The #1 Reason Why Your Figurative Art is Failing (& How To Fix It)
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- Опубліковано 16 тра 2024
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👨 About the host Julien Delagrange:
Julien Delagrange is an art historian, contemporary artist, and the founder and director of CAI. Delagrange studied Science of Arts at Ghent University, Belgium, and worked for the Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels, the Jan Vercruysse Foundation, the Ghent University Library, and has contributed to the international contemporary art scene as an art critic, lecturer, curator, gallery director, consultant, advisor, and as an artist. As an artist, he is represented by Galerie Sabine Bayasli in Paris, France, and Gallery Space60 in Antwerp, Belgium.
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Table of contents:
00:00 - Introduction
00:30 - The Success We Pursue at CAI
01:07 - The #1 Reason Why Your Figurative Art Fails
03:19 - The Solution
03:59 - Examples (Case Studies)
08:27 - Conclusion
09:00 - Outro
Hello, dear readers and subscribers; thank you for joining us again for our weekly video. My sincere apologies for the excessive B-roll footage and the out-of-focus video at times-my lens was behaving strangely when shooting this video. As always, I look forward to hearing your most honest thoughts and reactions in the comment section. Chat soon! All my best, Julien
very good points, you reference here
@marusamusapusa He said Glenn Brown
wonderful b-roll, and ty for the quote from jerry saltz!!!
Nah, B-roll was fine bro
🥰
This brings me back to something a friend told me when we noticed a lot of artists are dropping hyperrealism for 'looser' styles. He said, and i quote, 'Hyperrealism is not the problem, the problem is...what is the hyperrealism being used for?'
Spot on! This has even resulted in some prejudice towards hyperrealistic art or art that is beautifully painted. Thank you for the interesting comment!
❤
Thank you!! Right on time.
Thanks for these videos - a lot of things I needed to hear.
Thankyou for clarifying my realisation, after many years of painting, that subject matter is key, even more important than process. Love what you do. Cheers from Australia❤
jajajja the excuse u give ur self for not having an idea of how to drawi or paint! the subject donsent matter at all - if u want give a speech go for politics.
agree with what you said, thanks for sharing this ideas and for the reminder appreciate it❤
Your sound quality is so much better! Bravo. 😎
Thank you! 🙌
Wow. Oh my goodness! True story. I said a prayer tonight, before coming on youtube while I have dinner, to please let there be the right video for me, to help me with my art. After finishing art college in the spring, & a chain of hell events since, I'm preparing to resume a daily hands on art effort, (beyond prep/ brainstorming ideas/ research/ videos like this, a lot of prep). So I've figured out a lot about the art I want to do... my purpose. I've heard a clear calling. I know a lot of what I find pleasing in compositions, & things I like from my art effort so far. I realized one thing I really want to be central in my art is figurative art...!! I just feel so blessed to once again have my prayers answered, with just the right cautions & great advice, at the right time. You are awesome. Love to the whole art world family out there. Love wins.
I really enjoy and appreciate this channel. I feel like your advice on all things art and the industry is both honest and generous. Thank you.
Thank you so much for verbalizing these ideas. I have struggled to explain my art process so much to people who think of art as just a well rendered image, rather than an intimate journey of discovery and revelations.
Well said. Thank you.
Absolutely, wishing you all the best and thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences here. Most welcome!
This supports what I've thought for some time. It is quite encouraging. Thanks!
Go for it 💪Wishing you all the best!
Excellent. Thank you. 👌🏽✨
The pleasure is all mine, thank you for tuning in!
I am so glad I found your channel. Self taught I have reached the point where I can create a reasonable likeness from a reference photo, yet have been feeling increasingly dissatisfied with my art, that I am rendering photos into watercolour not creating art with any merit. Your videos are really inspiring me to pull back from the model of selling what I call your photo as a painting type commissions to instead educate myself on the art world, art history, composition etc then set my sights on achieving some credibility and gallery representation
Hi Julien, great content as always. Would you consider doing a follow-up to this video, on the question of copyright? As you mentioned, many figurative painters use the internet to source images. It would be helpful to know what is/isn't permissible, potential pitfalls - just in case you're looking for future video ideas!
Thank you for videos
I love the way conor harrington uses staging & costume.
Very interesting!
Excellent video!
Excellent video, thank you! It made me think of the American artist Alexander Ross, who uses playdough to create organic shapes which he then photographs, processes on Photoshop, and then paints on canvas.
Very interesting! I absolutely adore these unique and creative actions prior to painting. It makes you depict reality, while depicting another reality. Inception.
@@contemporaryartissue I agree!
This one was fantastic. I am excited that things i am thinking , or are on the tip of my tounge, you are able to articulate so very well. I got a little list on the jerry Saltz thing.
"An alibi to paint" I relate too well, except I tell folks I paint so I have an excuse to build a picture frame. The lack of story has been haunting me. I can create the stage, develop the characters, but I can't seem to project the plot. Iconography and egg tempera is historically fascinating. A image given the same power as the written word. I wonder about the power one image can have in a world where the only image you see is the one you see Sunday at church. The one image that teaches the story of life and death, salvation and condemnation. It is a far cry from posting another image to be ignored on Instagram.
Try to explore and implement these strategies and I am sure you can overcome this struggle. As always, the best inspiration to find new avenues to explore is to learn from the masters. Learn about the creative processes of established painters and take notes what could work for you. Wishing you all the best!
We are exiting the age of creation, and entering the era of curation.
Great video. As always the best content on UA-cam!
Very interesting one-liner. Food for thought. Thank you so much for your most kind support, I appreciate it!
@@contemporaryartissue you’re welcome. Plus you help me with my art so I thank you too.
Thank you❤ This was very inspiring! So often I've plunged into pinterest looking for an inpiring pic only to create the still life i was looking for on my own anyway. It is often more distracting than helpful in making something original 😉
Thank you for this very interesting video, with a subject that is not widely discussed. Also, I was hoping you would mention AI... until you did in a perfect way. I find it very useful as a tool to give a new dimension and sometimes go much deeper in your creative process.
Absolutely! AI can not be ignored, and for some artists, it is the perfect tool that was missing. Personally, I have found it often frustrating to work with and simultaneously incredibly inspiring. Thank you for tuning in and for your most kind comment!
painting pictures is a craft, but selling them at high prices is a great art!))
I really enjoy bringing my camera on walks to take my own reference photos, or making sketches on the bus. This way my paintings have that personal connection and meaning from the start- and I tend to paint more the feeling of a picture in the moment it was taken rather than copy the exact pixels in paint
Salamat po
Interesting. As a photographer, I follow this channel as a measure of ensuring that I’m seeing more than the lens is seeing.
That's terrific, most welcome! We'll expand on photography for sure in the foreseeable future as well. Stay tuned 🙌
The dog! He's thinking "yes, yes, you've said this 600 times... I'm going to sleep now". However, it's great advice, thank YOU!
thankyou for introducing to me Marlene Dumas and Ben Sledsen, artists who who both bring to me different sensualities of painting process.
Absolutely, two of my personal favorites. Thank you for tuning in!
Well pretty much the same things we see in art galleries everywhere - artists that paint pictures without beauty, study of light or proportions. I always applaud originality that comes hand in hand with technique. The ones that don't know the basics of drawing and go only by story - I find that it is called "marketing" not art. Is like a chef that put together a very original meal but is not good to eat, but has a great story behind. Everybody is excited about the dish even if it tastes horribly. It needs to be both original and good tasting to receive a Michelin star. Same with art. it is food for the spirit. Because of this trend galleries and art schools are pushing there are so many artists that just spread some pain on the super large canvas and call it "the divine inspiration" . Art should be also a craft. I am not saying to copy from Pinterest but at least as an artist, do the exercises, learn continuously and perfect your craft. This way you will not experience impostor syndrome, because the skills are there. And it shows, even if the work after are just scribbles you can tell who cannot draw and who can.
I agree with all your excellent points. Your subtext I believe is imagination. And I would add, trust YOUR imagination. Beware leaning on AI for imagination. AI has no soul or rather no point. Again, you’ve released another great talk.
Thank you for your most kind words. You're absolutely right. If you use AI, let it be your servant to explore your ideas instead. Don't let be the dictator of your ideas.
Painting from the heart I like your description of that. Sincerity matters it provides a captivating aura to the subject. Looking in the mirror takes guts. My son was giving me a hard time and I told him, you don’t get the father you want you get the one you have. From that days later I thought, I don’t get the me I want I get the me I am. For to long artist have been in pursuit of a cosmic purpose through intellectualism in art. Much has been learned. How best to apply that rather then repeating the quest? Through the heart. This is why I like CAI it is a catalyst. I would have never clarified my feelings as to this subject with out this video’s promoting. Yes correct we must think properly, clearly before we begin. Then we move beyond exorcise and past convention towards something else. Whatever that is at least it’s who we are. There in lyes it’s own success money and/or talent be dammed.
Spot on as always! Thank Daniel for your contribution once more. I hope you're doing well. Best wishes from Belgium!
Great tips
Thank you!
Art today reminds me of a recent series by Gerhard Richter, titled "Mood", recently shown at David Zwirner. At first these small works on paper look like generic colorfield watercolors, what I would call Frankenthaler-lite, something you'd see in a hotel lobby. What they are, however, are inkjet prints of original watercolors. The generic reproduction becomes yet another generic original. They're numbing to look at and impossible to assimilate. Most of all they're a commentary on the impossibility of originality. I feel this way looking at most paintings today.
To be fair, the figurative art of Jordan Wolfson taps into a pulse but most figuration today that flirts with the new never breaks with the visual tropes of the past. In contrast, figurative art in the 20th century clearly broke new and innovative ground. Francis Bacon, Philip Guston, and Neo Rauch are but a few examples. Abstraction doesn't fare much better. Pit anything against a Twombly or a Stella black stripe painting and it will fall. On a positive note, what most artists today have in common is that they are cognizant of the past but are they in Donald Judd's words, "treating art history as if it were a toy box?"
Unfortunately, the first quarter of the 21st century doesn't look bright for painting, certainly not compared to the 20th century. Juggernauts like Rodchenko in Russia, Mondrian in Europe, and in the U.S. starting in 1948, with DeKooning and Pollock are still leagues above the artists of the 21st century, proving Richter's maxim that originality may indeed be impossible. The best painting today raises the eyebrows of the money crowd but most of it is derivative and lacking in criticality. Is painting in the 21st century dead or is it suffering from growing pains? Art has become the subject of sales, spreadsheets, and growth charts but, in the end, art must be one thing... great.
From the experience of creating artworks… I agree with almost all of these points. Avoiding AI and supporting all the other options life offers has plenty. Stay out of fear and greed … from the heart. Thank you again. Woof.
Using an ai reference is way more honest than stealing pictures in Pinterest from other artists.
Thank you for tuning in and sharing some interesting thoughts. Life has indeed a plenty to offer! All my best, Julien
I love that, be an inventory rather than an executioner.
Exactly. Thank you for tuning in!
Thank you
The pleasure is all mine!
Send me your email. I need to show you my latest artwork
I like to look for poctures online to compose a scene and not really to paint only that image but something in that image has resemblance to a part of what is in my head.
The only thing I paint straight from the image is portraits to train until finding my own personal portrait style
no mention of working from life? i mean, i get the point of the video about source material, but unless i missed it, not one mention of figure/portrait models? a lot of good points, but the omission is interesting
He did cover painting from life within the context of staging your set with actors, models, etc.
Working from life is indeed a valid option-as long as the setting has more to it than just a snapshot of reality, and we're trying to do something more than just replicating that reality. But you're right-mea culpa. Perhaps we could have explored more thoroughly on working from life specifically. Thank you for tuning in and the relevant comment!
Probably because painting from life is like painting from a photo. It’s more of an exercise than creativity. Unless you’re like the example of the guy who does the large charcoal drawings. You would need someone “interesting” to paint in life. It’s hard to compete with reality, when a photo of Bigfoot will be more interesting than a painting of Bigfoot.
Seen you at TV ; better to visual ambience and details but a little dificult to ad a small commentary; Thanks, CAI!
PS. The fruits on those big pint tableaus are _émouvantes_!
Hi Vincente, thank you so much! My best regards to you as always!
Nice doggie! Good video too!
Thanx you ! and please,please , add do not do a copy what is successful or already done.it might sound obvious, but it is not.
I’m tired of seeing , even at the most important art fairs , the same or theme or “thing”
in different formats over and over again.
The lack of creativity or meaningful work its overwhelming.
Julien another question I have?
If you be so kind to talk about it , is
-Why do so many people want to become “artists” ?
It’s seems something that’s idealised .
Could it be because many successful art pieces have made it possible to believe that anyone can be an artist ?
Also the amount of money that is payed for art nowadays.
Something obscene, never seen before in history .
Because in this case it’s not only love for art but, money laundering, investment, tax evasion and other purposes.In this case art had become a product.
but young people who aspire to become rich , this way , you have to tell them it’s easier to win the lottery .
Creativity and originality will always be rewarded in the end. Standing out matters. Be yourself radically!
You need to paint from your mind or create your own original source materials to use as reference.
Agreed, although there is grey zone where your own original source material can start to overlap with existing imagery-for instance with creating a collage from existing materials, taking a photograph of an existing photograph, a reproduction of an image within in image, et cetera.
In order to be the most authentic and best, you need to create it all yourself.. @@contemporaryartissue
There's no such thing really as 'painting from the mind'. What happens for representational artists at any rate is that after a lot of observational painting and drawing they build up a visual memory which they can then call upon to draw 'realistic' looking scenes without reference, but to get to that point typically takes thousands of hours of hard observational work from life. Once you understand how the world is made up of rectangles, spheres and cylinders, you can pretty much invent anything in three dimensions. But I disagree that you can't use reference well which you haven't personally created - the problem is most unskilled artists copy reference, they don't use it.
Subject matter Man describing art to dog sitting on couch ❤
Love it ❤🙌
How did you know my figurative art is failing? Are you watching me? Stop it!
Great video as always. Would you also say that females are overwhelmingly chosen as a subject in general? I’ve recently made the switch from painting pretty Pinterest woman to more distraught male faces. Somehow that feels less common.
The bulk of figurative painters tend to prefer depicting female portraits or figures compared to male figures-however, in the high-end art world this is not necessarily the case. I believe a female portrait has more natural beauty and is therefore more likely to be selected as reference for people who like to paint "pretty pictures." Wishing you all the best!
@@contemporaryartissueThank you for that reply. Also, would love to see your take on modern streetart and popart in today’s art world.
Art Is Motion , In Emotion. Quote , By Aaron Zywicki. Stay true to yourself ,And you will be successful.
3:35 - please may I ask what is this word here? "instead you have to search for (this word)"
I got out of portraiture when it became obvious others were rendering photographs…
It is perfectly fine to work from a photograph, but as long as you do something with it or when there is a unique process or story behind the photograph. Wishing you all the best!
True. But often the work is simply a rendering of a photograph. It’s perfectly fine to use a photograph (in days gone by a model was used for most of the sitting, with the subject only required for the head stuff). If you are going to use photographs take it yourself as so much of the work Is done in the camera. Light, composition and daresay , the very essence of what you are reaching for which often, is not ‘likeness’.
Regards
Pete
Choose your model before the model chooses you. :) Firstly, why do we need models? Model is something to relay to the beholder, to correspond. It is not easy to get rid of it. It grabs your mind and you need to stay as long as it fascinates you. I think even mathematician needs a model, a system that represents it. Artists do make models all the time. And systems too. On a surface or in the mind. You should never get detached from life if you want to make something meaningful.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts here, most welcome! Wishing you all the best, Julien
@@contemporaryartissue I liked the video. And what you sayed. And I am thankful too. Wish you all the best to you and the channel. I just thought will be good to think about this a while after years of academic rejection to relay to models and widespread myth we should not. Especialy if someone says " you do not need a model". And how to read this. No mater what we do it comes back to this relationship artist-model. It needs to make sense. I guess even a selfpotrait is this. Not just what you see in the mirror but how much you know about that person there, apart the usual flater or disapproval. :) . Models are imitated and interpreted. Using letters to wright is using models. Whole phrases. Imitating sounds or gestures. And use them to convey thoughts. People instinctively look for models. It is natural.
What do you think of galleries, collectors, etc. insisting on painters revealing and discussing their techniques and, “how they do what they do it”? Ie. their techniques and formulas that get the effects they create. For me, the look of my paintings have become sort of my brand and I want to guard that. I’ve worked just as hard achieving a uniques look to my paintings as I have learning to paint and discovering how to break many of the “rules,” and still be able to create said narration in the image that asks for something from a viewer. I’m happy to talk about my narrative thoughts I put into an image, the genre, etc., but not about the technical details of how I get there. How do you feel about this technical secrecy on my part? Is it insulting to someone who shows that level of curiosity with a response like answering that old question of how long it took make that painting with, “as long as I’ve been alive.” (I’m not snarky, but “I just paint it how I feel,” or I paint a lot and this is just how they look,” isn’t much better. Lately I’ve been saying that I keep my techniques to myself. 🤷♂️
I enjoy high quality art, whether representational or abstract. However, at least in my rather experienced opinion, I did not like any of the art shown in this video. I do not necessarily think these examples put a good light on so-called figurative painting. Just about all of them involve gimmicks. Artists looking for attention.
I really liked using AI for references for a while, but then it got generic and boring, all of the AI's just spit out these pretty looking but otherwise droll works that arent much beyond "hey this is pretty".
I really wish I could get my hands on one of the earlier models that were vague and strange.
Correct I've been looking to use AI but they're so pretty and perfect they're boring
Most often art is not born from "true intention"
Chance can be an important aspect in the creation process to go beyond what one could have intended. Spot on, thank you!
While I am fond of and make plenty of "fun and happy" art (or "ostrich" art) myself, I also make figurative art that is suppose to artistically disturb and document. I am trying, in paint, to do what Emmit Till's mom did by leaving her son's casket open so all could see the horrors perpetrated on that innocent young man. It worked, change was forthcoming. (I am painting on the subject of mass shooting) I tell folks, who the hell would ever buy this stuff? Yet, I keep making it. I am just trying to, as Otto Dix said, let "the artist be the eyes of the world." In a world where the paradigm is now- safe and happy art, I am most often not welcome. This let's me know I must be doing something right! Lol. BTW-I create my images from my imagination but I wish I could afford a model now and then!
This is exactly what is taught in art school. No technical skill, no colour knowledge, no proportions, just something shocking, ugly and disgusting. Make something, then make the best effort to craft a credible explanation. After that you need to be promoted by someone who can decide that you are the next to be discovered.
This has been my experience as well. Depressing, really.
Why should we confine our creativity to painterly rules from the 19th century? If you allow freedom of line or color, why would that implicate that there is no room for skill or beauty? The typical misconceptions about art speak to make something credible and achieve success purely via promotion are also false. The idea is actually in the process itself, so it can't be something that is fabricated a posteriori. When it comes to the promotion, don't underestimate to power of the public and overestimate the power of dealers. Most often, art succeeds because it is simply appealing to numerous art collectors.
Contemporary figurative art comes across as "desperate to do something different" to me. Other people's internal worlds are fine when they keep them to themselves but it all smacks of escapism. Still, it fits the "me! me! me!" worlds of social media where everyone is selling something and no one is buying. There has to be some reference, whether metaphorical, ironic or actual, whatever, to the collective world, otherwise it's all decoration waiting for an internal designer. Sort of up market Sunday painting.
Dear kids- don’t paint stuff off of Instagram and Pinterest. Maybe put your phones down for a minute and take a look at the world around you. Art is a response to the human condition not that fake reality that hypnotizes you all damn day.
Dear Christopher. If your intention was to come across as a pompous buffoon who gets his idea of "the kids" from social media and would never stoop so low as to have a meaningful conversation with them, congratulations! If you want to be helpful you'll need to rethink the way you communicate. "The kids" will, quite rightly, roll their eyes and ignore you if you talk at them like this.
Social media is part of the human condition, no?
You must expand your understanding of the human condition my friend
But if everyone is on their phones and not looking around them, that begs the question, what is reality?
😍😍😍
fails at what?
That's explicitly spelled out in the first 30 seconds Stephen.
@@Ceaseless_Watcher sorry the title seemed provocative. i don't know why this is in my feed.
Please stop talking about marlene dumas..! She is very overestimated! Her work is not that great. Its not really impressive when you see her exhibitions.
Overrated, perhaps. Her work certainly lacks in technical skill (all too common in the art world) but she does have a few interesting pieces. I often find gallery exhibitions dull and uninspiring anyway.
I believe we'll have to agree to disagree-personally, I adore the work of Marlene Dumas
In the present day, AI has the capability to manipulate virtually every form of art. The challenge lies in the fact that meanings can be easily manipulated by AI technology, diminishing the intrinsic value of interpretation. In this era where art credits and values what is novel, Incredibism emerges as a distinctive movement rooted in language. It introduces a new language of art, a literal transformation that transcends traditional boundaries. Incredibism holds the promise of being the ultimate future art technique, possessing qualities that allow for a clear differentiation between AI-generated art and that created by humans. This underscores the significance of Incredibism as a crucial art movement, offering a unique perspective in navigating the evolving landscape of artistic expression.
Thank you for tuning in, wishing you all the best your Incredibism!
Don't ai. me