I guess Obama doesn't feel the need to take up painting...artwork already exists that touches his inner self...
Posted on 04/15/2014 5:26:20 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
That’s what I was thinking. If these paintings had been done by some minority race gay Muslim, we would be spending millions on grants to the person, for “the arts”.
You’re so right, Ditter. Aren’t his portraits wonderful? The likenesses are incredible.
Painting is not something you learn overnight, it's a process. Usually you don't see the early stages because by the time you see artists' work they are farther along in the learning process.
He's got a good 'eye', and the knack of capturing a likeness - which is not an easy thing to do at all. His brush can't yet quite DO what he can SEE. That takes years.
Pretty good stuff. Painting takes skilled hands and a good eye.
I would LOVE to have the second landscape in my home!
Ditto on second room from his ranch. Would LOVE to hang that on my walls?
That one of Leno is impressive!
I love his paintings — he is on a learning curve but who isn’t when they decide to take on a new challenge? The Putin portrait truly does reveal Putin’s soul. Dark, calculating and untrustworthy. I believe that Bush has talent.
Bush Derangement Syndrome is alive and well.
I can’t believe the liberals and their meltdown over Bush doing paintings.
What the heck is up with that? Liberals, who are so tolerant, allegedly, are not very tolerant of a former president and a hobby of his in retirement. What is the sam hill is political or controversial about his art? Why would anybody criticize an amateur artist for his efforts in the first place, if he likes painting? Aren’t we supposed to be tolerant????
I agree. I hope he continues to work quietly away, undeterred by the Usual Suspects and their screeching.
I guess Obama doesn't feel the need to take up painting...artwork already exists that touches his inner self...
I’m still POed at Bush for lots of excellent reasons. That said, it takes courage to put your art out in front of the whole world, especially when you know it’s only mediocre. I’m sure he doesn’t need the money, or the validation.
.......,.big spender though he was, at least GW respected the military!
I like his work.
“amateur, very literal-minded” and “like a freshman art student attempting alla prima,”
Yeah, well he IS a beginner. He IS a ‘student artist’ at this point. Accordingly there are some inconsistencies and beginner’s technical and craftsmanship errors.
HOWEVER ——
There is a sincerity and reach for essential qualities of the subject that is really strong. There is something of the icon in his portraits. To make the subject present, to define their essence and make it real. His paintings are honest observation too - not sarcastic or sycophantic.
There is a strength and honesty in his work that is undeniable, and a respect for his subjects, from world leaders to dogs. He puts me in mind of Lucien Freud, without the angst and alienation. Lucien Freud’s technique is more polished of course, but that is simply the result of experience.
W’s art career has just begun. Perhaps for the first time in his life he is doing what he truly wants to do, for himself instead of others, or the pressure of others. The joy on his face certainly reflects it.
I wish him many more years, much success and all contentment in his art. I hope too that he will continue to be as forthcoming with it as he is now.
He’s quite good. I’ve seen plenty of stuff of far lower quality, evincing far less talent and creativity, hanging in art galleries. I also know people who have been painting for a very, very long time, and taking classes for a very long time, who can’t come close to most of these.
It's not talent he is lacking as a painter; it is skill. That comes with education and practice. What he excels at is "getting" the spirit of a person or place.
Wonder what W thinks about while he is painting? Or, is he painting to avoid reflection?
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One can enter a zone similar to that of a workout. Externals, the passage of time, immediate sense of self can all fade away into inconsequence or even be forgotten. The subject and the rendering is all. It emerges as filtered through the psyche and present skill level of the artist.
Yes it takes you away. I don’t think it is a retreat from reality. It is an immersion in a more focused, intimate and limited reality. Instead of scanning a 360 degree angle, one wholly embraces a one degree angle.
Agree completely.
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