1. Who were your teachers or influences?
I found a home with the followers of the ancient Greek painter Apelles. My favorites, Titian, Rembrandt, and Odd Nerdrum all share characteristics which have roots with Apelles, such as that rough “macchia” style. Their painted flesh is famous for feeling “fleshy.” There is a heightened sense of drama and pathos in their pictures. Also their masterpieces tend to be quite dark. The most talented and trained in this lineage have a special kind of freedom because their concern is no longer much about style or fashion. They are free to go deep into the narratives and to work at portraying believable and recognizable emotions. There are many more who have taught me. A few names I should mention are G.F. Watts, Käthe Kollwitz, Goya, Eugène Carrière, and Andrew Wyeth. 2. What techniques or tricks did you find most useful when learning to paint? I will say something about kitsch later on. Regarding painting technique, the brush is one of many good tools for manipulating paint. Rags and fingers often work better for some things. But we can do more than just add paint. We can play around with removing it by Sanding, scraping, and also wiping with turp. (Make sure to take all health precautions!) Rembrandt used coral to scrape his paintings. I especially envy how skilled Rembrandt is with the palette knife. I tend to stick with the “fat over lean” idea. In other words, if I need medium, it is more turp early on and then more oil towards the end of the piece. This allows it to dry evenly. I use Nerdrum’s marble dust ground recipe on Linen. It is unlike anything I’ve found on prepared canvases in stores. It grips the paint. I find it very awkward to work with gesso on cotton now. There are countless ideas when it comes to composition. I learned one of my favorites in music, but it applies to painting, Theme and Repetition. Identify a primary shape and find ways to repeat it rhythmically in the picture. Like the repeated “V” in Titian’s “Punishment of Marsyas.” When done well, it may be unnoticeable to the average viewer, but it creates a pleasing, dance-like, atmosphere. 3. What are 3 key principles of making good art, in your opinion? Kitsch is probably the best name for what I make and like. To make high-Kitsch I see at least 3 key principles. 1 - Work to make the painting as pathetic, sentimental, or dramatic as possible. If, along the way, the piece feels “cheesy” or like the characters are “poor actors,” it is probably because the expressions do not feel believable with the narrative. Aristotle writes about this in his thoughts about “Mimesis” in his Poetica. 2 - As you make a work, compare it to pieces that you want it to resemble. A side by side comparison with a masterpiece can feel like an ego crush, but it is probably the best way to learn. Solutions to problem areas often seem to pop out. Be careful though, imitation is a largely undervalued skill in our time. We take on this topic in this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBXaj4lMz0o 3 - Some people ask us to be ourselves. To me this is a funny request. If by this they mean, embrace being earnest, then I would agree. I like when people say and paint what they mean. I would also like more painters to make images of what the want to be true. Many painters say they want their work to “change the world.” OK. Change it in what way? I have known some prophets who have painted things into reality. This is a dangerous skill. If you ever realized that a painting you made came true, I imagine you were first a bit shocked, and then considered being more earnest about your next project. 4. What are the most common mistakes that you see other artists make? When people work from photo they often let the photo decide what is best, whereas their imagination and judgement could actually improve it. These folks would do well to work without photo for a while to realize the possibilities. Working with live models can be a dramatic process for the beginner. It is is often expensive or difficult to arrange. But after live-model techniques are habitualized the painter is much more free. There is the issue of time. I can’t call it a mistake to paint infrequently, but many of us underestimate how much time a successful painting will take. I often hear cases where master painters claim their work consistently takes more work than they would have imagined. Classical painting is one of the biggest time consumers I know about. So until the 21st Century Classical Renaissance is well established, be prepare for your pay-to-hour ratio to be … out of sync. 5. Can you break your painting process down into 10 steps, or less, for us? 1 - Doodles and thumbnail sketches. This step is good at night or on trips. 2 - Get the materials ready. First stretch, then “Size/glue” the Linen (Some use Rabbit skin glue) 2 layers. 3 - Mix and apply Odd’s Oil/Marbledust mixture - 2-3 layers (sometimes a layer takes a week to dry) 4 - Transfer the sketch/idea to the canvas. (often a grid is helpful for this) Then play with the composition until it feels natural. 5 - Usually go with the figure/s first. 6 - Determine setting/background 7 - Change things, struggle, change things, struggle… 8 - After a plateau, hide the painting. After a while, come back to it. If I love it, great. If I don’t, take it back up or hide it again. 9 - If I love it, then varnish if needed. Interview with Luke Hillestad on Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBXaj4lMz0o
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1. Who were your teachers or influences? Well these are two very distinct things. My influences run a large gambit. From old fairy tales and books from my youth, to Tom Hatten teaching me how to draw Popeye from the television and all the cartoons of the late 70's and 80's (and before), to trips to the zoo, to Juxtapoz and Heavy Metal magazine and comics from back in the day, to tattoo imagery, all the way to the old masters hung in museums, these were my influences growing up. It wasn't until I got into graffiti however that I started really getting interested in pushing myself in the direction towards becoming a better artist. It was the kick in the butt that I needed to really focus my attentions. It is where I found some of my most important teachers, mainly Natoe, Axis, Plek and Kofie, Epic, Vox and Tron, and a lot more than I can name here. These guys introduced me to techniques and disciplines that I use to this day. Things which I should have learned in art school but for some reason it wasn't taught. I also need to show some respect to Ken Bustamante, Bill McCavoy, and Kevin Pasko who really taught me how to use the computer programs that have become essential in my day to day life. 2. What techniques or tricks did you find most useful when learning to paint? VIDEO: How to prime a wood Panel The most important lesson was how to prepare a surface. It was Axis who broke it down. Use good quality Gesso, smooth foam rollers (the white hotdog ones from hardware stores) and sand in between multiple layers with fine grit sand paper, about a 220. Not fighting with my surface has been key to pulling off a successful painting. I also found that Matte Medium is a great surface to paint on and will sometimes prime with just that if I wan to do collage or have the bare surface show through. 3. What are 3 key principles of making good art, in your opinion? 1. Have a good idea, make sure it means something to you. 2. Use archival quality tools to ensure idea lasts once complete. 3. Work hard on your technique to pull off your idea to the best of your abilities, that is the only way to get better. 4. What are the most common mistakes that you see other artists make? I have to be honest, I mainly just focus on my own mistakes. Maybe one mistake is more socially than with their actual art. I have seen artists get big egos about there work and the way they treat people, and it has always been a huge turn off. 5. Can you break your painting process down into 10 steps, or less, for us? Here is one of the more complicated processes I use. A lot of times, these days, I'll just start painting from an idea in my sketchbook and a couple images of gathered photo reference, no sketching on the canvas whatsoever, but here is the more long winded super thought out version: 1. I keep all my ideas in a ongoing series of pocket size sketchbooks, from which I select the idea for a painting from or combine ideas together from. 2. I scan it into my computer and compose together to fit the dimensions of the canvas to be painted. Print out as a yellow line and draw it again at a larger size and work out more details. 3. Scan it back into the file and make a rough color study in photoshop 4. Prime canvas, about four layers of gesso, sanding in between 5. Project the linework on the canvas or graphite transfer and spray workable fixative over the linework. 6. Apply a layer of matte medium 7. Work out background and paint from back to front 8. Finish final highlights, and sign the piece 9. 2 or 3 coats of Gloss Varnish, 1 or two final Satin coats of varnish. 10. Photograph and frame. here are a couple links to some painting process videos I have on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loktgUqbsrY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8xQhGGKjek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N1sWNMPMxw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlp4bxdY_qE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA3HKuGEO38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58lswdTQOc0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ReiYl8XYKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDHNPlMpsbM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpR-9rFggA4 |
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