Imperceptible variations between colours together with a suggestive line says
all that needs to be said about the subtle beauty of the female breast.
Detail from a 20" x 30" watercolour of the reclining nude.
The painter James Whistler (1834-1903) on looking at the work of an aspiring artist asked, whom she had studied with. Apologetically, she answered that she had never studied under anybody. Whistler unhesitatingly replied, "You couldn't have done better".
If sixty years ago I had attended art school, instead of learning my trade and earning my living with a sketch book on the pavements of France, my work would be indistinguishable from tens of thousands of others. I would have been taught formulas for mixing colours instead of finding out for myself by experimentation.
Many of the best musicians in jazz are similarly self-taught. The renowned saxophonist Charlie Parker gave this advice: "You must know your instrument; practice, practice, practice...and then forget all you have learnt".
In painting I have put in over fifty years of practice. I instinctively know my colours and how they interact. Of late, my evenings have been spent at the piano learning by trial and error how one note interacts with another. If only I had another fifty years I might gain the same creative proficiency in music as I have done in painting.
The colour wheel for artists and the cord wheel for musicians are contrary to my dyslexic way of learning and my passionate approach to painting and music.
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