A nice thing about painting is the liberty to bring things together, and arrange them the way I like. Fall can bring out the magic in our central Texas landscape. We rarely have a big show of color, but the touches and patches can be all the more delicious in their relative scarcity.
All the information is available in the landscape, but it's up to the artist to do something with it that strikes a chord within. Much like the storyteller who casts a spell by crafting her tale from personal experience, and exaggeration. The exaggeration must be selective and skillfully woven into the fabric of reality to produce a certain effect.
The ways to paint are endless. Although I enjoy seeing many approaches and styles, not every way calls to me. I paint out doors quite a bit. That's where I hear the call. When I'm out painting, I can observe beauty, and it's a great way to learn and improve the skills needed to grow as a painter. You wind up facing challenges you would never have considered or learned in the studio alone. The skills gained afford the ability to chase feelings that are just out of reach. Discovering as you go. It seems the more I paint, the more my motive tends toward bringing things together as they seem right to me. I want to emphasize what I'm after. Trying to express a personal feeling, rather than reporting on "reality" as I find it. Something needs to be added. The beauty I discover in nature becomes the vocabulary. The look and feel of the paint is where the spell is cast and the story is told. Exaggeration is necessary.
AUTUMN SHORELINE
©Jimmy Longacre 2014
12x16 oil on canvas panel
Jimmy Longacre
subjective realist landscape paintings
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