Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Improvisation

On the subject of improvisation, the painter Paul Klee (1879 – 1940) had this to say:

“…nature has been transformed by the richness of the artist’s instincts.  Improvisation plays an important part: the work of art is allowed, like a doodle, to follow its own evolution, subconsciously guided by the artist rather than consciously controlled.” 

How true that statement applies to freedom of water colour, and all the more so when the subject is the endless variations of the nude. When working from life, two forces come into play, the painter and the model, and they thrive off each other. Then the miracle of evolution happens, as it did in this afternoon’s session with Annabelle. 


Above is a 20” x 16” twenty minute painting from the session and below is a detail.  


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