Thursday, Week 15: Julián - Four Color Earth Palette, Oil on Synthetic Sheet (23/04/2020)

Julián. Today we speak about a wonderful quality in Art which is to find possibility, to discover kinship in the strangest places. At first glance it may seem like a portrait is supposed to be portrait, only a portrait, and be constructed upon all the experiences gathered thru the history of portraiture. But for today's painting, my mind was immediately transported to one of the best examples of abstract expressionism - Robert Motherwell. It's very unlikely that in the 1960's and 70's one could genuinely generate bonds between a small somewhat naturalist portrait and a large abstract painting; they were seen as having two very differing natures. But today we're able to step back and realize that we're not bounding by underlying philosophies or manifestos that butted heads with each other. So even if it sounds strange I don't think this little portrait would be if it wasn't for the lessons learned from Motherwell's Elegies. The white, ochre and black masses echo those ovals and rectangular gestural shapes that mother well so masterfully painted. Time has given us the ability to understand painting's oscillating nature and even though it is absolutely expected that we show gravitation towards specific works of art, it is hard to understand why we would promote or choose to become dogmatic about painting. When we choose to only experience one manner of painting, we're also sacrificing everything that has to be gained from all the paintings that we've consciously decided to shut out. This doesn't mean that we literally have to paint in the manner of every school of thought that has inhabited painting history, that would be absurd. But we can choose to broaden our minds and learn from those experiences, even if they differ from our own efforts. That way, Motherwell can instruct us how to paint Julián. (Gracias por dejarme pintarte Julián!!!) If you liked the painting we did today and you want to purchase it, please visit our storefront! http://www.ourpaintedlives.com Thank you ALL for your incredible support. Dani and I could not be more grateful. If you like what we're doing, please consider donating :) If you're in a rough spot, no worries, we TOTALLY get it. Thank you for your support!!! http://www.ourpaintedlives.com/donations