Nancy Reyner - Create Perfect Paintings: An Artist’s Guide to Visual Thinking

CINCINNATI, OHIO

artistsnetwork.com

In this section, become familiar with the art terms and definitions frequently used in the book to enhance comprehension.

Starting a painting involves a broad range of considerations. This section covers these and more to assist you in making optimal choices to maximize results right from the start.

The heart of the book, this section presents The Viewing Game, a comprehensive and systematic critique method for artists to evaluate paintings for further improvement and enhancement.

This section offers solutions for resolving common painting issues with an extensive exploration into color. The first three solutions offer shortcuts for streamlining The Viewing Game analysis from .

Additional advice for artists on career aspects and overcoming creative blocks as well as how to display your work, clarify ideas and think outside the box for new inspiration.

IMAGE DETAILS
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:

Pieter Brueghel the Elder,

Nancy Reyner,

Vicki Teague-Cooper,

Nancy Reyner,

Henri Matisse,

E-FIELD WITH OCEAN / Nancy Reyner / Acrylic on panel / 23" 19" (58cm 48cm)

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS AND AMATEURS LIES NOT SO MUCH IN THE QUANTITY OF TECHNIQUES AQUIRED AS IN THE ABILITY TO SEE IN A CERTAIN WAY.

To painters everywhere who persevere with creativity and energy, who continue to believe in the positive power of images, and by expanding their work, also push the current boundaries of painting.

Making art is exhilarating and also challenging. A work of art can be vital or lifeless, illuminating or confusing. Like humanity and our universe, it is a bundle of oppositions. As artists, we often have to fight to make room in our busy lives for making art. For those of us willing to take on the battle it can be very fulfilling, adding rich meaning to our lives. As painters we can enjoy the sensuous feel of applying paint, experience a thrill as an image emerges or get excited over happy accidents that seem to appear like magic.

Yet what about those times when playful fun starts to fade and frustration sets in? The ease and flow of painting comes to a halt. What to do? This is the all too frequent moment in a painters process that gave birth to this book. When the play phase is ready to move into a critique phase, having a set of guidelines can help push the image to better clarity and a more powerful effect. Starting on , these guidelines are detailed as a complete critique method I call The Viewing Game.

Critique is a way to analyze and edit your paintings to enhance the visual experience for those viewing your work. Editing your paintings also strengthens your eye-viewing muscles and enhances your ability to paint what you envision. Artists, in general, usually want to communicate something to others through their work. This desire brings about two goals. The first is to bring a viewers attention to the painting. The second is to keep the viewers attention on the work long enough for a quality viewing experience. Analyzing and editing the work is critical to reaching these goals.

The difference between professional artists and amateurs lies not so much in the quantity of technique acquired as in the ability to see in a certain way. The power to see an image deeply, to analyze it for its viewing effects and to make revisions and corrections as needed is key. After all, painting is really about choreographing eye movement. The Viewing Games guidelines offer ways to strengthen your perception skills as well as new ways to self-critique and self-evaluate your work. Even though these guidelines spotlight painting as a discipline, the core concepts can be easily transferred to other disciplines as well. All painting techniques described here are broad in scope and can be utilized by any painting medium.

Oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastelwhatever your passionthis book offers abundant ideas to enhance your images. The scope is not limited to any particular style or to any level of experience. Art educators can easily add this vital content into curriculum materials. Additional sections offer help with material selection, process, exhibiting and even career aspects. From realists to minimal abstractionists, from pros to beginners, all are invited to read on and find new inspiration and tools to serve your artistic needs.

May this book increase your productivity, add ease and flow to your creative process, clarify your ideas, add nuance to your personal style, and most importantly, add joy to the miraculous act of painting.

Heres to your creative spirit!

BOSQUE DEL APACHE / Nancy Reyner / Acrylic on canvas / 40" 30" (102cm 76cm)

This book makes references to many well-used art terms and art concepts. For better comprehension, I have defined the terms right in the beginning to avoid possible confusion later when used in different contexts. For example, commonly used terms such as realistic or abstract may seem obvious at first but can mean different things to each of us. This section explores these terms and more with a broad lens and is divided into eight chapters, each focusing on a specific terminology or concept. Some chapters tackle more controversial notions such as what is good or bad art. By understanding these terms up front, youll find that the remaining sections of the book can then be read with more clarity as we establish common semantic ground.

CUBA RUM / Rick Garcia / Acrylic on canvas / 40" 30" (102cm 76cm)

PLAYA GORDITA / Nancy Reyner / Oil on five wood panels / 90" 240" (229cm 610cm)

Lets begin our discussion on painting by looking at art in general. Definitions of beauty are often used as a way to judge art; however, definitions of beauty are subject to change. What was once considered good art later may be seen as bad. In his book Bad Art, English art historian Quentin Bell raises the point that tastes and styles change over time, going in and out of favor. Judgments that rely on current taste may be more about economics and politics than art. Bell writes, The dealer has to satisfy a clientele which, unlike that of eighty years ago, is not frightened by incomprehensible modernityindeed, this is what it wants. The dealer therefore may look for some young man or woman who may or may not have talent but certainly has a gimmick, some amusing novelty which will please the elite. He continues, But as our young artist grows older, he or she may not be able to find a new gimmick . This is hard on the artists, but this is what the market is like.