I did this small little painting (5x7") as a mental exercise in simplicity. I love the idea of "K.I.S.S."...."Keep it simple stupid". I pretty much base my design theory on it as most of my studio paintings are about a singular, simple subject existing in a subordinate space. I borrowed the premis from Ken Beck, my first painting instructor at the Art Institute of Boston almost twenty years ago. He once asked our class to paint a bunch of bananas and then at critique time he suggested we focus or crop in closer to get at the essence of the subject and to make a more interesting design. He stressed the importance of squinting to simplify the big shapes and asked us to step back so we could see our composition on canvas from across the room...ideally, it should pop from across the room. Ken paints huge, pallet knife paintings, usually a singular subject and they pop from across the state line..they are strong works of art and stand out in a room full of paintings.
Ken Beck with some of his art.
I did this small little painting (5x7") as a mental exercise in simplicity. I love the idea of "K.I.S.S."...."Keep it simple stupid". I pretty much base my design theory on it as most of my studio paintings are about a singular, simple subject existing in a subordinate space. I borrowed the premis from Ken Beck, my first painting instructor at the Art Institute of Boston almost twenty years ago. He once asked our class to paint a bunch of bananas and then at critique time he suggested we focus or crop in closer to get at the essence of the subject and to make a more interesting design. He stressed the importance of squinting to simplify the big shapes and asked us to step back so we could see our composition on canvas from across the room...ideally, it should pop from across the room. Ken paints huge, pallet knife paintings, usually a singular subject and they pop from across the state line..they are strong works of art and stand out in a room full of paintings.
Ken Beck with some of his art.