The Morning News interviews Witz (coolest last name of the year) about his night paintings, which are an interesting contrast to his fantastic street art.
(taking a step away from tumblr, i thought that maybe i should explain why certain images of different works by random artists catch my eye. i don’t have the skills or the interest for formal critiques, and the more i read current art criticism, the more it seems made up. people who have no artsy background beyond a clever set of eyes seem to get at the heart of an artist’s work in much fewer words.
learning how to paint is a lot like learning how to speak a new language. you start off with a tourist’s vocabulary, adding simple phrases like “excuse me, ma’am, could you tell me where to find the nearest discotheque” and “could we please have the check now” every day. the trick to getting them to stick is to use them over and over again. but even as your vocabulary grows, you botch these phrases. “the more close business selling wine is how to get there, pardon mine.” and “boy, here.”
the biggest and most difficult subset of the painting language is learning how to speak light. light made from paint, light that you are creating from mixing different colors and are therefore responsible for. if this mixing and experimenting doesn’t pull off the light, it’s your fault. and anyone with an ounce of color theory can see where you went wrong before you can, and knows how much paint you’ve wasted.
paint’s expensive. the cost of art supplies in general is totally skewed when compared to the final product’s reality price tag.
and then there’s the purpose of the light. a year ago, this would have sounded a little too highbrow for my tastes. but now, it’s this big puzzle - it’s so much bigger than a puzzle that my brain can only begin to fathom it as a puzzle - with sharp edges and a million pieces made from tiny variations on the same gray or beige or brown. the puzzle is more about these subtle tones and shades than the dazzling colors on the wheel. every single one of them has to serve the overall picture, even if they’re just hanging out and pretending they’re random.
i’ve been practicing with lots of violets lately. the violets keep showing up because i’m mixing two of the color pallets i’ve used before, but i didn’t realize this until tonight. one of the things i’ve put off painting (again) is windows. i was looking for tips on how to paint shrubbery through paned glass, and that’s how i found dan witz’ night paintings.
in terms of technique and purpose, i think his candle field is pretty amazing. i like the shapes i see in the negative space. the dark reds and blues in the candle votives give the wax and light that tangible glow you can only get from oil paint and someone who knows how to really work light. and i really love what the painting is telling me. this is more than a well-painted still life. i imagine it’s something he saw while maneuvering through the shell-shocked maze of manhattan at the end of 2001.)