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Using Literature For A Painting

Literature is an incessant source of inspiration for our artistic plastic work.

You're welcome to another Art Blog. My name is Veronica Huacuja, a painter and an online art teacher for individuals and groups. I have some tips for your art process. Hope you find them interesting.

Previous comments. Literature is an incessant source of inspiration for our artistic work. To explain this, I will refer to a professional experience. Some weeks ago, I got the invitation to take part in a collective exhibition regarding Leonora Carrington (1917-2011, United Kingdom) (1), who, as we may know, was an extraordinary, surrealist, multidisciplinary artist–painter, author, sculptor–. Her work is mesmerizing, not to mention the interesting life she had.

So, I reread her biography, the interesting relationships she established with so many celebrities of her time, such as Max Ernst (one of her dearest lovers at the time), Peggy Guggenheim, André Breton, Edward James (her early benefactor), and many other surrealist artists. Let’s not forget she lived the horror of the World War II in Europe, which is an important factor–besides knowing the Mexican, Renato Leduc (her first husband)–why she ended living in Mexico and adopting the English-born Mexican citizenship.

Her story, “As they Rode Along the Edge” (1), inspired me to make up this piece. The data sheet of the latter is:

Title: Leonora 1. Homage to Leonora Carrington

Artist: Veronica Huacuja

Medium: Acrylic on paper

Size: 25 x 25 x 0.1 cm

Year: 2022

Collection: Women

The excerpt of the cited story that inspired me making up the artwork was the powerful description of her protagonist:

“Her name was Virginia Fur. She had a mane of hair yards long and enormous hands with dirty nails.” (2)

A comment on the side. As an artist, I rarely explain my version of my work. I try hard to make art that points in a direction without defining a destiny. I believe that journey has to be made by the observer.

There’s a book written by the philosopher, Umberto Eco (1932-20116, Italy), “The Open Work”, where he propounds the interpretation of an observer to a piece of art depending on his biography, beliefs, education, social environment, and many other personal factors. So, the main point of an artwork is to achieve polysemy, which are different meanings.

Material.

· Acrylic paints: Vermilion red, Cobalt blue, Titanium white and yellow. With only these paints, we can achieve the full range of the color wheel.

· Bristol paper (270 g / m2). It is a thick paper that withstands the humidity of the acrylic paintings without deforming.

· Rectangular brushes of various thicknesses, only about 1 inch thick or so. I use rectangular brushes and not round, as I can produce stronger strokes with them.

Let’s deduce a significant meaning from the above. Would literature enrich our lives and our artwork? Yes, I believe so. Literature is a splendid and generous source for our art inspiration.

Lastly, if you find this work interesting and helpful, please FOLLOW my FAA feed (https://veronica-huacuja.pixels.com). Thank you!

Visit any time:

My ART SHOP: https://veronica-huacuja.pixels.com

My BODY OF ART: https://veronica.mx

I offer an ONLINE PAINTING PROGRAM in traditional or digital techniques: https://veronica.mx/online_painting_course

Other POSTS AND VIDEOS: https://patreon.com/veronicahuacuja

Thank you for reading.

1 Carrington, Leonora. “As they Rode Along the Edge”. The Seventh Horse and other Tales. Virago, Virago Modern Classics, 1989.

How To Make Up A Big Sketch On Paper

Welcome to another Art Post. My name is Veronica Huacuja. I'm a plastic artist and an online art teacher for groups and individuals. I have some good tips for your art process. Hope you find them useful.

LET’S TALK ABOUT… How to make up a big sketch on paper.

To exemplify the above, I add the following work.

This is its data sheet:

Title: Female Body, Study 1

Artist: Veronica Huacuja

Medium: Oil & crayon on paper

Size: 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm

Year: 2003

Collection: Human Body

A PREVIOUS COMMENT. I made this piece in an art workshop with a physical model. All the participants in the cited workshop agreed to work this pose for just 10 minutes.

Being that said, I had to hurry to “understand” the volume of the body, define the composition (on the paper), the painting tools and the palette.

After sketching it, it took me around an hour to complete the work.

MATERIAL.

- Thick black crayon

- Oil paintings

- Turpentine

- Paper: Bond 90 gm / m2

TECHNICAL PROCEDURES. I sketched the figure with the black crayon using heavy and light strokes. Then, I spread light coats of oil painting using brushes, my the fingers and turpentine. This last material helped to dissolve the crayon and the painting without deforming the paper. It's a joy to work on these materials. One thing that I keep in mind is that, during the process, I have to control the dark color of the crayon, else it might contaminate the rest of the work.

Painting with the fingers is a different way to approach the work after colouring the big surfaces with brushes. It is a very "physical" technique, as we may know, that somehow I compare it with sculpting.

TIP-ON-THE-FLY. If you use this technique, wear gloves to protect your hands. I wear cloth and latex gloves, one on top of the other. This prevents the sweat in the hands and avoids any fungus that can damage the nails.

LET'S MAKE A MEANINGFUL REFLECTION FROM THE ABOVE. Experimenting with different techniques in our artwork is something I find essential. It expands our possibilities for creating new series, collections, etc.

Visit any time:

My ART SHOP: https://veronica-huacuja.pixels.com

My BODY OF ART: https://veronica.mx

I offer an ONLINE PAINTING PROGRAM in traditional or digital techniques: https://veronica.mx/online_painting_course

Other POSTS AND VIDEOS: https://patreon.com/veronicahuacuja

Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed the work.

Is Our Art Production Autobiographical?

You’re welcome to another Art Blog. My name is Veronica Huacuja, a plastic artist and an online art teacher for groups and individuals. I have some good tips for your art process. Hope you find them helpful.

LET’S TALK ABOUT… Our art interests and understanding that almost everything we create has to do with our own life, our environment.

A PREVIOUS COMMENT. One of my passions, besides producing art, is reading literature (novel, poetry, essays, etc.). I do this activity because it provides me with new experiences, ideas and topics to produce my artwork, besides enriching my life.

So, whenever we choose an art topic to develop, we must agree that almost everything we create has to do with our biography. That is, the choices we make to produce any artwork is determined by our life history (beliefs, experiences, memories, education, culture, etc.).

To exemplify the above, I add the following work. This is its data sheet:

Title: Study of a Portrait 28
Artist: Veronica Huacuja
Medium: Ink on paper
Size: 32 x 24 x 0.1 cm
Year: 2005
Collection: Portraits

MY EXPERIENCE MAKING UP THIS ARTWORK. Taking the previous reflection into consideration, I made research on the photographer, Edward Weston (1886-1958, U.S.), and I found one of his beautiful artworks which displays a woman reciting a poem. The name of the woman is Tina Modotti (1896-1942, Italy)–a photographer, too–, who was photographed by Weston, her lover at the time. The title’s photograph is “Tina Reciting”.

Weston took this photo in Mexico in the 1920s, which is a period of great artistic creativity that is known as the Mexican Renaissance.

LET’S DEDUCE A SIGNIFICANT MEANING FROM THE ABOVE. Maybe that’s the mysterious way our brain works when we decide to paint whatever topic we’re interested in. So, the answer to the above question in the title is affirmative: Yes, we produce art that is part of our lives. Do you agree?

Visit any time:

My ART SHOP: https://veronica-huacuja.pixels.com

My BODY OF ART: https://veronica.mx

I offer an ONLINE PAINTING PROGRAM in traditional or digital techniques: https://veronica.mx/online_painting_course

Other POSTS AND VIDEOS: https://patreon.com/veronicahuacuja

Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed the work.

Never Erase “Mistakes” In Your Work. Trust In Serendipity

Welcome to another Art Post. My name is Veronica Huacuja. I’m a plastic artist and an online art teacher. I have some good tips for your painting process. Hope you find them useful.

To approach the title of this post, I'm adding the following artwork and the description of the backstages of its creative production.

The data sheet of the artwork is:

Title: Woman’s Body 25
Artist: Veronica Huacuja
Medium: Digital Art
Size: 5,251 x 7,000 px, 300 dpi
Year: 2018
Collection: Human Body

LET’S TALK ABOUT... An excellent technique: never erase the “mistakes” we make in the process of an artwork, because they might add interesting elements to it. As we may know, this fortunate happening is called “serendipity”, good luck or a fortunate accident. (1)

MATERIAL.
· Digital tablet. I use and recommend one with a hand pressure sensitivity stylus.
· Photoshop (almost any late version of this software).

PREVIOUS THOUGHTS. One thing that we have to keep in mind every time we use the digital medium in our work is that we can do similar procedures in traditional techniques (oil and/or acrylic, etc.).

ART PROCEDURES. I chose a mid-tone (2) for the background, a greenish one (not bright, not dark). This decision helped me to build up the work, because the background color, as we may know, has an important role in the final art solution. This is a technique I use and recommend using: set your background color first. It works just fine!

Sketching with freedom allows us to find interesting solutions. This includes the “mistakes” we do in the way.

With a certain concept of a nude female’s body, I began sketching using the black color and its mid-tones. At first, I didn’t know what the results might be. Little by little, after making various “mistakes”, the body took shape. I uploaded some photos of the creative process that you can find at https://www.patreon.com/posts/never-erase-in-29637463

Then, I added a new color: orange. One way to guarantee that I was using the correct color was to pat it on the surface and see how it matched. After being convinced of the right use of this third color, I applied it to strategic regions, letting the greenish background color still be part of the solution (see the belly, shoulders, legs).

Last, I applied the source of light (that reflects on the figure), and for this purpose I used the white color, which I employed in two ways:

-Lightly on the body just to create the volume.

-Heavily on the background to stand out the body from it, and to create a dramatic contrast with the usage of the black color.

MAKING A MEANINGFUL REFLECTION FROM THE ABOVE: Let’s trust in serendipity while making up our work, and let’s keep our eraser in a closed drawer.

Visit any time:

My ART SHOP: https://veronica-huacuja.pixels.com

My BODY OF ART: https://veronica.mx

I offer an ONLINE PAINTING PROGRAM in traditional or digital techniques: https://veronica.mx/online_painting_course

Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed the post.

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serendipity

2 https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/sep/20/guide-to-painting-mid-tones#:~:text=Mid%2Dtoned%20colours%20are%20in,it%20on%20to%20the%20canvas.

How To Improve Your Portrait Painting

Welcome to this Art Post. My name is Veronica Huacuja. I’m a plastic artist and an online art teacher. I've some good tips for you, as a painter. Hope you find them helpful.

LET'S LEARN... How to improve our portrait process and make a powerful character using a masterpiece of the Spanish painter, Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), “Pope Innocent X” (1650). We'll do this exercise with freedom, not trying to copy the work itself (which, BTW, it’d be a great training exercise), but to base our work on it.

SOME PREVIOUS THOUGHTS. Velázquez is one of the great masters of portraiture of all times. What called my attention in this piece, among other important topics, is the amazing reflection of the powerful personality of the historical character (with its keen eyes) that the painter must have captured. As we know, Pope Innocent X is famous for his harsh hand using his political power. Whenever is the case, it’s important to get acquainted with the person’s biography when we make its portrait.

To exemplify this, I add the following work:

Title: Cortical Blindness
Artist: Veronica Huacuja 
Media: Digital Art
Size: 10,630 x 8,269 px, 300 dpi
Year: 2020
Collection: Portraits

MY EXPERIENCE WHILE MAKING THIS ARTWORK. I made a close-up of Velazquez’s portrait and increased to red the color values. As you can see, I chose a dark brown color for the background to work on it. When I say work on it, I mean that the background color has to be an active part of the work, not to paint it all the way through, but to use it in strategic areas. Here, in the shadows.

So, if the character's eyes were the thing that most affected me in this masterpiece, why don't make this character a blind one? And so I did.

One more thing, “Cortical Blindness” won a “Special Recognition” at the 10th Anniversary Art Exhibition 2020 made by Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery (www.lightspacetime.art)!

LET'S MAKE A MEANINGFUL REFLECTION FROM THE ABOVE. Something we can do throughout our artistic life is to study and practice our skills using the body of art of prominent artists of all times.

Visit any time:

My ART SHOP: https://veronica-huacuja.pixels.com

My BODY OF ART: https://veronica.mx

I offer an ONLINE PAINTING PROGRAM in traditional or digital techniques: https://veronica.mx/online_painting_course

Thank you for reading.

Let’s Make Up a Portrait from a Video Still

Welcome to another Art Post. My name is Veronica Huacuja. I’m a plastic artist and an online art teacher. I have some good tips for your painting process. Hope you find them useful.

THIS IS A VERY TRUE PRINCIPLE. As artists, we must use all the resources we have at hand to produce our work. This is one of these cases where we can make a portrait out of video stills (snapshots) captured from an online true documentary. Have you ever made up a portrait of a video still? I had and want to share this art experience.

To exemplify this, I add the following work:

Title: The Interview 5 
Artist: Veronica Huacuja 
Media: Acrylic on paper 
Size: 95 x 68 x 0.1 cm
Year: 2019
Collection: Human Body

PREVIOUS THOUGHTS. Some of my art interests are scenes related to people being interviewed. So, should we take video stills from a true documentary instead of a fictional film to work with? As a creator, I’m interested in portraying the realistic conditions of a human phenomenon or circumstance.

I find the realism of true documentaries astonishing versus a fiction recreation from another creator (filmmaker, etc.). In this way, we artists decipher and transpose a human phenomenon to the field of art. It’s searching, understanding, and recreating or reinterpreting reality. Here, the fearsome illness known as schizophrenia. (1) I made up an 8 min video regarding the process of this artwork. You'll find it at https://www.patreon.com/posts/42155099

LET'S MAKE A MEANINGFUL REFLECTION FROM THE ABOVE. Research pays off when you find a source, such as the cited video. These criteria are from a creator’s point of view, and I add, a profound respect for the persons implicated in the referred situation.

Visit any time:

My ART SHOP: https://veronica-huacuja.pixels.com

My BODY OF ART: https://veronica.mx

I offer an ONLINE PAINTING PROGRAM in traditional or digital techniques: https://veronica.mx/online_painting_course

Other POSTS AND VIDEOS: https://patreon.com/veronicahuacuja

Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed the post.

1 National Film Board of Canada for the Department of National Health and Welfare (no date). “Catatonic Schizophrenia”. Retrieved on May 10, 2020 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYwGmWWxY48&lc=Ugz_PFGNm9kyLfvK8Gl4AaABAg

Can Art and True Crime Blend Together?

Welcome to another Art Post. My name is Veronica Huacuja. I’m a plastic artist and an online art teacher. I have some good tips for your painting process. Hope you find them helpful.

PREVIOUS COMMENT. Let's talk about the initial resources we use or we can use to make up a painting. I believe, as artists or art practitioners, we must use all the resources we have at our disposal.

BUT BEFORE, LET'S IDENTIFY OUR ART INTERESTS... AND THE LOYALTY WE OWE TO THEM. As artists, we must know the topics that interest us. That is to have them clear. One good question we can do to ourselves to know them is: "What I'm looking for through my artwork?". And I add something very important after identifying our interests: let’s keep loyal to them, no matter what.

SHARING MY EXPERIENCE. My art interests are diverse, such as sickness, pathological behaviour, forensics, among others. Because of the different subjects I'm interested in, I've classified my work into collections. This helps me understand it in a better way. It also helps the re-creator to understand it, to invite or produce in him a state of mind that assists him in penetrating the work's creation circle.

So, attending to pathological behaviour, this time I based this artwork on mug shots from a true crime public documentary, which is the frontal and profile view of an anonymous offender.

SOME THOUGHTS AND THE ART PROCESS. What provoked in me to make up this work was the forceful presence of the character, his strange demeanor, deformity, and details of his scabrous life. So, I created his bust–made of clay, cement and plaster–posed it, and sketched it in a physical environment. Last, in a physical environment, I finished the work. To see some photos of this procedure, head over to https://www.patreon.com/posts/70118019

OTHER INITIAL SOURCES OF THE WORK. In our art process, sometimes reality overlaps, just like in dreams. I read “Whoever Fights Monsters” from Robert K. Ressler (1937-2012, U.S.), an ex Special FBI agent and author, where he describes the mighty personalities of some of the violent offenders that he interviewed during his long term-service. He coined, among with others, the term “serial killer”, as we may know.

I add one more thing: my work isn’t an apology for crime, it’s my interpretation of a social phenomenon.

This is the data sheet of the work I'm presenting:

Title: Study of an Unknown Inmate 8

Artist: Veronica Huacuja

Medium: Oil, crayon on paper

Size: 48.3 x 61 x 0.1 cm

Year: 2021

Collection: The Relentless

Visit any time:

My ART SHOP

My BODY OF WORK

I offer an ONLINE PAINTING PROGRAM in traditional or digital techniques.

Thank you for visiting.