Armand Cabrera
"Theory has no place in an artist's basic education. It
is the eye and the hand that should be exercised during the impressionable
years of youth. It is always possible to later acquire the accessory knowledge involved
in the production of a work of art, but never -- and I want to stress that
point -- never can the will, perseverance, and tenacity of a mature man make up
for insufficient practice. And can there be such anguish compared to that felt
by the artist who sees the realization of his dream compromised by weak
execution?"
William Adolphe Bouguereau
People are always trying to come up with new ways of
learning how to draw and paint. Mostly to sell a book or some other block of
information to put money in the authors pocket.
This produces an endless stream of media garbage about drawing and
painting in two weeks or how to draw trees or horses or smiley faces. It is
usually a scheme to remove the long hours of practice from the equation.
Students spend their time seeking the magical pencil or
brush that their favorite artist uses. They are looking for that one brand of
paint or canvas to solve their problem. They believe that with the right
materials they will be freed from the drudgery of miles of repetitive work
needed to succeed.
The real process of drawing and painting is learning to see in
a way that strips away preconceived notions and symbols we accept as truth but
are not. It is also learning control of a chosen medium, hand eye coordination
and a keen observation of the world and people around us. It is part
memorization and construction of known quantities of visual information we have
collected.
Representational art
has been around for about two thousand years or more in its current iterations and
the best systems of training encourage lots of practice combined with curiosity
and experimentation. Practice focusing on small tasks and problem solving leads
to a synthesis of ideas and craft toward the formulation of the abilities
needed to create a work of art. It is a balance of construction, observation
and imagination. Too much reliance on any one part or the exclusion of any one
produces inferior work in my opinion. In my thinking, art is the synthesis of
fact and symbol, each artist mixes those ingredients in their own measure to
arrive at a recognizable truth for the viewer of their work.
I remind people of this because lately I see a lot of
younger people interested in art get caught up in measuring. They measure their
ability, they measure their aptitude, and they measure their perceived talent. They
worry their process is not like someone else’s or their work is or isn't (fill
in the blank). All this navel gazing is counterproductive in my opinion and
just delays the important work needed to be completed to achieve a level of
professionalism as an artist. I think it
is better to just work as hard as you can. Keep your heroes and villains and
think about how you will accomplish your goals but stay focused on practice and
let process develop naturally.
