The Irritatingly Versatile Jacob Van Ruisdael

I've always been an admirer of the gloomily beautiful works of Jacob Van Ruisdael (Dutch 17th century).  The sun rarely shines in Van Ruisdael's scenes, yet there is light, airiness and stillness.

The Watermill (ca. 1660)                        Oil On Canvas                                        NGV Melbourne

He was also a highly talented draftsman, as the drawing below testifies.

The Watermill, Sun

He also tried his hand at etching very early in his career (around 1646) and some of his prints contain almost dazzling intricacy.  

The Little Bridge(ca 1652)

Would Van Ruisdael have been such a fine landscape painter without possessing excellent drawing skills?  I doubt it.

Antonio Lopez Garcia

If there is one type of artist who I have an issue with, it's the serial achiever.  Antonio Lopez Garcia fits that description perfectly.  Born in 1936 in Tomelloso, Spain he is regarded as the most prominent of the Spanish Realists.  He is criticized in some circles for his dry, academic realism but I can still admire his technical ability.

Atocha, 1964, Oil on Wood

He is credited with an extremely subtle use of light and a delicate drawing ability.

Sink and Mirror, 1967, Oil on Wood

Perhaps he is following in the footsteps of the great baroque masters of the past.

Portrait Of Maria, 1972, Pencil

Atocha, 2008, Bronze Installation

Evening

My favourite time of day.  When colours become muted and you begin to see things with your minds eye as details become blurred, and imaginings begin.  It's a time of reflection, but it can also be a time of anxiety or haunting - as a child I was not a good sleeper.  Perhaps I was super-sensitive to atmospheres or preoccupied with the mysteries of the unknown.

Reference material for my paintings are usually photographs, but often I will produce a drawing from them, experimenting with composition and developing a relationship with the scene.  That is, getting into the psychology of the scene.  

I am commencing a new work based on the sketch below.  I often use a sky from one photo with a scene from another to achieve the desired psychological effect.

Evelyn Williams (1929-2012)

All Night Through      1984       Painted Relief

"To be an artist and describe life as you experience it is to be a pioneer, an unstable and perilous position, it’s lonely and fraught with hazards, and self-doubt is the name of the enemy.  My work comes from my life, shaped, nourished, and determined by events, misfortunes, accidental happenings and relationships.   If I could write words or sing songs, there would be need to paint pictures."  EVELYN WILLIAMS