Photo Essay - Rembrandt (Dutch 1606-1669) In promoting my book, The Language of Energy in Art: Finding Your Vision(charlottewhartonstudio/Language/book.htm), I had the pleasure of talking with art teachers from every grade level - elementary through college - at Art Education Association conferences in several States and at an Art Expo in Delaware. It was enlightening to hear their concerns. Many teachers stated that young children have no problem making visible their sense of something, but that when they reach middle school or even a year prior, the children feel intimidated and some freeze up in wanting their art to be perfect so they resort to copying verbatim rather than interpreting. Many expressed frustration relaying that their curriculum of mandatory design elements left little room for imparting Visual Unity....the communicative elements of art. Others stated that they didnt know how to aid the children in reconnecting with their previous experiences of expression. One teacher was adamant about addressing the issue to the students at an earlier age and another blamed it on History...the years of rigorous drawing copying the Masters and its current influence upon students. The strange paradox about copying the Masters...especially one at a time, artists soon learn what that Master was seeking in his art - and that is the important thing to remember. The Masters were apprenticed early and it was required that they be technically proficient, knowledgeable of the Bible, the classics and of ancient history and of composition....and have the imagination to express the essence of a story. It was common place in the 17th Century for artists to use the subject matter and compositions of other artists from their time period or earlier. The emphasis on originality didnt exist then as it does now. The good news is that we can become artists at any age and reconnect with our sense of things while learning to draw and paint well. We can also learn from our contemporary artists as well as those of yesteryear keeping in mind the direction of our unique creative journey. One of the greatest Masters, Rembrandt (Dutch 1606-1669), comes to mind. Even though he often used the motifs and compositions of other artists, he did so with an increasingly deep insight into human nature and the means to express it. He was absorbed with rendering facial and gestural emotions and the play of light and dark all for a particular effect. The subject he chose determined how he drew or painted and he did so with the simplest of means...going for the essence of a subject and eliminating any unnecessary detail. He had no equal in showing the invisible. Fromentin, mid 19th Century, from the biography, Rembrandt by Trewin Copplestone © Charlotte Wharton, author, The Language of Energy in Art: Finding Your Vision charlottewhartonstudio/Language/book.htm
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 10:07:47 +0000
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