Saturday, August 18, 2007

Portraits


Some friends (especially after having posed for me) tell me I do something like a caricature...


Well, da! I cannot help myself to exagerate a bit! But, sometimes, I do it right, especially with children. Here's a sample:

Impressionism...

... if you want to put a label on it... Me, I prefer to simply look and enjoy...



This is an acrylic painting on canvas, 16 x 22 inches, and since I gave to my wife, I still have it (and she said if I can can sell it for CA$ 500 , ok with her...)

Friday, August 17, 2007

Dracula's country...

...but not exactly Dracula's castle...

The painting is that of a Church & Fortress (as it were during Middle Ages) from Biertan, in the historical region of Romania called Transylvania (yes, THAT Transylvania!)

I'm a native of Sibiu, a very old city were the actual Draculya (Vlad Tepesh) actually lived for 2 years with his new bride Illona, the sister of Matias King of Hungary... Some years before he did even burn down some ourskirts of Sibiu and killed some Saxons merchants who did not obeyed his rule...But that's history...



This is a small (about 8 by 4 inches) acrylic ink and watercolor painting. You can have it for the enormous sum of CA$ 60 ...

Drawing

I'm one of those who likes drawing a lot... Not only nudes (as it seems) but almost everything and everywhere... There were times in my life when drawing kept me from going nuts...

Personally, I give the same credit to my drawing as I do to my paintings...Of course, commercially, there is a difference I have to take into consideration: you don't use the same amount of money and materials to do a drawing...

But art wise, I would say that a good drawing is as good as a good painting. A sketch by Rembrandt or Brueghel or Durer could be as much a masterpiece as any of THEIR paintings... not to mention the paintings of others...

I'm not saying that line and drawing is MORE IMPORTANT that color ( I do LIKE color, you know...) but, boy, a good drawing, a spontaneus, lightining quick drawing... can give you the same pleasure as ten mediocre paintings! (Ingres and Delacroix and their followers quarell for ages what's more important, the line or the color? I'd say this is kind of a silly dilema, not unlikely that of knowing who was first, the egg or the hen?)

Here is one on my drawings I like (it's not Rembrandt or Brueghel but I like it).

Of course, some of the drawings and paintings I'm posting are not yeasterday or today made... But I assure you they are not older than 2005-2006... A painting a day could be an excellent discipline and I like to try it - in fact, I was doing it long before I've heard about the Daily Painter Gallery - but not every day is a good day... and I think there is some flexibility here, otherwise it will become a daily "terror"...



This is an acrylik ink drawing, 9 x 12 inches, on watercolor paper, and you can have it for CA$ 150.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

The nude, a vanishing art?

Not if I can help...

Here is one I like:



It's a 9 x 12 inches acrylic ink and watercolor, on Strathmore paper, and its title is, very simple, the name of the model (Joelle) and the no. in the series (12). IT IS EXPOSED RIGHT NOW IN A GALLERY AT NORTH HATHLEY, Québec. Email me if interested.

A daily painter wannabe...

A friend of mine, Michael J., pointed me to the site of "Daily Painters Gallery". As I am one who draws or/and paints daily, I thought I'll give it a try...

April 2002 is the time I did a crazy thing, like Gauguin...
I've become a full-time artist. When you aren't young anymore, when you have nothing worth mentioning (like stocks and bonds) to live on, it is quite a risky decision...

But, what the hell!? how many lifes do we have? If Gauguin did it, why couldn't I? In fact, my choice wasn't so difficult: I had to choose between working in a factory (to pay the bills ) or to do what I've always wanted to do (and what I think I'm best at).

Four years, as a teenager, I have studied art in my native town of Sibiu, Romania. It was the happyest period of my life. So, I choose to be happy... « don't wory, be happy », is that it ?

In 2002, I've completed my certificate in visual arts at Sherbrooke University, studied a bit also at Bishop's University, and, in September 2003 I've also find my dream job: I've started teaching acrylics and watercolor to adults, two days per week. The rest of the week, I draw, read, paint and write...I do exactly what I like...

It's not Tahiti, it's not the Marquises, Québec can be, at times, quite a cold place, but you cannot have everything…

So here is one of my latest painting: I've call it "The lonely poppy" it's a 12 by 16 inches canvas, acrylics and if somebody wants to buy it’s ok, that will be, say, CA$ 250 ...