The greatest angst I feel as an artist is over what to paint and why. It's not that I'm at a loss for inspiration, but I want my paintings to communicate more than skin-deep beauty. Therefore, I have a little trouble painting beautiful models on stands or beautiful landscapes or flowers. I hope that my paintings will tell a deeper story, even if it is mysterious and its meaning is left to the viewer's interpretation.
So in recent weeks, as I've been attending classes and figure drawing sessions, I've been asking myself how I can make stories out of these anonymous models. I've been looking at examples from contemporary and past artists. I don't yet have the answer I'm looking for, but I feel like I'm closer to identifying what I like and dislike.
If you have favorite figurative artists, please share names and links to their work. Meanwhile, here's a recent class assignment rendered in acrylic and collage.
