Showing posts with label beauty. Show all posts

Monday, 21 October 2013

The Nature of Beauty.

Michael Whynot. Portrait Study, 2013. Red chalk.

What beauty is, I know not, though it adheres to many things. (Albrecht Durer)

I have begun to question the nature of beauty - and what, exactly, I am observing when I see that which I perceive as beautiful.

Is beauty intrinsic in an object or is beauty a quality of a perceptive mind?

Beauty must be subjective, as evidenced by the wide range of what is accepted as beautiful. But, it seems to me, that subjective beauty is mostly cosmetic; mere surface appearance. If we can get past our conceptions of what we believe beauty to be, and allow perception to be immediate and unencumbered by thought, then beauty may show itself to be universal and self-evident; a quality as real as truth or goodness.

Sunday, 7 April 2013

Drawn to Grace.

Michael Whynot. Figure Study, 2013. Red chalk.

She Walks in Beauty

BY LORD BYRON (GEORGE GORDON)

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

I know grace when I see it. Defining grace, however, is somewhat more difficult, although Merriam-Webster defines it, at least for our purposes, as: ease and suppleness of movement or bearing...

Ease and suppleness of movement or bearing. As I stated, above, I know it when I see it, but explaining why, exactly, one person has it, while another does not, eludes me. Grace can mean the difference between an adequate drawing and a great drawing. Grace of form has the power to inspire us and can elevate our drawing with its mere presence.

I yearn for this trait in the models I draw. I believe that, for the most part, models may not understand this trait or even recognize it in themselves. Grace is something which comes naturally and I am uncertain whether it can be nurtured or not.

I believe that Lord Byron was describing grace in his beautiful poem:

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Meet in her aspect and her eyes. If we, as draftsmen, can but capture this elusive aspect in our drawings, they will be, unquestionably, the better for it. But seeing grace is the precursor to drawing grace. So, perhaps, grace must be present in both artist and model. Perhaps grace is what we, as artist, see.

Thursday, 27 December 2012

The Beauty of Forms.

Michael Whynot. Torso Study, 2012. Detail. Water-based clay.

There is nothing ugly; I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may - light, shade and perspective will always make it beautiful. (John Constable)

Light reveals form - which is a beautiful thing - that can be infinite in its variety, owing to its orientation to light and the viewpoint of the beholder.

In a drawing, the draftsman fixes the source of light and the viewpoint of the beholder to a single moment in time, in essence, selecting a moment from the infinite for each new drawing. But the sculptor, creating in the round, is able to offer infinite variety in a single work. Both the sculptor and the draftsman offer infinite variety: the sculptor in a single work, the draftsman in many.

Note the variety in the photos of my clay torso study above. Each is taken from a different viewpoint and orientation to the light source. A draftsman could create many different drawings from the photos, while the sculptor creates one work with infinite variety.

As men have done since the beginning of time, I become lost when pondering the infinite, the possibilities for beauty being endless. The artist's job is to embrace one of these moments of beauty from among the infinite variety available and endeavour to convey it to others so that they can see form as the artist sees form. The degree to which the artist succeeds is dependent upon their ability to clearly render, not only the form, but the essence of the form which is beyond verbal definition and is the crux of the artist.

The Beauty of Forms.

That I am blessed to bear witness

To the beauty of forms

Amid these common aspects of daily life;

But, oh, how it consumes me,

Like a flame,

As I struggle to release it,

Burning me

From the inside out.

(Michael Whynot, 2012)

Sunday, 16 December 2012

Contemplating the Tragedy in Connecticut.

Michelangelo's Pieta

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes -
The rest sit 'round it and pluck blackberries.
(Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

Like most of the world, I have been contemplating the events of this past week in Connecticut - crying a little, questioning a lot, trying to see a purpose and failing; at least for now. At the end of the day, this is a blog about beauty and, this week, I struggled to see any.

We, as a species, need beauty. It sustains us; it insulates us from the crudeness of reality; it reminds us that there is something more than the frantic come day, go day of existance. Beauty is all around us, but who has the time to see it? Art's purpose is to expose the moment; all those beautiful moments that we overlook in the face of living our daily lives. And, what higher purpose is there than to show the world that which they cannot see, but which they so desperately need.

Beauty of forms; of cadences; of melodies; of virtue; all those lost moments. Endeavor to capture them, make a difference in the world; change someone.

For, he who recognizes beauty in any form, may recognize beauty in all its forms. Please, see the splendor; aspire to help those see it, who need to see it most.