Mastering Composition by Ian Roberts is the book for you then.

Well said! I cannot but agre

Thank you so much Julia. I really appreciate your telling me. All the best

Agreed. He has helped me tremendously. Ian is so generous.

I have a friend who sums it up "More artist. Less subject" which you can apply to interpreting any painting. Just as you are suggesting Patti.

Nicely stated. From experience.

I like "stay hungry my friend". I do get that sense of Wyeth, he really stayed with his vision. And as you say didn't sit back and stagnate.

Thanks William. Nice to hear from you. Hope the summer is going well.

Interesting that I discovered the same principle..that Interesting objects and colors and patterns can be found in so many places..even garbage cans.

Interesting. Thanks for this comment.

Hi Jan, I have never heard of Miksang. I love it. I thought once of doing a workshop in a junkyard for several days to really get away from subject (beautiful things) and see more in terms of design. I never did. I'm not sure anyone would have come. But I get the idea.

It's like the Ashcan School. Not looking "out there" for what might be right here.

Yes, I've heard that expression too. And I do think we need to be aware of it. Because if not you can feel there's something wrong when in fact it is embedded as part of the process.

I'm delighted you found it helpful.

So delighted you find it engaging. All the best.

Thanks so much.

I'm glad you found it helpful.

Don't we keep needing to be reminded of that. So true.

Thank you so much!

I'm delighted you found it helpful.

I'm delighted you found it helpful. Thanks so much.

Thanks so much.

Ah shucks. .... thank you.

Hi Marti, nice to hear from you. I love that idea of painting with your inner child. It's interesting too the idea of uniting parts of ourselves. Or not. That inner child and the landscape love. Can they come together. Or do they serve different roles for you? Ah, the questions.

​@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition My childhood was fraught=CPTSD! Prolonged and reoccuring trauma at every developmental stage of life.Infancy, pre-school grade school and high school. So working with the IFS mode of therapy, I learned about protectors, firefighters and exiles. I have at least 4 exiled inner-children that were frozen in time and circumstance. As I started to invite them to paint, they started revealing their story through the subject of the painting. As I (my ego) was not designing, composing or even envisioning each piece, I was amazed at what would unfold. All of a sudden I had more artistic ability than I knew. Not only was it engaging, but very liberating. And the best part was that as these traumatized selfs of mine got to be seen heard, and felt they were healed, releasing 71 years of unconcious stress and anxiety. I may someday be free to crank out lovely landscapes, but the real juice for me is one on one dialog with my unconscious through painting. It's incredible how much energy was released. Talk about PRACTICAL MAGIC!!!

That's it I think Mark. If we can say and believe it then the viewer will follow our lead.

Thank you so much. Delighted you enjoyed it.

Thanks for letting me know Jeanne. I really appreciate it. All the best.

It's hard not to look at a finished painting and get lost in evaluation. But I think you are right, how much can we engage and embrace the process.

That was why I made the video. We think that as we get better somehow things get easier. Some things do of course. But learning to listen to and express deeper and deeper whispers of our own voice, I think that is always something we move towards a bit blindly.

Well said John.

Thanks so much.

Thanks so much Bob. I couldn't really ask the videos to do more. So thank you for letting me know. Also your last name made me laugh. When I was a kid there was a TV commercial of John Nagy's Learn to Draw. I think he also had a TV show and he'd show you how to draw a horse or whatever each week. I just looked it up. He spelt it Gnagy. But it was way before Bob Ross.

I'm glad you find it helpful.

Glad you enjoyed it Linda.

Nicely said Stacey.

Glad to hear that!

Ah.. enjoying the process. Now that is another ball of wax isn't it? I know that feeling too.

I'm glad you find it helpful. Thanks so much.

Foundational principles do apply to all mediums.

Glad you enjoyed it!

I'm delighted you found it helpful.

I'm delighted you found it helpful. Thanks so much.

Exactly. We all muddle around and think oh one day I'll have figured it out. Maybe. But maybe that is not really the point.

I would think tapestry weaving would be very process driven. Slow, repetitive, mindful.

Yes. Sometimes I weave according to my painting. Sometimes complete improvisation. It is a very helpful art therapy. It really saved me when the war began on the 7th of October.

It's so true. That interplay between the mark and the illusion. How we go back and forth with it, wanting to get it right and yet also keep it alive.

Hi Susan, nice to hear from you. That doubt seems almost like an occupational hazard. I know it well. But you are right it gets amplified when you are learning new things. Look forward to seeing you again in September for color. All the best until then. And congratulations on the award.

@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition Thank you!

It is so true Miguel. You can get so sure you know what will work and then..... ouch. It's good to hear someone like Wyeth remind us.

Hi Marianne, I some how saw you had commented on my video on Wyeth's comments on your youtube video. KZfaq must bring something like that to my attention because my name is in it. So thank you. I made a video earlier in my KZfaq series that specifically talks about the abstract nature of Wyeth's painting. Maybe you'll find that interesting as well. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pd1gg8J13rWWlmg.html My very best wishes and good luck with both your painting and KZfaq channel.

@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition thank you Ian!

I'm delighted you enjoyed it.

Thanks so much.

Glad you found that helpful. Good luck in your revisiting the abstraction.

Thank you so much. Delighted you enjoyed it.

I'm glad you found it helpful

I'm glad you found it helpful.

Thanks so much.

Maybe something of what you are saying might be the difference between illustration and fine art. One answers a problem, the other offers the possibility of mystery. I mean lots of holes in that idea but aligns with your thought I think.

I'm delighted you found it helpful. Thanks so much.

Glad it was helpful!

Glad it was helpful!

Thank you so much. I'm glad it was helpful

Glad you liked it!

I love that book Wyeth at Kuerner's because we see so many sketches and starts. I've said elsewhere that I think Wyeth is a great abstract painter because even though we see what the subject is the power and drama of his design is primary. Also the interview was in 1963. The Helga paintings were done almost 20 years later. So his work did evolve over the decades.

@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition oh right, good point as he did evolve a huge amount 👌🏻 you are exactly right about his abstract qualities. And yet he did those other things like hang around his new neighbors house and paint them while they were sleeping! Very diverse master he was.

Sounds like a good thought to me Adele.

I'm delighted you found it helpful.

I'm delighted you enjoyed it.

I'm delighted you found it helpful.

Thanks so much.

Thanks so much.

You're so welcome

Delighted you enjoyed it.

YES!

Delighted you enjoyed it.

Hi Detra, I actually have a very similar experience of wanting to move more to figures and portraits. I'd just say do it. I mean what could go wrong. (I'm half joking I suppose but really). Good luck! I think it sounds exciting.

@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition thanks I think I will! Not so much portrait like a photo, but something that says something.

I'm not sure that changes over time. Sometimes we get a direction that holds us, one piece after another within a series, or idea. But we are always sort of making up our direction as we go aren't we.

I agree. N.C's paintings at the Brandywine Museum are so beautifully painted. Although NC himself derided his own illustration as well...just illustration.

@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition Norman Rockwell also derided his own illustration work. I suspect that is because an illustrator's work is assigned, often directed, and not necessarily of their own concepts. There is great art that is found in illustration as well as fine arts, and there is poor work in both.

It wasn't a book. It was from an article in Horizon magazine from 1963. If you google Horizon and wyeth interview in 1963 you'll find the issue.

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

HI Phil, I'm not sure you have seen it, but each month I post 4 videos on a specific theme about painting. That you might find useful. I have stopped making new KZfaq content because I want to get back to my own work. I'll be teaching my online courses again next year. If you are getting my emails then you'll get a notice that I will be offering them again. Email me (contact on my website) and I'm sure we can work something out. Until then good luck and all the best on your artistic journey.

@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition Thanks so much Ian

It's a good line John. For art. I guess for brain surgery less so. At least that would be my preference. Best wishes.

I guess that is what we are all looking to create isn't it.

I've stopped making new content. Once a month I am posting past KZfaq videos. And once a month I am taking short clips from talks I've shared with an online community. So new to KZfaq I guess but not new content.