The Old Masters knew a secret which made their paintings enduring masterpieces. Why do you think, for example, over six million people visit the Louvre every year to see the Mona Lisa? What is it about Leonardo's masterpiece that attracts viewers like moths to a flame? Trusted apprentices The Old Masters taught this secret only to their most trusted apprentices. As a … [Read more...]
Light!
Light is the most important thing for every artist. Light is always there, in the mountains, in the grass, in the water, out in the open, into the shadow and out of it. As a painter, you have to learn to play with light, to play with colors, and to feel its movement. That’s what makes a complete artist. To see the play of light, to take it inside you, and bring it home to fire … [Read more...]
What We Know
"The only thing I know is that I know nothing." "For we can only know that we know nothing, and a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." One of these quotes is attributed to Socrates. The other is to a Chinese philosopher who wrote one of the foundational texts of Taoism. Neither quote is easy to document, yet they contain a nugget of wisdom. The more we think we know, … [Read more...]
Kung Fu and Painting
Do you remember watching television on Saturdays when you were a kid? Saturday mornings were cowboy shows like Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, and Sky King. But the afternoons were those full-length crazy Kung Fu movies. The actors' mouth movements never seemed synched with dubbed English voices. And the sound effects -- that "whoosh, whoosh" sound even when somebody picked up … [Read more...]
Allowed to Fail
It's interesting how one idea will trigger a bunch of connections based on what you're doing at the moment. The ant The author of Creativity writes: "Human beings are the only creatures that are allowed to fail. If an ant fails, it’s dead, but we’re allowed to learn from our mistakes." What that seems to imply is that failure is part of the learning process. Reading "How to … [Read more...]
Purpose
"There is no purpose to purpose." -- Michael Gerber That quote sounds pretty strange, doesn't it? Isn't purpose what all the "gurus" tell us we need to discover? A popular book title is, "Find your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team." (Whew! Whatever happened to nice, short titles like "The Sun Also Rises?") Gerber clarifies his quote … [Read more...]