oil on canvas panel, 12 x 8″, July 28 2018
Any attempt to draw every single log wood be academic. There must be a way of painting that suggests, or represents something visually complex; that gives the idea or impression, or implies whatsoever; that speaks to the mind of the perceiver, and says, Here are stacked a great many logs, each one different from the next, all separate yet massed together, and that doesn’t involve drawing.
This is a problem for the artist but a problem that was solved by the ancient Greek painter, Apelles of Kos. He was painting a horse and wished to represent its foam (in Greek mythology, Poseidon created horses out of sea foam) but was unsuccessful. He flew into a rage and threw the sponge he was using to clean his brushes at his painting, and the mark made by the sponge produced the effect of the horse’s foam.
peter robinson fine art 