! Do you have a link to some work that you wouldn't mind sharing? I spent about 10k on a D4 and the f2.8 holy trinity a long time ago, and then another 10k on a D500, a bunch of primes and a f2.8 120-300. A fancy camera does not make one an artist! I have some pretty good shots of my 4 kids playing sports though. 

 

Also, I am curious to know if you went mirrorless? The latest and greatest blows my mind with the speed and ISO.  No way in heck I would ever upgrade though unless my glass was compatible. They knew what they were doing! My kids never played indoor sports and now I have one into basketball. It's tough to get good pics with my older gear at higher isos. I suppose I could use a flash, but I already feel like a weirdo with my 70-200 at a 4th grade game. Lol

 

Edit: Can you recommend software to eliminate noise? 

Edited August 7, 2022 by Mikeltee

[Puros Y Vino]

7 hours ago, Wookie said:

21 hours ago, Puros Y Vino said:

I've been doing stuff since I was a kid.  No pro mind you, but I enjoy it now and then.  Mostly painting, watercolors, acrylic, oils. Sketching, comic style art and a little bit of sculpting in clay.  Some samples.

 

NICE STUFF! Seems like you might have been considering a career in art at some point? 

 

Lol. Yeah. I applied twice to Ontario College of Art and Design back in the early 90s.  Got rejected twice during the intake process where you bring them some samples.  I looked around and my stuff was as good or better than those who made it.  I ditched Art and went into IT.  I barely did any pieces for 20 years.   Trying to get back into it these last few years 

[Wookie]

30 minutes ago, Puros Y Vino said:

Lol. Yeah. I applied twice to Ontario College of Art and Design back in the early 90s.  Got rejected twice during the intake process where you bring them some samples.  I looked around and my stuff was as good or better than those who made it.  I ditched Art and went into IT.  I barely did any pieces for 20 years.   Trying to get back into it these last few years 

Their loss. Your ink is wonderful. And I can see the color/depth in your work that is what I’m trying to do. Art gives me happiness beyond all my other worldly pursuits. Keep going. I’m a novice but I’m committed. Love the challenge. 

[Puros Y Vino]

11 hours ago, Wookie said:

Their loss. Your ink is wonderful. And I can see the color/depth in your work that is what I’m trying to do. Art gives me happiness beyond all my other worldly pursuits. Keep going. I’m a novice but I’m committed. Love the challenge. 

Thanks.🙂  are you taking classes with live models? The subject matter and posing tells me yes.  You've got a good grasp on the light and shade aspects.  Good depth on most of the pieces.  It certainly is a satisfying past time.

[Wookie]

16 minutes ago, Puros Y Vino said:

Thanks.🙂  are you taking classes with live models? The subject matter and posing tells me yes.  You've got a good grasp on the light and shade aspects.  Good depth on most of the pieces.  It certainly is a satisfying past time.

I joined an online academy in January that uses a lot of live models.  I’m also copying old master drawings, doing the Bargue plates, etc. Happy painting! 

[joeypots]

12 hours ago, Puros Y Vino said:

Lol. Yeah. I applied twice to Ontario College of Art and Design back in the early 90s.  Got rejected twice during the intake process where you bring them some samples.  I looked around and my stuff was as good or better than those who made it.  I ditched Art and went into IT.  I barely did any pieces for 20 years.   Trying to get back into it these last few years 

Bobby Orr. What better subject for a painting ?