A Landscape Painters Guide to – Why There Is Nothing New in Painting – Easel Talk #53
Transcript and Key Insights
Welcome to Easel Talk number 53. I hope you enjoyed our anniversary episode #52 last week; it was perhaps a little rambly, sorry about that, but there are valuable insights all the way through. If you are here for painting information, you will always get a plenty of good tips. Fact is, one single insight could change everything for you regarding your painting practice.
The question of today is, “Is there anything new in painting?” I answered that already actually, with the thumbnail. There is nothing new in painting. But, do not be discouraged. There is definitely one new thing in painting, a theme I have touched on many times even in the last talk, and it is a big theme of mine.
What is this new thing? It is you. You are the new thing in painting. You have never existed before, and nothing like you will ever exist again. Even if science advances to a point where as we read in books like Altered Carbon, which I highly recommend, where your soul and identity live on a chip while the body is just a sleeve, there is no escape from the fact that you will always be the new element. You are the only variable that has ever changed.
The Paradox of Newness and Traditional Roots
There is no contradiction between painting something quote-unquote traditional, modern, contemporary, or whatever label you choose to use. When people call my work “traditional,” noting that it looks like what a grandma might have on her wall, I just accept that on the surface level, yes, my work shares some trappings of a traditional style. However, when I look at my work and compare it to actual paintings from the 1800s, it doesn’t feel like that old work in its essence. It acknowledges and references that history, but it cannot escape being contemporary. That is our talk today: the paradox of newness within a limited palette of elements.
To learn art history as an artist, I suggest an approach based on feeling rather than just dates and names. If I see your painting and I like it, I learn about an artist it’s because I value their work. If I see a painting and I do not care about it, I simply do not care about that artist. That is how my mind works anyway, and I think that is how most artists should approach art history. It is best to find a style that resonates with you personally, rather than just chasing a label like “Tonalism” which most people in the modern world haven’t even heard of anyway. If they want to label me as traditional, that is fine; however, I see myself as a contemporary artist expressing himself in the modern world.
The Danger of Overthinking the Message
In this modern era, artists often try to force a political statement or a specific message into their work. While you can create art with a “message” and people might understand generally, they often do not really get it or care. In fact, most any art that tries to make a political statement, with the exception of masterpieces like Picasso’s Guernica, tends to fall flat. Why? Because the intention is rarely pure enough. Intention is what creates the value in your work. If you create something masterful and beautiful, it is because your intentions were pure. You had something meaningful and significant to say or express, if that thing is so complex you couldn’t actually put it into words, then say it with paint. This is why painting is so great; it is a poetic thing.
Tools, Trash, and The Final Word
Regarding the tools of the trade: I forgot my outline when I came in today, but I remembered how to access my files and printed them out using a little Brother laser printer. A very handy tool for the studio indeed. I also have a 27-inch monitor that has lasted over ten or fifteen years, I use for putting up my reference images using my little 11 year old laptop. Every day I ask it, “Are you going to turn on today?” and it always says, “Yes, Mike. Let’s do some more painting.”
So, lets wrap this talk up with this advice: Keep on painting. Make another painting. If it sucks, throw it away. Keep the good ones and stack them up. This avocation will give your life extra meaning. You might not be able to sell every painting, that is a whole other problem in this modern world, but if they are beautiful, someone will want to look at them.
Take good care of yourself. Stay out of trouble. And fight the power.
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M Francis McCarthy, Your Painter in Residence