- Café Terrace At Night (1888) Oil on canvas – Kroller-Muller Museum, Otterlo Vincent Van Gogh
The café terrace, now called “Le Café La Nuit” at Place du Forum, Arles, France
Onondaga Lake, Syracuse, NY
Blue Abstract Woods, Watercolor, K Turner (1 of 2 interpretations of lake picture above)
Fishing, Watercolor by K Turner (2 of 2 interpretations of lake picture above)
Have you ever thought about how you want to paint a subject? What is the message or feeling that you want to convey to the viewer?
Recently, artist David Becker blogged about how different artists interpret subject matter or a scene. Some like to interpret things in a very realistic manner and others more abstract. The way an artist decides is based on their own unique style. You don’t have to look far to see examples of this – even the masters (Picasso, Dali, O’Keeffe, Rothko, Matisse, Van Gogh, etc.) have numerous examples of unique artistic interpretation.
After reviewing these famous artists from the past and looking to all the unique modern day artists and what they are producing – I am convinced there is no right or wrong way. My personal feeling is that a photograph can tell me a lot if I want a report. A painting can tell me more about the feeling and the artist’s thoughts and ideas. There are of course artistic photographs that are wonderful and impactful. I’m not saying photographers aren’t artistic – they are! When I’m painting, I am forced to edit myself and think about what it is that I want to say to the viewer.
There are times when I think of my painting as a musical concert with a large orchestra, maybe even a brass section. As the conductor I might want a certain color to give me a deep background sound while another note becomes an essence of color to highlight an area.
Creating your own unique style seems to only come with time and lots of painting. So I’d like to encourage all creatives, whether an artist, musician, writer, scientist, inventor, etc. keep working towards your own unique style. Try hard to avoid becoming someone else’s clone or copy. Develop your own style.
As a creative you have a special gift of seeing the world a little differently than others. You owe it to the world to share that unique original vision and idea. Let your unique style shine through!
The night scene above, painted by Van Gogh, interprets the night scene without use of black. He creates this with beautiful blues, yellow and citron green. Van Gogh enjoyed painting right on the street at night, painting his observations and impressions directly. He shares his interpretation with a spiritual and psychological tone using his brushstrokes to convey his sense of excitement. The café still exists in southern France today and is a favorite tourist spot for Van Gogh fans. The café terrace, now called “Le Café La Nuit” at Place du Forum, Arles, France
*Pictures credit: Wikipedia. To read more about Van Gogh click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh
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