Nicely Out of Tune
In a chat with a fellow artist about a painting recently, I hesitated, then blurted out “The wrong has nowhere to go.” Now, I’m not quick to gravitate to right or wrong and whereas running a red light is wrong, there are rarely any red lights in art!!
I often say that it all has to be a little bit wrong to be right. The right amount of “wrongness” creates interest. In this instance I was positing that the “wrongness” did not fit with the rest of the painting – which was perhaps “too right”. The interesting thing is that there are always two courses of action: Make the “wrong” fit with the “right” or make the “right” fit the “wrong”.
A 70’s folk-rock band named Lindisfarne had an album titled “Nicely Out of Tune”: nicely out of tune, all playing together – maybe it’s the same idea.
Upcoming events
Join me this Thursday (March 30th – new date) for a book launch webinar – I’ll be exploring the story behind my new book “One Summer along the Trans Canada Trail – Plein-air Painting in Ottawa-Gatineau”. The live link will be from 4 to 5 pm or watch the video of the session. Register by email at: david@davidkearn.com.
On Sunday, April 2nd, I’m book signing at the Ottawa School of Art, 35 George St., from 1:30 to 3 pm. – buy or bring your copy of either of my books, or just drop by for a quick chat. I’d love to see you!
Details and purchase both of my books from our website: https://www.davidkearn.com/the-book-page/
France and I have an upcoming Weekend Workshop: Painting the Spring Landscape – Plein-air and Studio – April 22nd and 23rd at the at the Ottawa School of Art, Shenkman Centre, Orléans.
Register with the Ottawa School of Art: https://artottawa.ca/ Tel. (613) 580-2765
We’ll be announcing our Spring schedule for May and June in the near future.
First impressions of the NGC’s Spring Exhibition “Uninvited”
A quick visit to the National Gallery’s Spring Exhibition “Uninvited – Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Moment” showed an exhibition drawing together a wider and more impressive collection than I could have imagined. In addition to well-represented names such as Emily Carr and Prudence Heward, there is a range of artists totally new to me. I’ll be back for a longer visit!
In the wider world of Art
Al Weiwei uses 650,000 Lego Bricks for Recreation of Monet’s Monumental ‘Water Lilies’: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/ai-weiwei-lego-bricks-recreation-calude-monet-water-lilies-design-museum-1234661708/
Banksy artwork demolished: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/banksy-artwork-english-farmhouse-destroyed-1234661214/
Unknown Jackson Pollock painting found in raid: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/mar/22/unknown-jackson-pollock-painting-found-in-raid-say-bulgarian-officials?
Mixing around the colour wheel
One thing books never seem to mention is that achieving the colour you want is not consistent around the colour wheel. Almost any blue and yellow will result in an interesting green. Green just seems to appear out of nowhere – even when you don’t want it! Oranges are likewise relatively trouble-free. Purples are much trickier and any component that’s off will quickly de-purple a mix. All this to say that colour mixing is a tangible, visceral experience that we must all discover for ourselves, using our pigments. Books, websites and colour wheels might point the way, but the proof of the pudding is right there on your palette!
Break-a-Brush!
David & France