Anti-War Canvas

Several of the Planeteers commented about my last oil painting that I
posted on PF — the same picture as my Avatar, so I am posting another oil
painting I completed last Fall. It is size 18 inches wide by 24 inches deep; a
WWI Anti War canvas. Critical remarks are welcomed.

Rick

A very emotive work Rick, I love your style.
Carl.

Hello Carl, and thanks. . .

Greetings Carl, my friend:

Thank you for taking time to look at this canvas. I had a lot of trouble getting
the colors the way I wanted, but all that linear pattern in the background
was a lot of fun to paint. I do appreciate your kind words.

Jayhawker

Great work Rick.
I find it a middle of cubisme and impressionisme....
You have your own style and i like it.

Marc

Rick, very nice. It reminds me of the type of anti-war type art done by artists like Otto Dixx.

Check out Jason's Whitman's take on his art in miniature. ~Gary

http://jaywhitsminiatures.blogspot.com/2008/10/otto-dix-germanys-degenerate-artist.html

Thank you Marc . . .

I appreciate your kind words, Marc. I get together in the warm months with
several other canvas artists; and they have encouraged me to express my
linear style in the historical format. Many years ago in college, I
was very impressed by the Impressionists such as
Toulouse Lautrec, Monet, Manet and the forerunner of Cubism Cezanne,
along with others. I have a lot of books with the work of Picasso and
the other artists who brought Cubism to the fore.

Perhaps I've been more influenced by their works than I have thought.
It is interesting you brought it up.

Thanks again,

Miami Jayhawker

Otto Dixx

Well Gary:

You've got me there. When I read the name Otto Dixx, it didn't sound
familiar. However, when I went to the web site, and looked at other
examples of his work on Wikipedia, I remember his dynamic style and the
emotions that those works stir in the viewers eye. There is really nothing
glorious about War. His work definitely grabbed your attention.

Thanks for responding,

Jayhawk

Rick,
what I really liked was how the sky colours are used again on the helmet, joining the figure with the sky.

Also how, while the sky is colourful, it isn't all that happy (tanks, gas, smoke & flame). The face is washed out of colour, and framed by the skulls.


This kind of art, if you wish, could also be the start of a 'flat' style sculpt, see my effort here

http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30414

I can see you rapidly getting a sculpt out of your art, if you so wished - you already have the eye - hand skills with a brush!

Cheers

Very Clever, Jamie. . . funny

Hi Jamie:

First of all thank you so much for your very interesting comments. I feel like
I'm starting to get to know you better. It's that exchange of ideas that I find
so exhilarating about this kind of forum.

And I appreciate your words about how the background colours
work in harmony with the helmet camo pattern. Ah. . . my words
using "harmony" there, not yours, of course. And I know that I talk
here a lot about colour harmony for figure painting as well. And
I try to exhibit that in my figure painting. Colour effectively used is
such a tool for the artist. . . But there I go again, stating the obvious,
shucks!

I missed your thread of that high relief kind of sculpting. And I just thought
that cartoon was so funny. The prat fall, slap-stick kind of humor that W.C.
Fields and Laurel and Hardy made so famous in the 1930s. . . on celuoid.
That thought never occurred to me. I've stated I am not a sculptor, and
my minor conversion work on figures kinda proves it. So I don't see this
rather old doggie learning new tricks. Kinda like the cowardly Lion, . . .
need a big dose of Courage, right here back in Kansas, Toto,

The Miami Jayhawk

Rick.........

i like it. To me it has a very post ww1 feel to it, sort of a 1920's or 30's feel. Is the soldiers face anyone in particular?

and thanks for sharing

Mark

Thank you Mark . . .

Hi Mark:

Thank you for taking time to have a look see. When I was researching this
canvas and doing a lot of sketching to sort out the composition, I also
downloaded a bunch of pictures, and went thru my reference books on hand
to see what images would help me with the drawings. I am sorry I can not
remember if the image I used of René Villian (I hope I spelt his last name
correctly) for the face of the soldier was from the internet or from my
books on hand dealing with WWI. I will attach the picture of Villian, who was
an assasin from that period, but not involved in Sarajevo.

I am sorry I don't remember many of the details, as I created this painting
last Spring. If you're really interested in the details about him, PM me and I
will cause search to find out the details. Thanks again for your comments.

rick

Cool! as i suspected there is a narrative to the picture.

Mark

Rick good to see this one again and so good that others can view it and give their feedback on it.
This is a fantastic piece of work mate and such a different take on the ww1 theme, we are so used to black and white images of the conflict so its nice to have some dynamic colour involved in the painting.
I thinkthe message of war is really present in this one, death and destruction, especially with the fire in the background which `consumes all`.

All the ebst mate,

Steve

Excellent, always good to see something different on here. Hardy

Excellent, Rick! Know nothing about fine art, but I know what I like.

All the best,
Dan

VERY NICE, Rick !

Hi Rick !
A VERY EVOCATIVE and EMOTIVE painting. I like it A LOT !!!!!! Cheers !
Kenneth .

Fellow Planeteers, thank you for your kind words. . .

Thank you gentlemen for taking time to comment about my painting:

Steve: Thank you, Steve for your positive and encouraging comments, not
only today but in our correspondence as well. I hadn't thought about the
aspect of the fire and smoke being "all consuming". I was just trying to
continue with the linear pattern. But you definitely hit the nail on the head,
mate.

Hello Hardy: I realize this is a figure painting site, but it is encouraging to
receive comments like yours. And I do appreciate you taking the time to
express your opinions about this canvas. Thank you.

Hey there Dan: Well, partner, I'm not sure I know that much about Fine Art
either. . . as I worked as a news artist. Haven't studied the masters near as
much as I should have. Thanks for your kind words.

Hello Kenneth in Singapore: So good of you to comment and I really
appreciate you taking the time to do so. I remember hearing many
years ago a phrase that has stuck with me. And for me at least, it helps to
explain why the Arts are so important. The phrase:

The Arts Mirror Life

Indeed, it is the Arts that teach us what is good and just, like a moral
compass. Technology is important but IMHO, it doesn't give the true
meaning to life as the arts do. Well, I could get on my soap box about
this topic. But this probably isn't the place to discuss the point. Thanks,
Kenneth for your kind remarks.

Rick as most of the time I'm always late on a post and as usual all superlatives have been written before in the previous posts so I'm left with practically nothing to praise you with, except that I second all that has been written so far and I like it a lot as it is evocative as it is emotive.....well I guess they have been mentioned already as well

Ray

Regardless Ray, I do sincerely appreciate your words

Hello Ray:

Please suffer no negative feelings as to when ever you want to join a
thread, Ray. This happens to me a lot of the time. Some of the fine work
I seem to be late getting into the ball game, or miss the thread all together.

I sincerely appreciate your kind words, Ray. I have seen evidence of
your large talent here and that makes the fact that you did take time
to add your comments even that much more meaningful.

Have a great day in the Sunny Mediterranean. We have London Froggy Fog
here in the American Heartland at the moment. Go figure???
Miami Jayhawk

Rick, great painting, I like it and ditto to all the previous comments, You're a very talented guy.

Cheers Ken