I'd rather be painting right now. But soon, I will.
Sara took me to the IMA and it was a great time. We also toured the lily house and the lily garden, of which were both beautiful and interesting. The European design since 1985 exhibit was awesome. Looking at the art was inspirational, especially the layered drawing by Ingrid Calame, who I realize now makes images which are somewhat similar (yet completely different) to what I've been doing.
In the Giovanni Bellini and European Renaissance area of the museum they had a display that explained the different pigments which artists of that time would have used, how they would have used them, and also what they would have used as a means of application (i.e. brushes, quills). I came to the conclusion that painting is such an organic activity. I mean, I don't know how significant it may be to someone else because, yes, all kinds of things are that way - you know, of course the earth (and the universe) gives us everything that we need to make other things, do other things, survive in his sort of existence, haha... tangent.
Anyway, regardless of that, I thought about how there are plants and minerals that give us pigments; minerals are made up of elements; many raw pigments anymore are synthetically made in a lab by chemists. Then I came further to the conclusion that I'm very much inspired by science. Science is art?
For example, titanium white : TiO2 (titanium, oxygen), viridian green : Cr2O3 (chromium, oxygen), ultramarine blue : Na8Al6Si6O24S2 (sodium, aluminum, silicon, oxygen, sulfur) - Vincent would probably understand more about this than than I would, and about some of the processes which create these pigments. Reading about that sort of thing doesn't make it appear that difficult, but I think and just know it is, or has to be, because I don't remember much chemistry from high school. Thus, what exactly cadmium nitrate and sodium sulfide are without looking it up, I'm not completely sure (creates cadmium yellow). I'm not aware of technicalities, or potential dangers. Though, I'm not saying that I couldn't learn these kind of things if I really wanted to make my own pigments. It would make sense to me to hear of someone acquiring a BFA with minors in art history and chemistry. If I were a serious artist, looking to make a living off of art, this is what I would have done, it's too late now. Really, I think its just all incredibly interesting. Being an artist though, and thinking about this makes me think - man, thank you scientists.
In class I've been working with acrylic paint. I've been painting on large sheets of paper and cutting up the pieces to create a new image. Today I seriously almost cut part of my thumb off doing this, and a little blood was involved. Anyway, this work is non-objective; it's just expressive and looks cool. Acrylic is wonderful for the things that it does that oil does not. I like the graphic quality in which one can obtain with acrylic paint. I think I want to work with oil, acrylic, watercolor and gouache in the fall and spring.
