But is it art?

Several watchers probably dabble in drawing and paitning. This is a thread for sharing your work. We already have the rpg fan art thread, but this is a more general art thread. So welcome to post here.

One thing: If you post here, you must accept comment/critisizms. You do whatever you want to of course, but I will, if I feel like it comment on/critisize whatever is posted in this thread. And if I think soimething is bad, I'll say it (but with a hint on what can be done to improve the work). I expect nothing less from other watchers.

This spring I've attended an oil painting course by a very talented Norwegian painter, Frøydis Aarseth (https://www.froydisfineart.com/new-page-4). I've learned a lot from her, and this is what I've done


This still life is not finished. I've established most of the main colours, and is working on the 3d shape of things and the shadows. However 3 of the element prove to be a bit difficult, so I have to do separate sketches for those (the rightmost (very flat) and the left/uppermost (lots of very detailed textures) rocks) and the glass to the right). I've finished work on the glass, result given below. I've yet to finish the other ones. After that I'll start working on the details, including highlights. I'll probablyn finish the painting in a couple of weeks. And unless heavy protests, I will post the finished work.

The glass (filled with yellow tinted painting medium):


a pibbur who has yet to do fantasy/game art and prefers to work with canvases and oils. And of course charcoal.

PS. Drawing/painting glasses is (at least to me) notorously difficult, but it illustrates very well one of the important aspects of drawing and painting: using your eyes. That is carefully looking for reflections, highlight areas, how shapes are distorted by the glass itself and the fluid. And of course, knowing what to look for. Which can be achieved by drawiing the same motive again and again and again, learning from your mistakes, until you get it right. DS.

a pibbur,
You should appreciate this - filmed in my home town in the 80;s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGQEQQXCGP8

a pibbur said:

But is it art?

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Let me be blunt.
No it is not.

What you've posted is technique display end experimenting.
Underneath however there is no message for the audience.

Don't rush with the story on a painting though. Keep perfecting the style, substance will appear automatically by itself depending on your mood while painting.

joxer said:

Let me be blunt.

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Thanks.

No it is not.

What you've posted is technique display end experimenting.
Underneath however there is no message for the audience.
.

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There is a fine line between displaying technique, or just reproducing a motive in oils on one side and fine art on the other. It depends a bit on your definition of art - mine is probably a bit different from yours. Regarding messages - there is a (perhaps too subtle) message in the painting but I can't claim it's enough to qualify.

Don't rush with the story on a painting though. Keep perfecting the style, substance will appear automatically by itself depending on your mood while painting

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I consider myself an amateur artist (wannabe), with somewhat above average technical skills. I will continue drawing/painting, partially as a student with the artist I've mentioned. We'll see how things develop.

a pibbur who appreciates the feedback.

There are 2 possible messages in your painting, so I'm not sure which is correct. You're either a starving artisit because there's not much food in your fridge, or you've eaten FAR too much and that's all you've left behind!! Keep going.

Hmm, I think this is as controversial as politics and religion! I think it's art if the artist says so. But then again I am a Warhol fanboy.

I can't draw worth crap, but I do like art. I'm a guy who likes the classic Impressionist Masters like Van Gogh and Monet. One of my favorite paintings is by an American impressionist, Robert Lewis Reid, it shows a beautiful young girl contemplating some flowers, or who knows what else she is thinking about. I really like the colors and the way the girl's hands are posed, and the expression on her face.

Mechanically the paintings look decent, but I think it lacks an emotional element. They are suitable as studies though.

I feel a sense of warmth and invitation from the jar, which I doubt was present in the subject.

Looks like it's coming along nicely. I can tell you've learned from someone that knows their stuff. The colour, light, and shade are very good.

If I had to pick out a point of criticism I would say that the shape and perspective of the objects is not quite perfect. I used to enjoy painting, though I haven't had a go for years, and I remember that getting that right in a still life is fiendishly difficult. I assume it's just a question of regular practice.

rjshae said:

Mechanically the paintings look decent, but I think it lacks an emotional element. They are suitable as studies though.

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This is interesting. ATM I'm not sure about to what degree a still life can express emotion, but I'm definitely open to different views.

There is a difference between just reproducing a scene, and present it artistically. It's a bit like photograpy. Many photos are mostly documention - "this is me last summer in Venice" (well, not me, as I've never been there). Others have real artistic quality.

I can see that these paintings are mostly reproductions, as learning the techniques has been my main focus. I want to paint what I want, but then I need the skills to be able to paint what I want.

Philistine said:

I feel a sense of warmth and invitation from the jar, which I doubt was present in the subject.

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Again interesting. I can see that the jar is painted differently from the other things.
@rjshae;: Do you agree with the philistine?

You've both given me something to think about. Thank you.

a pibbur who again appreciates the feedback.

Ripper said:

…
If I had to pick out a point of criticism I would say that the shape and perspective of the objects is not quite perfect. I used to enjoy painting, though I haven't had a go for years, and I remember that getting that right in a still life is fiendishly difficult. I assume it's just a question of regular practice.

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You're right. Especially the perspective of the red brick leaves "something to be desired". Now, the painting is not finished, so that's something I can and will correct.

a pibbur whose perspective hopefully will be developing.

Pibbur,

Excellent thread. I want to revisit this later and express my thoughts when I have more time. Beautiful art, though!

a pibbur said:

Especially the perspective of the red brick leaves "something to be desired".

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Ah, I thought it was a bar of chocolate!

Cacheperl said:

Ah, I thought it was a bar of chocolate!

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Good for you that I told you before you took a bite, then.

a pibbur who expects less confusion when the painting is finished.

PS. The orange (the yellow thingy in the middle) is probably not edible either. It was, once, but I've spent a really long time making the painting. DS

PPS. I would also not drink from the glass, the contents are turpentine mixed walnut oil and an unhealthy dose of cadmium yellow, which is poisonous. DS.

Arkadia7 said:

I can't draw worth crap, but I do like art. I'm a guy who likes the classic Impressionist Masters like Van Gogh and Monet. One of my favorite paintings is by an American impressionist, Robert Lewis Reid, it shows a beautiful young girl contemplating some flowers, or who knows what else she is thinking about. I really like the colors and the way the girl's hands are posed, and the expression on her face.

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I didn't have the impression as if this thread was meant to - even implicitely -
compare Pibbur to artists known from museums.

Seeing this reply, I decide not to show what I had been drawing so long ago.

Alrik Fassbauer said:

I didn't have the impression as if this thread was meant to - even implicitely -
compare Pibbur to artists known from museums.

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It's not. And I don't think he does that.

Seeing this reply, I decide not to show what I had been drawing...

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Please reconsider. Show them to us.

A pibbur

There doesn't exist much, even. In a course for scientific drawing I once made a snail house - in a few variations. I cannot find even most of the sheets now.

The only ither item apart from that I was ever drawing was some kind of plug. It has clear, defined, straight lines, to I tried it.

In the vault of one of my teenage diaries there is a painting I painted with my words. I cannot paint, so I described every detail of it in words. I have not re-read my diaries for 30 years again. The only thing I remember about it was that it was an hurt heart.

Interesting.

In that case, maybe make a this is what I wrote thread? (Could perhaps be a bit more scary/too revealing).

a pibbur who cannot write (other things than posts, these days).

Of course I was not trying to compare pibbur to famous artists from museums, as Alrik suggested.

I said that I had nothing to offer of my own as I have no skill in drawing or painting. So, I showed a painting that is a favorite of mine instead, as I appreciate art.

Anything pibbur does, such as that art he showed in the first post, is 1000 times better than I could do.