The bed she slept in, the porridge she ate.: Backgrounds

Today I had my art student over, and we talked about why he likes art.. mostly in attempts to get him ready for some sort of art institute interview, and some interesting things came up. One of the things he said was "I like art because it has no limits." I think this is one of the reasons I like art too. A figure in a painting can be realistic, flat, misshapen, have missing parts, be drawn from memory, or be drawn from observation. I don't have to show things the way they look, and I don't have to keep the rules consistent. It's all about the intent. If you do it knowingly, there can be no mistakes in art. This is also one of the things that make drawing and painting so difficult. You don't have to follow any rules, and you are allowed to(and will) make a bad drawing sometimes. This is a crucial part of figuring out what does work and what is actually interesting to look at.

Something new that has emerged recently for me is the use of backgrounds. If you've noticed in the past, I kept the background pretty sparse and abstract. It has been a long run of figures squirming in their own emotional filth, which is fine, but it was time for a divergence. There is something very satisfying about this kind of structured, pretty painting, and I'm hoping it will bring something new to the figures.

The first painting here is also loosely inspired by a piece of writing by my friend and writer, Josh Amses. More collaborations between us to come!