# 60 - Select Items from Normandy, with People and Simplicity

                                                      "Amblie at a Distance"

                                                      "Pres d'Amblie"

                                                    "La Digue a Saint Aubin"

Fellow Art Lovers:

Here, I hope without any pretention, are some select items I’ve been working on, just to give you an idea of how I’m spending my time. I was going to start with some humorous statements, but I decided to just be straightforward. Just show you my work, and then ask for your input.

The first item, “Amblie at a Distance,” is almost the same scene I’ve painted quite a bit. But the other day, while driving toward the village of Amblie, I noticed that the fields in front of it, as I approached it, were just so rich and splendid. Could I capture some of those colors and textures, and especially the Normandy sky? Well, I’ll let you be the judge.

The next one, number two, “Pres d’Amblie,” was a scene just past Amblie, on a highway I’ve taken so many times, Departmentale 35.  I just let the car follow its nose. I hadn’t noticed this scene before, but it was so simple and direct. The scene needed to be painted in a very simple and direct manner. I hope I captured something.

And the largest work of this series, “La Digue a Saint Aubin,” is different from my usual landscapes because it has a lot of people. “The digue” in this sense is like a boardwalk, a walkway made of paving stones overlooking the beach and the sea, where people on this sunny afternoon walked back and forth to see and – often – be seen.  I tried to show the brightness and the sunny spirit of it all.

As always, thanks for your time and support, and – if you have a minute – thanks for your comments.

Best,

Bill

#33 - The Emotional Content

                                                         "A Man and his Dog"

                                                           "From the Window I"

                                                            "From the Window II"

Fellow Art Lovers:

I've been talking quite a bit about the emotional impact of paintings, and of course this is very important. Well, I want to show you what I've been doing, and let you be the judges.

One recent painting is very important for me. It's a commission of a man and his dog, and I want to tell you that I put an awful lot into the painting, in terms of thought, care, my own emotion, and the time I spent actually painting. I wanted to show the man and his dog in his home environment, in this case his porch, and at the same time, reflect the emotion that he feels for his dog. Well, the man likes the painting and accepted it.

This is an accomplishment for me. In writing about my painting, I can say I think I accomplished this and that, and I tried this and that, and I'm pleased with this and that. But the only judge who's valid is the viewer. Now, I'm asking you for your input.

One note of caution: I'm realizing more and more that looking at photos of paintings on line, even though you can double the size by clicking on the image, is not like looking at the painting itself. Of course the image is smaller, but in addition, the colors lack the subtle nature they have on the canvas. But showing you the image here will give you an idea.

In addition to this commission, I've been working constantly on urban scenes. I'm showing you just two paintings of Philadelphia, which I painted from windows of the building where my studio is. For those of you who have looked out the windows of my studio, you will be able to see that one painting is from my studio, and the other is a window on my floor, but near the elevator.

These paintings bring up several things I'd like to share with you. One of them is that I'm putting a lot more thought into the actual techniques I use in painting; that is, the consistency of the paint, how I load my brush, the pressure of the brush on the canvas, those kind of technical questions. But at the same time, I remain an intuitive painter. That is to say, when my hand takes over in moving the brush, I accept it and let my hand control the result. My feeling is that if the gesture comes from my heart, it has to be right.

But at the same time, I keep thinking about a word one of my teachers, Jean-Marie Creuseau of Fresnes, France, used to constantly repeat: "Simplify, simplify." He meant, what is simple and direct has greater power. Therefore, the simpler of the two paintings has impact for me.

Right now, I'm working on another series of urban scenes. What I do is to work on perhaps two or three paintings aft the same time. I'll show these to you when they're ready.

If you'd like to come to my studio and look at the works in person, please email me at: billkosman@gmail.com

I'd also like to mention that I'm in a position to accept more commissions for portraits, with or without pets, and I'm planning to do more versions of one of the two urban scenes you see here, one version four feet by four feet.

Thanks for your time and support.

Sincerely,

William Kosman

#30 - Faces - Studies in Human Emotion

                                                                "Street Scene"

                                                               "Lounge Singer"


Fellow Art Lovers:

Over the several years that I've written this blog, you've seen a lot of my paintings of people and - of course - human faces. I know that it goes without saying, largely because it's the subject matter of so much art, including painting, photography and sculpture, but the human face is the richest subject any artist can attempt to represent. The reasons have been written about and talked about for centuries, and here I'm not making any kind of great discovery. The human face is not only an object of beauty, in beauty's largest sense, but it's also an object of so much emotion, tension, pleasure, variety, character, discovery, complexity, and so much more. Do you believe you can see a person's entire life in his or her face?

The few times I've really succeeded in capturing just a bit of that complexity and emotion and character, I've walked on clouds for a few days. The very act of feeling success, from the very beginning, is exhilarating - every brush stroke feels right, every touch moves you closer to that moment, every phase of the painting gives you a feeling of power. A painter's high. When you feel you're failing, my gosh, you really feel you are failing. But when you discover the misconception you've allowed yourself to follow, when you can see your mistakes and fix them, maybe that's an even higher high.

The entire face is important, but I believe that the greatest subtleties are expressed by the eyes and the mouth. In these cases, just a few dabs of paint, just a thicker or thinner line, just a shade that's slightly off - all of thee things can have such an impact in expressing what the viewer feels.

Why am I going on about this stuff?

Because I'm going to rededicate myself to the human face, to portraits. In the coming months, I'm going to paint as many people and their faces as humanly possible. Sure, I will accept commissions. But I will also beg people to sit or stand or lean for me. To be painted and to be photographed. Yes, painting the real person is best, but sometimes photography can really make the whole enterprise not only easier but also possible and better.

And when I say I want to paint people, I'm talking about all kinds of people - all ages, genders, from all groups of every type. It's the character and emotion that I'm looking for.

Above, I'm showing you two paintings that I'm working on. I'd love to get your input on these painting. And if you're able to come into my studio during Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, during the weekend of Oct. 15 and 16, 2011, from noon to 5 pm, I'd love to tell you the stories behind the paintings, and I hope I can show you the completed paintings.

Thank you for your time, and I hope to see you at Studio #407, 915 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123.

Sincerely,

William Kosman

#24 - Please Stop Me

Fellow Art Lovers:

It's really something when you need to paint to feel good. Guilty. The other day, when I was making preparations for my departure, I was feeling a little blue. What did I need to do? You guessed it. I needed to paint.

So, I decided to begin one more of the paintings for my Brooklyn series. This is a work in progress. I think it needs some more work, and no tittle comes to mind.

But I want to tell you that painting it was a pleasure. I felt free, and I think I'm starting to capture the subject's expression. He is, as you might guess, a fish monger, and he's one of those merchants who is a pillar of his community, and he seems like a very nice person.

And that might explain why I painted with such pleasure and a good measure of confidence. He sent out good vibes, which I picked up. So, even though a good bit of time had passed, I still felt involved in the painting.

Anyway, thanks for putting up with my obsession, but isn't that the way painters are supposed to be?

Thanks for listening.

Best,

William Kosman

#20 - The Human Face

My Fellow Art Lovers:

What I'm about to say has been said many, many times. It has been felt deeply many, many times. It has been written about, and sung about, and most certainly painted many, many times. but here I am. I'm going to say it one more time.

The human face is an amazing thing.

It is a great pleasure for me to paint faces. Painting a face, and trying to express the person's character and emotions and situation is - for me - the greatest challenge in painting.

While painting a portrait, I can make just the smallest changes, just extend a line near the eyes, or enlarge a small spot of color, and the impact of the face changes, the expression changes. I can just change a color, or extend a color closer to the eye or the nose, and suddenly the face is right, or it is wrong.

Transmitting what a person feels goes far beyond getting the proportions correct, even though this is important. And even though the artist can make the decisions to alter what he or she sees to achieve a certain effect. It's so important to be willing to experiment, to be willing to add a darker color here or use a different brush stroke there. Sometimes, while painting, I tell myself that if I try to change something, I may ruin what I have already achieved. But I have to force myself to keep pushing.

The achievement is when everything clicks, and the person suddenly comes alive, and you can see the emotion.

The top portrait is a woman with a bright, sparkling personality and a positive outlook on life. I think I did capture something of her, although I could go further.

The second portrait is yours truly. I had a self-portrait that I started maybe a year or so ago, and never completed. One painter, whose opinion I respect, told me that you should not rework paintings from the past, because your outlook and skill level have changed. So, I used the unfinished self-portrait as practice. So here, in the new work, I believe there is something of me. Perhaps someone out there will have an opinion.

The third portrait is of a brilliant, knowledgeable and confident woman, a neighbor as a matter of fact. While I painted the portrait, the brushstrokes came fast and confident, perhaps because I believe I have a certain knowledge of her. When she saw it, she said I captured. her.

As always, I'd love to hear your reactions to these paintings. As always, thanks for your time and your continued support.

Best,

William Kosman
   

#16 - It's Show Time

"La Coquette"

By William Kosman

Faces of Philadelphia

Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 

Oct. 11 & 12, 2008 - 12 noon to 6 pm

Painter William Kosman

Studio # 407

915 Spring Garden Street

Philadelphia, PA 19123

Fellow Art Lovers:

I want to extend a special invitation to all of you to come to my studio during POST to view many of the works you've seen on this blog - and much more.

The theme is "Faces of Philadelphia," and you will see many of the people and the city scenes I've painted and then talked about here. "La Coquette" is one of them. Now, in my studio, you will see almost the full collection of the actual works, and you will see the collection's development, from one work to the next. And, no doubt a real thrill, you will be able to discuss the works with me.

While in my studio at 915 Spring Garden St., I'm sure that you will take the opportunity to visit some of the more than 40 other artists in the building who are also exhibiting their work as participants in POST.

I also want to invite you to visit the ArtWorks Gallery, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, to see about 20 of the landscapes I painted in Normandy. If you have any questions about that exhibit, please call me at 215-280-9580.

As always, thank you for your time and support.

Sincerely,

William Kosman