Thanks for your comments to my newsletter. In regards to your question - is art or is an artist good if there is no 'meaning' behind the painting? Here are a few thoughts to consider:
1. Meaning does not necessarilly need to be deep or profound. It can be as simple as finding beauty in a subject or responding to the patterns or colors. Something prompted you to paint a scene. Determine what that something is, and then paint to the best of your abilities. Even if you cannot quite figure out why you were inspired, by all means paint it. You may discover the reason later.
2. I often have a very simple reason for beginning a painting. Sometimes it is just the play of light on the subject. Sometimes it is to challenge myself with a new subject. But the whatever the reason, it was from somewhere within me. I responded to the scene, so I painted it.
3. Sometimes the painting speaks to me (just as it can to viewers) and I see insights that I did not intend. It adds richness to the paintings.
4. Where art is NOT valid, is when a painting is painted simply because you think it is what the market wants. I admit, I have done paintings for the percieved market that I was not excited about. They were usually failures. They may have been technically well done, but they had no life. If I find that the painting seems to be a burden and I am not excited about it, I ask myself "Why am I painting it?". If the answer is because I think it will be a good image for an advertisement, or it is the type of painting 'John Doe' wants, then I realize, I am using the wrong inspiration. I scrap the painting, and find something else.
Thanks for your comments to my newsletter. In regards to your question - is art or is an artist good if there is no 'meaning' behind the painting? Here are a few thoughts to consider:
1. Meaning does not necessarilly need to be deep or profound. It can be as simple as finding beauty in a subject or responding to the patterns or colors. Something prompted you to paint a scene. Determine what that something is, and then paint to the best of your abilities. Even if you cannot quite figure out why you were inspired, by all means paint it. You may discover the reason later.
2. I often have a very simple reason for beginning a painting. Sometimes it is just the play of light on the subject. Sometimes it is to challenge myself with a new subject. But the whatever the reason, it was from somewhere within me. I responded to the scene, so I painted it.
3. Sometimes the painting speaks to me (just as it can to viewers) and I see insights that I did not intend. It adds richness to the paintings.
4. Where art is NOT valid, is when a painting is painted simply because you think it is what the market wants. I admit, I have done paintings for the percieved market that I was not excited about. They were usually failures. They may have been technically well done, but they had no life. If I find that the painting seems to be a burden and I am not excited about it, I ask myself "Why am I painting it?". If the answer is because I think it will be a good image for an advertisement, or it is the type of painting 'John Doe' wants, then I realize, I am using the wrong inspiration. I scrap the painting, and find something else.
Best wishes to you.
Keith Bond