Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
- I have already mentioned that my works are based on photos.
For example, now I am painting lemons.
Here is my installation. I take two or three lemons,
and usually I also take an orange to get more complex colours.
I would prefer to work based on a natural view,
but the lights always change,
and while a live model moves all the time, lemons do not.
As a result, I take photos of my subjects.
Such as of these lemons.
I have used some paint on them so they do not look exactly like lemons.
I take the photos at daylight, not lamplight.
I have a large window with a terrace so the lights are beautiful.
I take a lot of photos,
up close and farther away as well,
in order to record as many details as possible.
I need lots of photos for the painting.
When I have the slides, I examine them at this table.
I use glasses because I cannot see perfectly.
Here are they. These are all the lemons. I take at least a hundred photos,
from different distances and with various compositions.
Finally I can either use them or not.
Usually I can, because I am now a better photographer.
Earlier I had to dispose of a lot, nowadays I have to do so with less.
When I have roughly chosen the most interesting ones,
I have a look at them on the canvas.
I project the slides so I can see
what size the painting should be
and what my impressions are.
I make a sketch, but I do not want to draw
because painting and drawing are completely different.
Next I do not paint the slides immediately on the canvas.
Let me begin with this one.
I usually have a look at it like this.
I must close one eye so as to see all minor technical details.
It is important to observe them thoroughly
because this way I do not have to look at the real lemon,
as I have an excellent record about it.
Well, these are not bad.
- If it is, for example, compared to a picture of a lemon or orange,
do you notice that your technique is much better?
So how do you perceive it, and how do others?
- Well, I don't know how an outsider can perceive things,
but I notice the difference, of course.
My technique is based on two important things:
to work as perfectly and as fast as possible.
If I have achieved the quality I wanted,
I attempt to do the same even faster.
Afterwards I need to try out something new.
I often carry out several experiments on the same picture.
Just like in this case.
You can never be completely satisfied.
So you do well if you always continue doing.
But what I find interesting is the fact that the technique,
that all my thoughts, or I could say, all my problems
are only technical issues.
Everything that has to do with the spirit,
which after all seems more essential for others than the technique,
so everything that can be seen on the picture,
all come to my mind naturally afterwards.
If my technique is wrong, I turn to other subjects.
So if I am not satisfied with something technically,
I have to balance it with more powerful subjects.
It is difficult to explain it clearly.
- I know that it is not a horse race,
but you have mentioned that you are becoming faster and faster.
If you worked without break,
how much time would it take to paint such a picture today?
- To paint it today? Well I often say that for me...
- Nowadays - that's what I meant.
- Well, it depends.
If there is a challenging part on the composition,
it takes quite a lot.
I have to apply some paint on it again,
or I have to find out how to address the problem,
or I study the slides again to decide what to change.
But problems can arise almost anywhere.
It took a day to paint this picture in its present state.
But had I painted it two days ago, or on another canvas,
it would have been a week.
Now I painted on white canvas, - I had not done so for 20 years -,
and it goes much faster.
Later on it will surely take more time as I will put several layers on it,
and the real focus appears only at the final stage:
when I analyze the lemon, creating a much more subjective interpretation.
But as it is now, this painting looks really classical.
So there are no golden rules.
The time necessary to complete a painting may range from a week to 2 months.
It depends on its size.
I work at this kind of light, which is a bit stronger.
I have several photos of the lemons,
for example, it is taken from a greater distance.
I take darker and lighter photos too, from various distances.
From this perspective these slides mean a lot of difficulties.
This photo is only necessary to observe the bottom.
It is the same picture.
So these are the lemons I have already shown,
but this time with an orange.
I kept the orange clean,
otherwise I would not have been given orange juice.
This picture is all that has been left of it.
At first I need the subject.
I mean the things that can be seen on the photo.
It all begins as a typical still life,
it is only afterwards that I start working on it.
I miss out and add things at particular points.
It is very rare to keep the same on the painting as it is on the photo.
But I still visualize the minor details, such as the small paint on the lemon.
This part will be completely different becuase it is a shoebox.
Since I do not paint shoeboxes, it will be something else.
I do not know, perhaps wood, stone or nothing.
The mood and a sense of authenticity are the most important.
Whether it will be wood, paper or stone,
the more it will meet the mood of the painting, the better.
It is not about painting a lemon, an orange or a still life,
but about painting a world.
- What stage is this painting at?
Are there details that you need to elaborate on?
- There is only one base layer on this painting,
I will add at least three more.
I will work out the details, which is a fourth layer,
then I will apply some white paint,
which is in fact again another layer.
As oil paints are always transparent,
the more layers you put on an oil painting,
the deeper it will become.
So you really need to build a world out of it.
Since it is in fact a photo. At this stage it is a hand-made photo.
But paintings will never be photos.