Final Video Encapsulation

I had forgotten to submit the video I created!

I made this video a couple of weeks ago to encapsulate a bit, and summarize as best I could, the experiences I have had in creating not just this ultimate Turner reproduction, but the entire project as a whole.

Needless to say, it was very encouraging and nice viewing all that wonderful old footage, and it reminded us of the great and wonderful times that we had in the past making lovely art. Definitely in many ways, "those were the days".

I was happy to see  how easy the YouTube video editor has proven to be. Since losing out on almost all the technical and computer equipment I used to have at my disposal to create videos - for instance, the original Epic Painting Project video from 2011 - I had to scramble around for a few days looking for the best, quickest-to-learn, and inevitably affordable option. When I had pretty much discarded all my options, and was feeling somewhat desperate, I somehow miraculously found the youtube video editor that can be found here.

It's pretty shocking how time-consuming creating a video is. I would say, not counting actually searching for raw materials, the 13-minute piece took easily 20 hours - considering I didn't even need to worry about talking heads/audio, it is an amazing time sink.

I had recorded a small talking head piece, but it ended up being rubbish - bad audio and incoherent to boot - so it seemed vastly better to me to do it the way I did.

In any event, it seems like a lovely project with which to mark a finale for this exciting time in my life.

travelling & initial sketch

I just wanted to share an update re/ the awesome painting project I have received. One reason I had waited till now to do this was typical holiday things, where we ended up going to many lovely places:

Blue Ridge Parkway!

We have been camping for the 4th of July and other occassions, taking advantage of the lovely summer, and the fact that all the art selling from the past 3 years, which we have now transitioned out of, has ceased, allowing us to travel again and enjoy the nature which in large part inspired the Turner Project to begin with.

This inspiring vista comes from Whitewater Falls at Nantahala National Forest, on the edge of Jackson and Transylvania Counties. 

The place Jim's standing on top of in this picture is the very very top of this amazing place: 

via Jordan Luff on Facebook

But now, it is time to work, especially since I will finally have access to my painting supplies in about a week! Am very excited yet trepidations to unpack all our stuff from the fire storage unit where our things have been hiding for a long while.

In any event, here is an initial sketch - I will do a number of these in differing media so that I can feel confident re. technique and so that then I can focus on creating as expressive and overall awesome piece as I can.

The initial sketch phase is black and white, so as to get tonalities. What you do there is look at different parts of the painting as discrete shapes and blobs, and you sort of make yourself lose sight of a bridge, a flame, water, etc. You do this so that

a) you don't get stuck playing a proportions game you can never win
b) you do it so as to begin to approach a sense of 3 dimensionality - sometimes hard to achieve when you are working from a flat 2D surface as opposed to plein air
c) you want to aid your colour mixture when the time comes to add it in by working out values & hues independently of
d) it's a warm up! very necessary
e) it allows a different more creative way of looking at things

So here it is, and I think it went quite well - I succeeded in doing it in one sitting:

so here I can see what works, what needs help, etc.

I plan to do at least one more black white, and then colour like this in pencil with a pad before the time comes to really do it.

I am very excited to have a chance to be this methodical about it! The 90 Days project was so very fast that I had no time to really sit with a piece, get to know it, read up on it, etc. This allows a vertical v. horizontal immersion in the Realm of Turner.

Official Painting Day: Feb 24, 2012 & some thoughts

I have decided to begin on February 24st, a good New Moon time to begin any venture. Plus this would be the JH + AA anniversary date, which bodes well.

Not that I have not begun already - I have spent much time poring over various books, documents, so as to get a technical sense of what I am undertaking. Am also sketching out a schedule. The wood has all been found - the last difficult thing involves ordering the materials, which has involved poring over a vast, often confusing website - True Blue Art's supplier - so as to ascertain what is really essential, not just for the oil painting process, but for rewards fulfillment. The last slightly difficult thing before actively beginning will be the wood prep process which I supposedly will have little or nothing to do with.

So saying, would like to briefly share my thoughts about what I hope to capture, from an artistic perspective, in this project:

• full, total immersion: the artistic benefits of subjecting oneself to full immersion beat almost any other attempt at skill and crafts acquisition. From instructors assigning 3 paintings a week, on top of other projects, art students come to learn the inevitable rhythm of creation. As well, Gladwell's writings give food for thought: 10,000 hours of focused practice creates a foundation for mastering any complex skill. In particular, what interests me about immersion is what happens when you reach a point of saturation (always happens - you want to throw the thing as far away as you possibly can), you find it in yourself to work through it - and come to find you've achieved a huge breakthrough, and broken through a previously unbreakable plateau.
  
• absentee mentorism: in a word, I would like the experience of learning from a true master's process. Obviously JMW Turner is no longer with us - however much can be gleaned from following his process, from his first paintings which still had some of the dark atmospheric weight of El Greco works, through to those works in his last years which come to resemble Chagall. This is an artist who left more than 500 oils, 2,000 watercolours and more than 20,000 sketches to posterity - thus the surprising divergence from his earliest styles to his latest cannot surprise. By painting each work chronologically, I hope to experience in true flesh some of the stylistic processes and even psychological changes he might have undergone, leading him to his maturation as an artist.
  
• daily discipline: I seek, through this project, to embrace a challenge requiring most of my time and attention, with a stated goal and time period. This project will be my version of an Iron Man marathon or NaNoWriMo or a Buddhist meditative retreat. All these differ widely in aims and results, but have a similar aim: to temper impatience and mold the temperament in service of something larger. I understand that at some point the process will seem burdensome, tiresome, and even unnecessary. Some days will bring obstacles in my way which will seemingly prevent the daily production. No matter - the obstacles must be borne. Part of what's so spectacular about tying this project to a fundraising campaign involves the stakes involved - over 60 people have hedged their bets on my ability to complete this enterprise - this will 'keep me honest', and provide that needed kick to get me going when I really really want to quit!
• art history: I would like to learn more about this artist, about his personal life and how it intersects with his creativity, and how all of this was formed by and helped shape the larger world he inhabited in 19th century Britain. I am sure to find out that, though things are radically different in his Britain than they are in 21st century Madison County, NC, many similarities - cultural, economical, creative, etc - also exist. More than that, I would like to find out exact pointers regarding his style, habits, techniques, process, etc.

I also have serious reservations - the biggest one being an inability to come through. Branching off that big one, other little fears crop up when thinking about this project - that I have overshot my mark and that my designs are wildly impractical, that force majeure prevents the completion of this project, that 70% of it will be garbage and not worth looking at, that I will go crazy with the process, that the generous backers will come to seriously regret their generosity, etc - thousands of things. But in the end, as in life, fears must be borne as best one can and brushed aside when the time comes to work.

For today's image I submit a fun portrait our friend and local Appalachian artist, Freddie Henderson, made of me when he found my article in the local paper. Freddie's a cool and talented guy, and has overwhelmed me with wood besides! In particular these cool rounds, cross sections of trees on his property, which I MUST find a way to integrate.

Chinchester Canal - his and mine

Even before I conceived of this tremendous exercise, I had a taste of the project last summer. I can't remember why I set out to complete 3 of these, but complete them I did, within a 2-week period.

I have shown the other 2 repeatedly, in my videos/photos for this projects' promotion, but the third one, the Chinchester Canal (c. 1828) is one I kept under wraps - mainly because I was not entirely happy with how it turned out. We might consider it the red-headed stepchild of the Epic Painting Series.

Above we see his, acquisition # 560 in Turner at the Tate book - a canvas measuring 25.75 x 53, once again, considerably larger than the one I came up with. According to Wikipedia, George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont commissioned this maritime scene which some say depicts the atmospheric ash from the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in its use of brilliant colours.

When I first set to paint it, I did not make a detailed study of the technique employed. I decided that most likely an indirect painting technique - where a glaze dilutes the paint, allowing for multiple layers to provide a realistic, multidimensional look - was responsible for a lot of what appeared. Whether true or not, I was not 100% satisfied with my attempt - possibly I would need more layers. Possibly I blundered with those trees at the left. After looking at it one more time, I come to believe I may just need to add another layer of blue - definitely the far-off hills require it.

Turner used many techniques to finish his works, something which I plan to go into further along. According to this article, one of his trademark flourishes was.... finger painting! Wow... I would love to experiment with that. Something about throwing oneself into his painting style is fundamentally appealing, even if the thought of oil on my hands is not.

SUCCESS!

I wanted my first post to show the actual screenshots showing this one as a successfully funded campaign.

In the next few days I will have to get very organized to be able to accomplish all the things mentioned (as well as general lifestyle tasks) all in as best a way as I can. I will need to

• take inventory of what's needed
• come up with an action plan regarding gathering/preparing wood for preparation - IE speak to the neighbor about possible collaboration
• set up a work space (issues - such as lighting, permanence of position, space required are all things to take into account)
• take inventory of backers so as to provide the appropriate gifts (including the 2 that mailed contributions due to not wanting to deal with the site) - this includes subscribing them to this blog since frequent updates are part of the package deal
  
• start where I can till the funds arrive (a 2 week wait from the day the campaign was deemed successful, and
• paint!

I also have to give a shout-out to my dear mother who went in there and PUSHED the thing to everyone imaginable right when the campaign was more than 75% done and only 25% funded. Her efforts made the pledges double, which gave me the impetus to go after the rest.

I also wanted to note that at one point, unbeknownst to me, my project actually appeared as 'most popular' in its category for a full week. That was fun, and definitely a first for me as well!

And, of course, I cannot forget the wonderful friends and strangers who saw fit to donate to my artistic process. I hope I will not let you down. The trust you have put in me and my process is immense.