Creating Narrative Through Composition

"The Gathering" by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 12" x 20"

When Icons Aren't Enough

Some of these figures are beginning to feel like old friends. I've seen them before in my other paintings. Thus the title, "The Gathering."  

When I began this painting I imagined the figures were long-buried icons being uncovered.  I used various gel mediums, including crackle paste, to get the effects of ancient crumbling walls and plaster. This is the painting I started with - the one of the 30 that I said I was going to "finish" in this 30 day challenge.  

So when I picked the painting up again I began to work on fleshing out the figures.  I added combinations of metallic gold and bronze and quinacridone gold. 

Eventually I found that having the figures on the wall as adornment simply wasn't enough to satisfy me. I wanted to put the figures into an environment in order to create narrative.  I wondered if the original artist put them in an environment.  I thought: "Well when the artist painted this on the ancient wall did he have them in a scene or were they just icons on a gilt wall?"  

Yes, I know that sounds a bit crazy, but remember I was "a theatre person" for a good number of decades. Stanislavsky rules! Creating characters and back history and putting yourself in the situation of the character are second nature to theatre people. Still, sometimes it's important for me to remember that I really am the painter of my paintings!  I'm the decider.

The Environment and Narrative

The environment does not have to be literal. It can be figurative - simple - abstract space.  Where the figures are placed in that space and how they are positioned is what creates story. 

I put figures in an environment in order to create narrative, and as you can see, I also take figures out to help the story along. Taking out one figure created a large space between the first figure and the second, adding weight to both.  

 

Although we don't have a lot of details, a story is there for the telling.  You can imagine that the figure on the left is benevolent, judging by the tilt of the head, and by its being positioned on the left side of the paper. There seems to be a conversation of sorts going on between the two figures on the right. But it is the central figure who is the strongest - that is, the central figure takes the most focus. Although it would seem that all of the figures are engaged in their own activity, it is the figure who is closest to the viewer, closest to the center, and with his full back to us who catches our attention - because of where he is and how he is positioned in the space in relationship to the other figures.  With his back to us he generates additional wonder and mystery.  

PS. I had a few good laughs at myself while writing this blog post. I had not really thought about how I slip into theatrical modes of thinking when I paint. Stanislavsky would be proud of my liberal use of "what if."  

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions: The Creative Process

"On The Cusp" by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 20" x 9.5"

Finding Your Way: The Creative Process

Whenever we create we make countless numbers of decisions.  Some, I am quite certain, are so instinctive that we are not fully aware of making them. Others are not so instinctive and require a bit of wrestling.  And then there are others that are what we might call the "ah ha" moments, when suddenly we make a decision and everything falls into place.  That is what this painting is all about.

Feel free to be amused by the craziness of my method of "not-knowing" what I am going to paint in advance, and the predicaments I find myself in, especially when trying to meet a deadline.  I specifically chose to "finish" unfinished painting as my goal for this 30 in 30 challenge, which I am realizing may actually make the challenge greater. After all, there is a reason why many of these paintings have been left unfinished.  

Here is the image I started with. I liked the start because of the surface of the board, which was created using gel medium. I also liked the feeling of the two dominant figures. Still, the rest of the painting eluded me.  When I started working on it again,  my first thought was to put the figures in some kind of environment.  

At first I thought this painting was going to be about the relationship between the figure on the left to the more spiritual figure on the right. I began to create and environment - I added the dark shape on the left against a light shape suggesting sky, and I added a horizon line.

I decided to take out the vague figure on the far right and just work with the three figures. But I was still not happy with the environment, and the more I worked with it the more I felt that the environment was too literal for these figures. I needed to go for something more metaphorical.

I decided that the the figure on the right was the figure that the story was all about. The other figures could be placed in the gold and the main figure could be on the edge of the light, in transition.  And that was when I realized there was a relationship between this painting and "The Moment Before Tomorrow."

This seems to be a familiar metaphor for me: that of being on the cusp of something - being in transition - being on the edge of a transformative moment.  Perhaps I had some deep sense that was where this painting was headed from the very beginning, but it is more likely that my focus yesterday on "The Moment Before Tomorrow" influenced the outcome of this painting.  Still, it took hours though for the image to materialize.  It is still a surprising re-turn to the same metaphor - the same imagery - and it still fascinates me.  That's why I paint.  

The Moment Before Tomorrow and Another [30 Day] Challenge

"The Moment Before Tomorrow" by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Paper, 15" x 22"

A New Beginning: A 30 Day Challenge

Today I am agreeing - apparently along with another 259 artists - to another of artist Leslie Saeta's 30 day challenges.  I jumped on this bandwagon because I really enjoyed the challenge back in September 2013, and I am hoping that a second round of this will lead to a consistent practice of blogging and painting.  That I enjoy both painting and blogging ought to be enough of an incentive, but facing a challenge and doing it with a great league of artists is a whole lot of fun.  

I am not one who knocks out a painting a day, starting from scratch. In the September 2013 challenge I decided to take the many "starts" I had lying around the studio, and finish them. And once again, I am going to adjust the rules some. For this challenge, my goal is to "complete" 30 paintings in the month of January.  I generally work on a painting for days, often days spread out over months. That is, I may start a painting and have it nearly finished and then leave it for weeks - months -  before I return to it and finish it.  I surely have 30 "not-finished paintings" lying around this studio, and it is time to address them.  I may be working with some paintings that are almost finished. 

The Moment Before Tomorrow: Just Sign It

Signing a painting is a ritual. When I sign it, I am saying that the painting is finished.

Confession: I didn't paint this painting today. I just finished it by signing it. 

And that is one reason why I chose "The Moment Before Tomorrow" as my first painting for 2014.  First,  it only needed to be signed, and I thought it would make a point that the artist's signature is the finishing mark.  Second, it would let me off easy on January 1, and I think today is still a holiday.  The real and greater challenge starts tomorrow for me.  Today is the day before tomorrow, the day before my challenge begins, and I want to pause for a moment before I enter fully the new year.  

I think that the painting is also a good choice for the first day of a new year.  The central figure is in a place of transition.  Again a figure that is paused in the present, in between but moving on - leaving something behind and looking at something ahead.  Among other things I think the image and all of its parts contribute to a metaphor about meeting life's challenges, the moments of discovery, the decision-making, and the fortitude to take action.  

It's an ancient story, isn't it? 

Happy New Year, 2014!  

See... I just signed it.  

The Christmas Card: Joy-Filled Art Making

The Joy Fiasco 2012: Making Christmas Cards

For about 10 years now I've been making my own Christmas cards.  It is always filled with a certain amount of anxiety: what will the subject be, will I get a decent painting in time, where will I get it printed, how might I get it printed more efficiently, and ultimately - will I be able to get the cards out in time for Christmas.  And so, last year I got into my head that I could just paint 80 Christmas cards instead of running to the printer.  I did several small pieces before I finally settled on the theme "Joy."  Are you laughing yet?

I decided to post the images on Facebook as they came out in a series, and was delighted that so many friends liked them and commented on how they enjoyed seeing these little messages everyday.  

Soon I realized that when it came to actually sending out the cards I would have to decide who got which card, and I'd be deciding until long after Christmas which "Joy" painting was most appropriate for any one of my 80 recipients.  I stopped seriously trying to produce 80 cards at about image 14 or so.  I took 4 or 5 images to a local printer and eventually settled on one for production.

The image above was not selected to be last year's card. Although it was one of my favorites, it didn't work quite as well as I wanted for the format of the card. So, I put it on a coffee mug on Zazzle.   

"Joy" has some of my favorite elements in it - the look of being old, hanging around for generations and being dis-covered, and renewed.  Always here - past and present.  

iPoinsettia: Digital Art

iPoinsettia, Digital Painting by Jim Carpenter

The Christmas Card 

I created this card while on the deck of a ship while on a transatlantic crossing in November 2010. I had owned my iPad for about 3 months and took it on the trip with me to see how I might "Paint" without having to carry along art supplies. When I sat down to do this painting the sun was shining on the water, and I was very comfortable in the deck chair looking out at the ocean, and fully aware of the feeling of gratitude flowing through me.  

It didn't take long for me to become totally absorbed in what I was doing. I was learning the Art Studio app on the run so there was no chance of becoming bored or distracted.  I had only my finger to guide me and there was a lot of experimentation going on.  Nothing new there, right? I mean, it's always an experiment when I paint, never "knowing" what is going to happen - just armed with a lot of hunches.  

Four hours later when I finally looked up from the iPad, the view had changed drastically; the sun had gone in and the fog had rolled out, and I had my iPainting completed.  It was a relief, really, to have the Christmas card done in November.  There's a first time for everything.  

And I had found a new way to make art while on vacation: just bring along my trusty iPad.  It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "finger painting."

Directing The Eye Through Composition and Word

"The End Of The Pilgrimmage" by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Paper, 22" x 30"

Directing The Eye Through Composition

Artists use composition to focus and direct the eye of the viewer.  You might find as you look at this painting that you first look at the figure that is in the highest position, and then move to the large figure in the center and then to the tallest figure further to the right. And then you notice the long line of figures moving from the right to the left at the bottom of the paper. Then back up to the figure on the upper left.  

The easy and natural path for the western eye to follow is from left to the right, the way we read. And so that figure up there on the left is perhaps the starting point of travel through the painting.  The figure in the center - the center being a hot spot - would dominate the painting were it not for the height of the figure on the upper left or the size of the figure to the right of center.  There is a balance and a tension between these three figures. Who they are and what they represent may not be specific but they are in positions - on the page - that suggest they have more authority or power than the other figures in the painting.  

Then we come down to the figures starting on the right side of the paper. They seem to be moving left, or rather, our eye is traveling left with them.  This travel goes against the grain - the opposite way of our reading habits - and this makes that movement strong, giving these smaller figures some strength of focus.

Directing The Eye Through Words

How the viewer looks at the painting can also be affected by the title. I came up with three possible titles for this painting.  Let's try each one out and see how it affects the way the painting is viewed.  

"Above and Below"

If the title is "Above and Below" the viewer is encouraged to see two levels and to make sense of it - the top and the bottom, the big guys and the little guys, the spiritual and the human... there are countless possibilities.  It focuses on polarity.

"Degrees of Separation"

The title "Degrees of Separation" allows the viewer to look a little more deeply into the painting. For example, it might lead first to an examination of the separation between the figures below and each of the figures above. And subsequently to an examination of the ways in which the upper figures are separated from one another - higher or lower, closer or more distant from one another. It also would lead to an examination of the obvious degrees of separation between the figures on the bottom as they relate to one another, and how they might relate or not relate to the figures in higher places.

"The End of the Pilgrimage"

This title does all that the previous two do, but adds some new direction for the viewers. It adds character and plot and meaning in a way that the other two titles do not. When I think of this as a snapshot of the end of the pilgrimage - that is, the pilgrims/travelers have arrived at their destination - I am led to look at the figures at the bottom in all of their positions, and I see that the positions indicate a state of being for each character - an attitude.  At the same time the figures above them also take on more human characteristics. What are they thinking now that they have their audience before them?  Are they a part of this or are they looking for something else?

Maintaining Ambiguity

I try always to allow plenty of room for interpretation of my paintings.  What this painting is really about is something that only the viewer can decide.  Though a "pilgrimage" is generally viewed as a journey to a sacred place - the pilgrims in the middle ages would travel great distances to view the relics of a particular saint - a pilgrimage does not have to be solely about the sacred.  It can stand as a metaphor for any journey of great import that we happen to be on.  What happens once we get where we are going?  The end of the pilgrimage is something to consider.  

TransFiguration: The Creative Process

"TransFiguration" by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Paper, Mounted on Canvas, 14" x 11"

ISEA and NWS 2013-2014 Three Venue International Exchange in Wales EXHIBITION

Transfiguration: A Change of Shape or Form

"Trans" is the Latin preposition meaning, among other things, "across." We see it everyday in such common words as "transatlantic" "transmigration" "transportation" "transfer" "translation" - and now your mind is reeling with all of the "trans" words you know that I haven't mentioned, right?  

The word "Transfiguration" was first used to describe "the change in appearance of Christ before his disciples," but later its meaning broadened to include the secular -  "a complete change of form or appearance into a more beautiful or spiritual state."  

I think that this painting suggests the mysterious and miraculous types of trans-formation we might experience ourselves or witness in others.   And I think the relationship between the two characters is an interesting one to consider.  How does "trans-figuration" apply to each of them?  What is being trans-figured here?  

The capital "F" that I placed in the middle of "TransFiguration" has a purpose: to remind the viewer of "the Figure" and to suggest the notion of "figuration" - the act of drawing figures.  And, I also wanted to connect this painting with an earlier work that I titled, "Figuration."  

"Figuration" by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Paper, 9.25" x 17" 

"Figuration" has always made me think of "the figure" being created from out of the chaos.  We start with chaos and somehow manage to pull out of it - "draw out of it"? - some meaning, literal or figurative.  

It's good to be back!