tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post6696282457710454501..comments2024-03-28T09:25:25.716-04:00Comments on Gurney Journey: Part 2: Abbey's Advice to a Young ArtistJames Gurneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01870848001990898499noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-28803336112727986972018-07-16T12:10:51.933-04:002018-07-16T12:10:51.933-04:00I'm late to this, but great post and comments....I'm late to this, but great post and comments. I was diligently filling 5x7 sketchbooks, then read how larger ones are less limiting, but couldn't make carrying that 9x12 a regular habit. Better small sketchbooks than none at all!<br />Thanks James for being a stellar Pilgrim.Judy P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09176284042670900772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-41450393999246579842013-06-27T09:58:06.085-04:002013-06-27T09:58:06.085-04:00Thanks, everyone.
John, many Abbey images from Ya...Thanks, everyone.<br /><br />John, many Abbey images from Yale Art Gallery's collection are scanned and available online, but I don't think they've gotten to the sketchbooks yet. You can visit them and see the originals if you give them enough warning in the Prints and Drawings room.<br /><br />Tom, I think you're right, the craft and skills should be at the foundation, especially when the aesthetic rationales are constructed to justify a poorly equipped practitioner.<br /><br />Margo, David, and Simone, thanks, glad you're sketching a lot.<br /><br />Though Simone, I'm not much of an evangelist--more of a pilgrim perhaps. I need to be inspired by the greats like Abbey and Sargent as much as anyone does.<br /><br />Krystal, thanks for those great quotes from Virgil Elliott. I had a chance to meet and talk with him at the Portrait convention, and he's a nice guy and an amazing artist.James Gurneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870848001990898499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-40723756458237179932013-06-27T09:48:38.553-04:002013-06-27T09:48:38.553-04:00I love this post, this series of posts. Thanks for...I love this post, this series of posts. Thanks for it - especially considering that a modern-day book with high quality reproductions on Abbey is yet to be produced.<br /><br />What especially resonated with me about these quotes is that it represents a very (and sadly) apt critique of the way art is taught at most colleges and universities, in my experience at least. That is, putting a discussion and focus on aesthetics before a mastery of tools and technique.Tom Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04770238579550226268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-10309813449637748842013-06-27T07:23:26.780-04:002013-06-27T07:23:26.780-04:00The thing I appreciate most about the blog, James,...The thing I appreciate most about the blog, James, is that you constantly highlight sketching and the cultivation of the sketching habit. I honestly think that not sketching, for an artist, is a vice. Not that I am as devoted as I should be. But you are having an evangelistic effect on me. <br /><br />This post also highlights for me a pervading attitude I find all too often, which is that principles and skills will only inhibit creativity. The truth is, as Abby brings out, that principles and skills, once learned and maintained actually release creativity.Robert J. Simonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06799208093956328662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-24896666272637662802013-06-27T00:24:47.581-04:002013-06-27T00:24:47.581-04:00I keep a sketchbook in my car, but don't use i...I keep a sketchbook in my car, but don't use it often enough. I always take a sketchbook with me when I go for a walk or on a hike, but again that's not often enough. I will commit myself to sketch more often!David Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01303137335737257197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-77644801460708813532013-06-27T00:13:06.816-04:002013-06-27T00:13:06.816-04:00good advice to all today whether they are studying...good advice to all today whether they are studying in an atelier or art school or just enamored of their sketchbooks. If you don't have a sketchbook in your pocket or your bag, what is wrong with this picture!Margohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06080978332411185223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-42886819600779096552013-06-26T18:25:50.550-04:002013-06-26T18:25:50.550-04:00Great post.
Are there images from Abbey's sket...Great post.<br />Are there images from Abbey's sketchbooks available for online viewing? (I love how the Fogg Museum at Harvard has a lot of Sargent's sketchbook drawings avail. online)John Fleckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15541386500334276297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-69815329385119459512013-06-26T17:06:23.553-04:002013-06-26T17:06:23.553-04:00He says it best here: "As the saying goes, &#...He says it best here: "As the saying goes, 'Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains." So it is, and so it should be. Avoid shortcuts. Avoid the frame of mind that urges people to seek them. The quality of the work, the degree of satisfaction derived from it, the sense of accomplishment, and the respect of one's peers are all diminished in direct proportion to the degree to which one has resorted to shortcuts. Art is a field that existed prior to the Industrial Revolution, and it has always depended on extreme degrees of dedication, mental discipline, and great pains in the creation of its finest examples. This is the only legitimate reason it is so highly prized. No one who truly cares about art would risk cheapening it. No one who would cheapen it deserves to be an artist"-Virgil Elliottkrystalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11943824077845596208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-60106030879190471482013-06-26T16:46:32.318-04:002013-06-26T16:46:32.318-04:00LOVE this Post! I agree! I'm currently reading...LOVE this Post! I agree! I'm currently reading Virgil Elliott's "Traditional Oil Painting" book and he says "It was once understood that an artist should be capable of painting ANY subject with mastery. An education in art did not neglect one subject in favour of another. One's specialty was decided after the general art education was complete, and the choice was made on the basis of interest, not of limitation." <br />I asked months ago where all these people who want to be illustrators/concept artists were in my life drawing classes/ workshops around town. I was also told not to regard the fine artists of the past so highly in a class I walked out of. So thankful that I had my head screwed on correctly. I would LOVE to live in a world where everyone observes from life, draws from life and creates. The mindset of continuous study and visiting various museums should be encouraged and not seen as 'old hat'. Also the understanding that all of this takes time. People are in such a hurry (maybe it's a reflection of our culture today?) I believe it was Leffel who said that he believes that we get the art that we (as a culture) deserve (in terms of sophistication and quality).krystalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11943824077845596208noreply@blogger.com