What is a Hack?

A hack is an artist that will do poor quality art, very quickly that they do not care much about generally for money. They are artists whom abuse their gift as artists until they have no gift any longer.

I've know more than a few in my time and not all were artists. Most were though, because becoming a hack is actually the loss of something that was at one time precious.

Copyright Jack Nightingale Artworks

A hack is somebody who used to care but does no longer. The reasons this happens are many but the biggest reason is taking an art job and doing too much art you don't want to, to quickly until eventually you become unable to even create worthwhile art just for the pleasure of doing it.

I know, I may come off a bit melodramatic, but my drama stems from real world experience of the graphic artist grind.

I did not go to university and my college is also limited. My actual qualifications as a graphic artist rested only on my proven ability to get the job done on time and with style.

As a young man it was my dream to make my living doing art full time. My job at Jab-Art Enterprises occasionally allowed me to paint some graphics or do other art related projects but predominately I was a manager there first and artist last.

Copyright Jack Nightingale Artworks

That all changed when I got hired by Jack Nightingale Artworks as an illustrator and production artist. As you can imagine, I was excited and happy to be able to make my living doing the thing I loved all day.

It was great for a good while. My enthusiasm carried me through much of the disillusionment that I experienced.

Why did I become disillusioned?

Well for starers Jack was not in the art biz because of love. He liked money and him and his wife Deidre spent plenty of it. It's no sin to love money but for me the gratification of doing my art well is worth more than any cheap payoff.

Also, the buyers loved to kill good stuff by mucking with it, but even worse Jack himself would make stupid changes based on what he perceived as marketable. Stuff like taking some beautifully colored and rendered dinosaurs and just crapping all over the design by making us recolor them brown and flat.

So many times things liked this happened I could feel the grind wearing on me. But, I never gave in. I never sold out.

If you're in the commercial art business. I'm sure you need your living, but on every job you work on, you should ask yourself. Can I make this better? Is this good? Why is this good?

Never let them get to you and fight the power. I did, I fought every chance I could for us as an art department to produce great work we could be proud of.

And, if you're getting ground down to far. Ask yourself  Is this worth the price I'm paying? Couldn't you make your living doing what you love or at least doing what you love on your own time and making your bread another way that doesn't compromise your soul as an artist?

A bit about these illustrations. Both of these designs were purchased by the San Diego Zoo and printed on a bunch of tee shirts. I'm proud of both of these and they represent some of the good work that we did at Jack's. Both of them exhibit the hand stippling technique that I developed specifically with an eye towards printing on tees.

FAIR USE NOTICE

THIS BLOG CONTAINS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL THE USE OF WHICH HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN SPECIFICALLY AUTHORIZED BY THE COPYRIGHT OWNER. AS A JOURNALIST, I AM MAKING SUCH MATERIAL AVAILABLE IN MY EFFORTS TO ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF ARTISTIC, CULTURAL, HISTORIC, RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL ISSUES. I BELIEVE THIS CONSTITUTES A 'FAIR USE' OF ANY SUCH COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL AS PROVIDED FOR IN SECTION 107 OF THE US COPYRIGHT LAW.

IN ACCORDANCE WITH TITLE 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107, THE MATERIAL ON THIS SITE IS DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PROFIT TO THOSE WHO HAVE EXPRESSED A PRIOR INTEREST IN RECEIVING THE INCLUDED INFORMATION FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL CAN BE REMOVED ON THE REQUEST OF THE OWNER.

Landscape Painting - Craft

Oil painting is a craft. Like carving , clay working, writing a sonnet or any other activity one has to work at mastering. One of the reasons I write this blog is to support and further the craft of Painting.

Does this mean that painting isn't one of the highest of arts?

Definitely not. Only movies and music have an equal power to move us to great emotion. A painting can grab you and before you know it you're ensconced in it's reality, transported to another space, way of being, or seeing.

"Passing Storm"  (8x10) by M Francis McCarthy

For an artist to achieve even a fraction of the potential natively inherent in the form of painting, requires true diligence. Hours of work and study must be expended. The only fuel that can sustain an effort of this magnitude is passion.

Minimal effort will yield shallow results at best. You may be a hobbyist or perhaps just an art explorer. No worries mate, that's fine. If painting is anything it's fun. Or should be. Not every thing we do in our lives has to be considered work.

"Passing Storm"  (5x7) by M Francis McCarthy

Oil painting is my work though and I do it every day for 4 to 6 hours. By that I mean actual brush on board painting. I cannot say I've always approached my painting so consistently. When I first got to New Zealand I was coming off 27 years of full-time labor. I needed a break and I had a great time. Now I'm hitting it hard as..

Examples of the great craft and art of Landscape Painting are easy to find. As are tutorials and instruction geared towards the nuts and bolts craft of creating oil paintings on canvas or board. 

You tube alone is a vast resource. Seeing painting as a craft is a great way to improve and also keeps you from falling in to the amateur/layperson trap of thinking any old crap can equal art. 

BTW Even good abstract work exhibits craft so don't think of abstract art as an escape route (for the lazy though, many do think that way).

Look at your work. Does it stand up as something solid? Will it support the weight of repeated viewing by the interested and disinterested? Even if you are a hobbyist working on your stuff only part time, you can bring the pride of doing something well, to what you do. 

It might mean watching one less TV show or spending more on art supplies than you'd rather. Ultimately this world only pays back if some effort has been extended.

About today's painting "Passing Storm": I painted this last year and though I've sold the 5x7 I still have the larger painting in my studio. 

This ones all about the sky and I enjoyed painting the clouds in freely in both paintings. Also I wanted to contrast the cool grayish sky against the warm rusts and golds of late summer grass.

Cheers,

Drawing - Trying, Failing, Trying Again

Drawing well's not easy. It's easier to trace photos, crib styles and manipulate images with digital media. 

So, why do it?

Training you're eye and hand to cooperate also trains your brain to regard the world in front of your vision more critically. An awesome skill to have but in acquiring this skill, you will fail at it. I did and still do all the the time. 

Some artists make it seem so easy. Nearly effortless.

It's not like that for me. I must try and fail and try again until I can at least walk away knowing I gave it my best shot. Still when you get it right or most of it right, it feels awesome.

"Hamlet" by M Francis McCarthy

When I was young we had no choice if we wanted to make pictures. Even the Xerox copiers weren't that readily available till the late seventies. I love copiers by the way. Sure to be a post about them at some point.

I interject a lot of drawings on this blog that's mostly about painting because I feel drawing is the absolute best foundation for any artist. This blog is like my secret box I share of drawings, paintings and dreams. I like to write about and show pictures of stuff I love now or loved back in the day.

Also, I have progressed to a certain level as an artist and I enjoy teaching what I've learned and giving back something to a universe I'm grateful to be a part of with you.

If you're working at your art. Don't give up when it's gets difficult and don't be hard on yourself. Don't compare your work to other artists unfavorably either. Cut yourself some some slack there. You must work at it and never fear failure. If your not having some failures you can be sure your not doing it right or your not trying hard enough.

A word about "Hamlet". The reference for this illustration came out of an old book I acquired. He was drawn back in 1990. At that time I was really fixated in trying to replicate the feel of my pencil drawings in ink. His torso was distorted on purpose. Seems silly now in the age of easy Photoshop distortions. But back in 1990 I was into it. This was inked with a rapidograph or several rapidographs.

Cheers,

Landscape Painting - Mystery

We need mystery in  a good landscape painting. What could be less interesting than a painting of a sunny day with birds and a big sun in the sky?

How to go about it? 

That's a great question. Certainly less is more as a way of painting would be a good start.Less detail, less rendering and simplified color. 

Often creating a good landscape painting or any work of art can be more of a process of removal more than addition. Getting lost, then found.

"Early Morning Field" (6x9) by M Francis McCarthy

I try to use a minimal amount of strokes in my paintings. Lately I've been becoming more aware of the presence of the illustrator in my work.

Illustrating mystery into a painting is more difficult that just painting in a less controlled way.It seems that implication not illustration is the name of the game.

If mystery in painting gets your juices flowing. Tonalism is the way to go. 

Tonalism is all about that mysterious time of quiet twilight, when the air is still and all you hear are the crickets. The sky is golden light and in the shadows you can just make out the lush greens of life.

To achieve more mystery in your work: darken your pallet down a key or as I'm rediscovering you can actually tone your paintings with an oil glaze after they are dry to get some awesome effects. Also you can simplify your brushwork by using a larger brush and less brush strokes.

Landscape Painting - Beauty You Can't Fake It...

After yesterdays scary bear, I'm thinking we'll get into beauty today.

In 1990 when I did that bear, I was 25 years old and still occasionally buying comic books. As a young artist I was far more interested in clever, coolness than beauty. 

As the years have passed, more and more I've been attracted to the beautiful in art.

As today's title states. You cannot fake beauty. 

Something can be clever, cool, striking even but to be beautiful. It must be well crafted and work on sound artistic principles.

"By the Shore" (6x9) by M Francis McCarthy

It may be true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but it is also true that this truism is often invoked to defend second rate art or cleverness disguised as art.

After years of being clever eventually, as an artist I had to decide was sort of art that I wanted to leave in this world. 

I want to make pictures that bring folks some insight, rest and comfort. That's not all that's going on but it is definitely a big apart of what I'm after.This goal is strongly supported by trying to achieve beauty in my work.

A bit about today's painting. It was done after a trip my wife made to visit me in California before we were married. 

The summer was scorching hot at that time in California except on the coast where were touring. There, it was blissfully foggy,nice and cool. That's reflected in the painting too I hope.

This painting exhibits a strong Tonalist pallet and was an early attempt at using a Tonalist vocabulary in my painting. 

The 6x9 size is due to my fixation on the golden mean as a painting proportion. I stayed with that proportion well into my New Zealand painting career. We'll get more into proportions later. They are fascinating with the golden mean being especially so.

If you're a student, I recommend looking at and dissecting some work you consider beautiful. Create some yourself. It actually feels great to try.

Cheers,

Drawing - Ink

Rendering your nice pencil drawing in ink has gotta be one of art's great challenges. Just hard unyielding lines to reproduce what was soft and subtle in penciled grays in two colors white and black. 

That's right, two. You've got to think of white as a value not just black ink on white paper. These days doing ink work in the computer is a breeze. In Photoshop you just hit the X key to switch back and forth between the two.

In the real world all your white over black ink solutions are far more messy. I've used white ink (mostly sucks) white gouache (ok) and white out (so,so) at various times. 

I'm sure they still sell scratch board too. Scratch board is coated with a white clay. After inking on it you can then scratch away your ink from the surface revealing the white clay below. Scratch board is messy too and requires tons of discipline. I'd say if your into that look, use a computer with a graphics tablet.

"Mad Bear" by M Francis McCarthy

This bear was done in back 1990 and used by Motobuilt for stickers and other stuff. Motobuilt was one of the earliest custom skateboard truck makers. They are gone so I'm not finding lots of good links for you, sorry.

The owner and I disagreed about the number of claws for this illustration  I wanted four. He said "they actually have five". I said "I ain't changing it. take it or leave it."

Ah, the pre-hired gun days of artful independence. I changed plenty after I started slinging my art gun for good ol' Jack Nightingale.

Anyway back to Ink and Inking. This bear was done with rapidographs. I liked inking with those because you got a constant ink line that was waterproof India ink. Felt pens then and now gave iffy results. I always found their line quality lacking for anything except quick cartoons, sketching or doodles.

The biggest issue with rapidographs is that they produce a uniform line that can be boring if not used right. Also the effing things clog like crazy requiring you to take them apart and clean them. Hopefully without bending the delicate wires on the thinner pens like the .0, .00 and the .000.

BTW I couldn't help but do some subtle toning on this bear in Photoshop in a layer below my line-work. It's fun to freshen up some of these old drawings and share them. Hopefully you all are enjoying seeing this part of my artistic journey too.

Cheers,

Landscape Painting - Don't Over Paint

Here is one I have to tell myself all the time.

Don't over paint.

I like to plan out my paintings. I take pictures, do drawings and paint a small color sketch.

Then I project my drawing up onto my board and trace it with charcoal. After that I finish that drawing with a brush and sienna and black. This functions as my under painting.

The process is the same for the 5x7's and their larger brothers. One difference between them is that I draw the scene with charcoal directly unto the 5x7 board while I project unto the larger. Also I do only one color layer on the 5x7's and up to three or more on the large version of the painting.

Day's End (9x12) by M Francis McCarthy

Once in a while. I like my 5x7's better than their larger brothers. I enjoy their simpler forms and open brushwork  

I sometimes have a tendency going back to my earliest drawing days, to over render forms and over delineate the details. I call this activity being "the robot". I'm a better painter than a robot so I watch for it.

Day's End (5x7) by M Francis McCarthy

We all have our crosses to bear as individual artists.

How do I address mine? 

The only way I know how, by painting a lot and looking, painting and criticizing. Always trying for better. 

I also study the work of artists I admire and try to absorb some of their practice into mine where it's relevant and possible.

Every artist has their own way to their unique vision. 

Sometimes it's good to strike a balance between what you know and what you should know. Question your assumptions a bit once in awhile. If you were right about everything you though was good in your art, all the time... 

Wouldn't it be better?

Cheers,