A Small Delay

I apologize for missing my usual Sunday post. A combination of the flu, taxes, an important deadline  and the cherry blossoms peaking has thrown me off track. I will return to my regular schedule and post this coming Sunday. Thanks for your patience.

Nicolai Fechin Art Quotes part 2

By Armand Cabrera

Born in Russia, Nicholai Fechin was Ilya Repins greatest student. Fechin immigrated to the United States in 1923 with the help of W.S. Stimmel, one of his American collectors. The quotes are from the two monographs listed in the bibliography.

The beginner usually endeavors laboriously and literally to match colors he sees (or those he imagines) by mixing endlessly the paints on his palette, and the results are dirty and dead. Everything which is alive reflects color and every reflection is a vibration. Hence, if one wishes to produce this living vibration one must resort to the use of pure basic colors and “build” with them in such a manner as to give this living effect and vibrancy.

The beginner is always tempted to take the path of least resistance .He usually takes as his model the reproductions of some fashionable painter and copies them, believing that by doing so he acquires knowledge. Such a beginning is unsound, because it starts with the end product of the original work- the finished results of an artist’s long and patient toil. Superficially absorbing the final expression, the student bypasses the process of attaining these results and does not comprehend at all the work of creating.

Before defining his own field of work, it is essential for the beginner to acquire a great a variety of knowledge as possible. The more consummate his technique, the easier it will be for him to free himself from all dependence upon a subject. What an artist fills his canvas with is not so important. What is important is how he does it. It is sad if an artist becomes a slave to the object he seeks to portray. He must be able to deal with it according to his own point of view. In other words, the portrayed object must serve as nothing more than an excuse to fill his canvas. Only then does his work acquire value for an artist, when it passes through the filter of his creative idea. Therefore, a beginner must always avoid the conventional, whether it is color, line or, above all of course, in the choice of the subject itself.

Technique should be considered only as a means to an end but never as the end itself. To me, technique should be unlimited, fed by a constant growth in ability and understanding. It must never be mere virtuosity but an endless accumulation of qualities and wisdom.

 

For my own work, I do not like to use medium. This dissolves the paints too much. The pigments mix together and cannot retain their individual distinctiveness and thus again lose much of their fresh intensity.

 

All creation is personal and belongs to you alone. The teacher must not touch this. His main reason for existence is to see that the work of the student is well thought out and constructively organized.

 

I have been asked which of the arts I consider most important. For me, no one particular art is greater than another. I can only say this; when you find yourself in the presence of creativeness…take off your hat.

 

Bibliography

Nicholai Fechin

Harold McCracken

Hammer Galleries 1961

Nicholai Fechin

Mary Balcomb

Northland Press 1975

Nicolai Fechin Quotes on Art

by

Armand Cabrera

Born in Russia, Nicolai Fechin was Ilya Repins greatest student. Fechin immigrated to the United States in 1923 with the help of W.S. Stimmel, one of his American collectors.  The quotes are from the two monographs listed in the bibliography.

Artists and critics compete with Each other in their endeavors to destroy the traditional approach to the fundamental principles required for the careful technical execution of any work. In their mad pursuit of novelty, they do not have enough time for a conscientious development of their ideas and, as a result, they have had to make legitimate that which I would call “illiteracy” in the arts. Such an attitude in the art of our day is harmful not so much in itself, but in that it is used by intellectuals, by means of the written word, to influence the unprepared mind of the student. Youth is infected with a careless and irresponsible attitude toward the execution of work, with a sense of easy attainment, seeking to attract attention by shallow-minded novelties instead of real innovations and discrimination.

Any standardization is negative in its meaning. If conventional shades and colors are used, the ability to see them in reality is lost. It is essential that the artist should regard every new painting as an entirely special world of color, light, form and line. Every new canvas is a completely new challenge.

Fine painting is simply a matter of putting the right colors in the right places on canvas.

As a matter of fact an artist has to deal with only three basic colors: red, blue, yellow (all the rest are combinations of these fundamental colors). Everyone knows this, but few pay attention to the fact. Thus the first step for the artist to learn to see these primary colors and to distinguish them separately one from the other.

Concept or rendition: which is more important? That is a basic question in art. In the first case it is frequently said: “Not badly conceived but poorly executed!” Such evaluation is no credit to an artist. On the contrary, fine workmanship makes one forgive even triviality. In such cases it is said: “Stupid, but devilishly well executed!” This is a common rule. A high degree of expertise in technique has always had, and always will have, a predominate place in art. The subject, in itself, has value only according to the mode of the day. Tomorrow it will be superseded by a new fashion or fad. With the passing of time, the subject loses much of its meaning. But the fine execution of that subject retains its value.

No one can teach you how to paint and how to draw except you yourself. You cannot learn how to paint by watching a well-trained master painting, until you yourself, have learned how to paint with some understanding first. Only by the path of much practice and experience can mature results be reached.

Bibliography

Nicolai Fechin
Harold McCracken
Hammer Galleries 1961

Nicolai Fechin
Mary Balcomb

Northland Press 1975

Painting Demonstrations and Other Events

by
Armand Cabrera
With spring and summer approaching fast, there are some things I want to let you know about  in the Northern Virginia Area. I will give a free painting demonstration On April 2 and again on April 9 At Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane VA.

I will start from a blank canvas at noon and complete a painting in about 3 hours.
Feel free to bring your dog, sit on the wonderful patio with incredible views, drink wine, listen to music, have a picnic lunch and watch a plein air painting being created!
I will also explain my process and answer questions as I paint.

I plan to do these free events as time and weather permit throughout the summer and I will post the information on my website and here as we lock down more dates.

These events are a lot of fun and I never know how many people will show up. I have had as few as 6 and as many as 100 come out to watch.

 

I also have a couple of workshops later in the year up and down the East Coast. These are already filling so make your plans soon if you would like to join me at one of these venues. More info can be found on my Workshop page on my website or using the links to the contact info below

In the fall I have a workshop in Maine at Acadia Workshops, the dates are Sept.19-23.  More info here

October 3-6 I will conduct a workshop through Anderson Fine Art Gallery on St Simons Island in Georgia this will precede my one man show at the gallery. Contact Anderson Fine Art Gallery for complete Info 912-634-8414

October 13-16 Northern Virginia Fall color Workshop. Come paint fall on my new home turf. More info here