Continuing my obsession with the role of color in art, I want to explore works of the leader of the French Romantic Period – Eugene Delacroix. He is famously known to have said – “Color always occupies me, but drawing preoccupies me.” Delacroix used colors masterfully in over 9000 paintings and drawings. He painted murals, portraits, landscape, still life, flowers, sketches and lithographs. When viewing a wide range of his paintings at a glance, two things jump out at once:
1. His use of color
2. Movement in his paintings.
Delacroix used color in his paintings quite masterfully, and had a very good understanding of tones and color harmonies. He was a master at using color to depict light and shadows and creating shapes by pairing different colors next to each other. He was prolific and worked in multiple medias and used different paint media for his creations. Van Gogh studied Delacroix’s use of color in his paintings. He used Delacroix’s color theory to form his own interpretation and consequently develop his unique style. Delacroix paintings are full of movement, and he was obsessed with drawing. He is known to have commented that “you better know how to sketch a man falling from the fourth floor of a building before he touches the ground.”
It is interesting when someone comments on your work and tells you that you need to develop and paint in just one style. For instance, I’ve heard the advice, “if you do still life, then just do still life!” “If you are a landscape artist, then just paint landscapes.” “A portrait artist must just paint portraits.” “An abstract artist should paint abstracts!”
I disagree!
I’d like to quote Cecilia Brendel of Olde Masters Galleria – my mentor in Dayton, OH who taught me how to paint with oils. She is a patient, encouraging and sweet teacher to learn from. She always says “Paint what motivates you!” I think that says it all!
The painting that accompanies this blog was one I did with her. This is an oil painting of a photograph I took in China. The minute I saw the place it looked like a painting to me. and I knew I had to paint it! So, I presented the photograph to Cia, as we like to call her, and without batting an eyelid she encouraged my maiden adventure with oils to paint what I consider to be one of my favorite pieces. It took me more than a month to finish this in 2018. For a long time, I did not want to part with it. In the end, I finally gave it away to the local public television station to help with their fundraising efforts. I hope the lucky recipient enjoys it for years to come.
Be proud of your creations. Own it! And, if you follow my blog, I will give you many examples of the greats who did just that! It’s funny – even Picasso started out painting landscapes, and then he did Guernica!
As always, be curious and create!
Hyacinth
https://www.hyacinthpaulart.com/
