User:Ricardblanc

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richardwhite

Carota 3-ricardblanc

Other Side of the Moon-ricardblanc

In today’s music world, digital sampling is standard. I see no reason that visual art cannot follow the same road. Cutting, pasting and collage have existed in art for many years. Now, the computer lends itself quite well to this process with the aid of imaging programs. We now have at our disposal, vast resources of imagery in print media, Internet and everywhere. The possibilities are endless.

This means that any artist of our generation can employ an even greater range of source material than yesterday’s artists such as Rauchenberg and Warhol. With modern technology, we have the tools to even further express our ideas by editing the imagery that we select.

There are, however, grand limitations to the digital process. Through its innate facility to create and produce, there is a saturation of less than mediocre graphics that we are faced with everyday. Overall, it is a medium that is best utilized on screen. When converted to print, it pales in comparison to the color and tonal range of film photography and paint.

This is when the real artistic process begins. First, I bring the image off the screen and onto the canvas. I give it a degree of tactile quality, which further separates it from the computer screen. I prefer to leave this imagery remain iconic and cold. Then, I persuade it to interact and behave with the personal and unique expression of paint and hand drawn line. By this act, I create a “great unknown” through the interplay of the calculated and momentary flare.

In term of composition, that sets this work apart from our artistic forefathers, is the facility of achieving form and movement. In years past, collage was mostly an arbitrary process of composition. Today we can cut, paste and modify however we please. The image may be honed with texture, tone, movement, weight and color.

I take great caution to make sure that the work is never finished on the computer screen. For me, the paint is to have the ultimate say. Hopefully, this is the moment when the work springs to life. How much should I apply? I don’t know, I could never find a formula. Every work has its own parameters.

Subject matter is of significantly lesser importance than composition. I lean to the idea that composition and craftsmanship are for the viewing public and subject matter is for the artist. The purpose of choosing a subject is to help keep the artist inspired during the creation of the work. I, myself, like to employ day-to-day household items, icons of our modern life. Although I rank subject matter lower on my list of priorities, it should be treated with a degree of respect. After all, if I had reason to place it in the artwork, it should be allowed to have some relevance.

Through my choice of theme and subject, the viewer is inclined to think that I am illustrating a concrete message. This is simply not true. The fastest way to kill the artwork is to give high importance to message. The theme would then dictate form and composition. I must feel free to paint out anything that is not driving the visual composition forward. Messages should be left of evolve through the eyes of the viewer and not the artist’s. I only attempt to present a non-verbal language that may include icons of our collective conscience.

Regardless of style, fine art is most relevant when it has its finger on the pulse of the current epoch. It always reflects the attitude of the day and not that of a past generation. If there is a return to past glory, the work may be viewed as an artisan craft. My personal mission is to make sure that this does not happen. As long as there is creativity with vision, fine art will never perish. RICHARD WHITE