Edgar Degas said, "The secret is to follow the advice the masters give you in their works while doing something different from them." Before a true artist may successfully do something different from the masters, he must first understand their advice.
I don't think that every artist must first learn to paint like all of the old masters, nor is it my intent to do so. But it is the naive and pretentious man who disregards the importance of drawing, line, and composition, mastered by those of the past, in the man's quest for artistic greatness. The practice of art is a lifelong study, and even Degas himself, on his deathbed, lamented, "Damn, and just when I was starting to get it!"
In continuing my lifelong study, even though most of my current larger works may be categorized as abstract, I hone skills by investigating the paths of the masters, like Degas, by examining people and objects and translating what I see to paper using oil pastels. Avoiding the laborious photo-realistic style, I am more interested in creating a representational picture in an efficient, economical, and natural way, as mastered by Degas and Spanish artist, Diego Velazquez. This approach allows for the inclusion of my own stroke and subjective feelings, and it places the emphasis on color, texture, line and composition, rather than subject matter.
Thank you for following the paintings, the Doodle of the Day and the sculpture, drawings, works in progress, and other art by Los Angeles artist Lucas Aardvark :)
To see older blog posts and other works of art, click HERE.
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