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Bill Tomsa

9 Years Ago

A Painting Is Great Because....

"A painting is great, not because it looks like something, but rather because it FEELS like something."

Yes, you can substitute photogaph, sculpture or any other form or "art" for painting. I read this in an article that just happened to be about a painter, unfortunately whose name I don't recall. But the above statement he/she made has stuck with me ever since and I try to call it to mind whenever I'm painting and hopefully make my paintings feel like something. Just wondered if this quote struck the same chord with anyone else as it did with me.

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Edward Fielding

9 Years Ago

Something great makes an emotional connection with the viewer.

 

Bill Tomsa

9 Years Ago

True.

 

Janine Riley

9 Years Ago

A Painting Is Great Because.... it entices me in, and engages my senses.
I want to feel part of the scene, & I want to experience more.

 

Bill Tomsa

9 Years Ago

That's another way of saying it, Janine. Thanks for sharing.

 

Marlene Burns

9 Years Ago

I'm an abstract artist...my paintings never look like anything!
I'm keenly aare that if I am authentic in my process, the viewer WILL feel something.

 

Bill Tomsa

9 Years Ago

Hi Marlene. Ironic you should post your reply at this time. Within the last hour I just shot several of my abstracts to post on my profile page. Glad to hear from another abstract painter in regards to this quote. And your point that "my paintings never look like anything", I think, validates the idea behind the quote: that even when a painting (image) doesn't look like "anything" it can still be considered great if it feels like something. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this.

 

Chuck De La Rosa

9 Years Ago

I'm with Janine. It has to engage me to be great. Emotions can be a part of it, but don't have to be.

Marlene, it's a funny thing when it comes to abstracts. I never "feel" anything, just a sense of fascination. I love much of what you do for example, particularly your more recent work with photos. But I can't say I have any emotions connected to any of it. Just a fascination with the colors and geometry, and the sense of enigma. Maybe there's some kind of psychology behind that, I dunno.

 

Tony Murray

9 Years Ago

A painting is great because the artist is great. There is no other reason.

 

Marlene Burns

9 Years Ago

Thank you Bill and Chuck.
I don't worry much about people who don't 'get' my art...I have enough clients who do and buy it ;) They may identify with it, feel something or it may just match their sofa...it doesn't matter much to me.
As far as my photography experiments go...I don't expect anyone to feel anything...this series is being done for me, to hone my compositional skills and be part of a future series as paintings.
People are buying prints, so that's fine, but it's not an intention.

 

Bill Tomsa

9 Years Ago

I'm so pleased to get all of your inputs on this quote Thank you. A couple of observations or questions I've had after reading them. One is, aren't emotions and senses the same as feelings?

And this one is for you, Tony... do great artists only produce great art or do they make some stinkers once in awhile? I heard once that Michelangelo was once quoted as saying "Hey! They can't all be masterpieces!" :) :) :) Also, who decides that an artist is great or is that only determined by critics long after the artist is dead?

Thanks all.

 

Jani Freimann

9 Years Ago

My favorite quote: The aim of art is not to represent the outward appearance of things, but it's inward significance ~ Aristotle

I think it is a lot like your quote.

The greatest challenge for an artist is to paint a painting in a way that evokes a pleasant memory, an emotion or tells a story that ressonates with viewers.

My goal is to not just do that, but also to create pieces that the viewer of my work can get lost in long enough to forget their troubles and even be renewed of hope. I know I've done my job well when that happens.

Edit: A bad piece of art is one that is passed over and ignored, IMO. And I guess for me that means a piece that has no inward significance.

 

Chuck De La Rosa

9 Years Ago

Bill when I think of feelings I think of emotions, what moves you, either good feelings or bad. When I think of senses, I think of both physical senses and intellectual stimulation. While the two are often linked, they are just as often mutually exclusive. I am one of those people who have a fairly close balance between left and right brain, nearly 50%. So often what is presented to me I view as a puzzle or something mechanical, something to analyze. That's what I see when I see abstract.

 

Edward Fielding

9 Years Ago

There certainly room for "good". Hopefully most of our work is "good" but then there are those extra special ones that reach greatness. This time of year they bring out all of those "Greatest Hits" albums. They can't all be the greatest, some are b sides.

 

Jani Freimann

9 Years Ago

I have a pile of 'b' side art. I call it my sin pile. Nobody ever gets to see those. They sometimes get reworked and become great. One of my latest masterpieces happened that way.

 

Mark Blauhoefer

9 Years Ago

It depends on the painting and at what detail level you want to look at it. But of all the arts to behold a personal favorite, with many detail levels to offer, it's an experience beyond. The richness of colour, the theme, the inspirational or thought-provoking quality, the artist's acute skill in communicating and having it resonate within you.

I've seen some that have mesmerized me by the colour and brush strokes that look like precious jewels in liquid form. Some with such a range of tone that you begin wondering if the gamut even exists in nature. Some where the colour is more radiant than a television, certainly more captivating than one...

Even the tactile feel of a finished canvas - and the weight of the paint, the smell of the fibre/turps/linseed can be thrilling.

The times where I've seen the price, and thought bargain - because this is priceless. Collectors collect for a very good reason.

I could go on all night...

 

Tony Murray

9 Years Ago

"…….. do great artists only produce great art or do they make some stinkers once in awhile? I heard once that Michelangelo was once quoted as saying "Hey! They can't all be masterpieces!"

Absolutely they can make stinkers, but only in their own eyes. If you found a Michelangelo painting that was his worst ever what do you think that value of that work would be?
Think of it in terms of finding a long lost painting. Everyone gets excited, not about the painting, but about who painted it and the question deciding its value is: Is it authentic? The value is based on its authorship and has little value based on its intrinsic efficacy.


Also, who decides that an artist is great or is that only determined by critics long after the artist is dead?
"Fame is not accrued but left to collective perception."

There can great artists who are alive but imagine an artist who's famous and suddenly finds themselves in a scandal. The "Greatness" of their work diminishes quickly.

 

Bill Tomsa

9 Years Ago

Wow! You all have some great insights into this and give one a lot to think about, which is really what these discussions are about, right? Even though I paint fairly regularly with a plein air group we usually spend our time painting and not talking about much of anything , except maybe what's on our easels at the moment. Also, how much do we talk at art receptions about these things? Being new on the site I look forward to more input on this quote and other things as well as getting some interesting POV's from fellow artists. I look forward to learning much more.

 

Marlene Burns

9 Years Ago

I have had many stinkers that I have painted over...and many painted over simply because painting it was the only important thing...keeping the product around, wasn't.
Most of my raptors were painted over....
Raptors, Marlene Burns PAintings  Prints

 

Cascade Colors

9 Years Ago

I think that the quote is pretty accurate; I think people buy art for emotional reasons, and because it DOES make them feel something - whether a particular emotion, whether ties to something in their past/nostalgia (also emotion), or so on. I have heard people articulate the same thing, in fact someone at an art show I was part of over this past weekend told me flat out he was wanting something of a certain location in Colorado, as it would 'mean something' to him -- i.e. the personal connection/emotional impact.

The other interesting thing about paintings or any art form is just how different all of it is -- what speaks to one person won't do a thing for another. I suppose this too is tied to the emotional impact and the individuals' own personality makeup and preferences. :)

 

Tamara Lee Madden

9 Years Ago

Or because it makes you feel something.
And it's not limited to paintings for me but encompasses all art.

A quote I heard refered to art as a "completed pass"; someone has to "catch" it.

 

Cascade Colors

9 Years Ago

Tamara, that's an interesting analogy that seems very appropriate... someone 'catching' it. :)

 

Bill Tomsa

9 Years Ago

Yes, Tamara! That's exactly what the author/artist is saying or at least that's how I interpret what he/she is saying. A painting (or whatever) can look exactly like the subject it's portraying right down to the last detail but if it doesn't have the feeling of the subject it misses the mark. Nice sports analogy....GO PATS (and Cardinals)!!!

 

Kelley Lee McDonald

9 Years Ago

Hi Bill,

For me there are several ways a piece of art can draw me in. I'm extremely partial to excellent technique, at other times the message behind the image is most important. The combination of the two is simply sensational! Sometimes, an abstract piece of art has a palette and flow to it that wins me over, and at other times, I have no idea why I like something other than the fact I return to look at it again and again. I think the "feeling" part is really important, but I have also loved work I have no emotional connection to.

 

Bill Tomsa

9 Years Ago

Very well articulated, Kelly. Thanks so much for your insight. Love the pooch.

 

Bill Tomsa

9 Years Ago

Good night and thanks to all of you. Hope this discussion continues.

 

Genninejj Genninejj

9 Years Ago

The painting is great because it has great meaning. Or great story in it. Or great story how the artist made it, inspire people, make them feel great, gives emotions. We viewers and historians will tell if the painting is great or greatgreat. xD At the mean time.. I stare at some beautiful works and see or feel something; gives dream or take my mind to somewhere.. Great!! O_O

 

Tamara Lee Madden

9 Years Ago

Thanks Cascade!
Go Pats! ;-)

 

Bill Tomsa

9 Years Ago

Argie-
Your reply "We viewers and historians will tell if the painting is great or greatgreat". This brought back to me a conversation I had years ago with a painter friend of mine. Now I know this discussion is about what makes a painting great not what makes an artist great but allow me to digress a bit.

This friend of mine turned to me one day and almost out of the blue said to me "Bill, I've come to realize I'm never going to be considered a great painter." At first I thought he was joking until I sensed the sadness in his voice and that he was serious. I couldn't think of anything to say because I was so dumbfounded by his statement. This was coming from one of the best painters I had ever had the pleasure of knowing and I've known some world class painters. Years later while thinking about it I suddenly came to this conclusion about what he had said and I wish now I'd been able to reply to him on the spot, "None of us have any control over how we will ultimately be judged by others in our endeavors. All we can do is our absolute best every time and keep trying to improve. We may or may not be considered great painters, but in the end does it really help to worry about it?"

Anyway, just wanted to share that.

 

Kelley Lee McDonald

9 Years Ago

Wow Bill!

That was a powerful story up above. I'm betting there are many great painters who are secretly disappointed with how they've been received by others. We all have to make peace with where our lives have taken us. Better to see the good side rather than simmer in resentment.

 

Bill Tomsa

9 Years Ago

Thanks, Kelley. You're right and isn't one of the best examples Vincent van Gogh?! Talk about a poor self-image! But a great artist!

 

Bill Tomsa

9 Years Ago

Kelley-

"Better to see the good side rather than simmer in resentment"

On that... best Rx I know of for anyone afflicted by above is to read "The Present" by Spencer Johnson, MD. Great book and very short.

 

This discussion is closed.