Telling the Story
8/26/2017 1:18:17 AM | By Mary Kamerer | Comment on this
One of the issues I am trying to refine in my painting is the narrative. What feeling am I trying to convey? What IS the story? I mentioned in my newsletter about how, in my mixed-media barn series, "Finding Your Homestead", I am trying to share my thoughts about the solitary life of our nation's farm families. The wide open whites, or vast skies, of the paintings emphasize how isolated these places can be. It's up to the viewer as to whether that feels appealing or not, but it should stir an emotion.
I took a photo while in Venice of the scene in front of a bustling cafe. The waiters in Europe are often at their jobs as a lifetime career, and there is a finesse to their routine. I wanted to capture the attentiveness and professionalism in a common scene.
Painting the posture of the waiter as he appears with his tables full of people, did not quite tell a story. In fact, it asked more than what it answered. Why isn't he getting their orders? What is he leaning in for? What is he looking at? The tables are full, so why does he have his hands behind his back as if he has nothing to do? Folks should interpret art they way they want, but I don't want them to feel confused.
Initially, I did the underpainting pretty true to the photo, with the tables full of customers. I thought that the stance of the waiter was interesting and wanted to keep that intact, but something didn't "work". Having people sitting at the tables felt too cluttered and blocked the visual "flow" of the painting. Removing the patrons closest to the waiter and making the tables empty seemed to do the trick. Now, the eye is led along the table edges from the lower left to the upper right area where the light values are. No sitting customers break that movement. And the viewer can focus on what the waiter might be leaning in and looking at. I added an ambiguous figure to the upper right to give depth and increase the narrative. It has rained this morning, but the sun and customers are out, and this waiter is looking up the street for people to fill his tables.
--Mary
You can see this piece at the Matthews Alive! Festival in Matthews, NC over the Labor Day weekend, September 1-4, 2017.
https://www.matthewsalive.org/
I took a photo while in Venice of the scene in front of a bustling cafe. The waiters in Europe are often at their jobs as a lifetime career, and there is a finesse to their routine. I wanted to capture the attentiveness and professionalism in a common scene.
Painting the posture of the waiter as he appears with his tables full of people, did not quite tell a story. In fact, it asked more than what it answered. Why isn't he getting their orders? What is he leaning in for? What is he looking at? The tables are full, so why does he have his hands behind his back as if he has nothing to do? Folks should interpret art they way they want, but I don't want them to feel confused.
Initially, I did the underpainting pretty true to the photo, with the tables full of customers. I thought that the stance of the waiter was interesting and wanted to keep that intact, but something didn't "work". Having people sitting at the tables felt too cluttered and blocked the visual "flow" of the painting. Removing the patrons closest to the waiter and making the tables empty seemed to do the trick. Now, the eye is led along the table edges from the lower left to the upper right area where the light values are. No sitting customers break that movement. And the viewer can focus on what the waiter might be leaning in and looking at. I added an ambiguous figure to the upper right to give depth and increase the narrative. It has rained this morning, but the sun and customers are out, and this waiter is looking up the street for people to fill his tables.
--Mary
You can see this piece at the Matthews Alive! Festival in Matthews, NC over the Labor Day weekend, September 1-4, 2017.
https://www.matthewsalive.org/
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