Here are two little paintings
that I recently finished. First is my MicroVisions piece which I call “Frightened
Monster”. The second painting, named “Night Knight”, was done for a quilt
project. Both paintings will be auctioned (the Knight painting as a part of the
quilt) and the money will go to the student scholarships.
Sometimes I wish these kind of scholarship projects existed when I was a
student, so that I could at least buy a proper oil paint, instead of having to
use the cheap little tubes of oil color manufactured in China, that I used to
buy in Prague, Czech Republic. But on the other hand, I often wonder if better
circumstances and more stimulating surroundings would help me become a better
artist…well, maybe…I don’t know. It’s also true that when things get tough, we
get to know our deeper Self and often get better and tougher, for if you are
not tough enough and always need somebody or something to lean on, despite of
all your great talents, you might not make it as an artist. In my opinion
talent and skill need to be accompanied by a set of other qualities within the
personality that have nothing to do directly with the artistic abilities,
things like perseverance, courage, a certain amount of boldness and even
stubbornness. One does not develop these qualities if the surroundings are too
supportive. On the other side, the lack of support can have a devastating
impact on the psyche, as we all know.
Anyway, that Chinese oil paint from Czech Republic was not that bad after
all. At least it had a very pleasant and natural smell that stayed with me
forever, and that I still associate with good old days marked by happy
enthusiasm, blessed lack of life and professional experience and above all my
burning love affair with painting.
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| Frightened Monster |
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| Night Knight |
Those are neat, I love the brush work.
ReplyDelete-Jeff
Been on a Ape binge recently with Lancelot Link and several documentaries, and that frightened monster is fantastic. Lovely work as always Petar.
ReplyDeleteThanks, guys!
ReplyDeleteReally great work Petar. I am curious about the size of the Frightened Monster painting.
ReplyDeleteAlso, your statement really hit home for me. I remember getting out of college looking for work, and the struggle I had to endure in those early days. Fortunately, things worked out well enough for me. As much as I would like to go completely freelance, I have a full time position as an illustrator and designer for a Museum in Chicago, with some additional freelance work on the side. When I look back at those early days, it seems that in addition to all of those characteristics you mentioned, I also benefited from a fair amount of luck - something young artists have no control over.
Anyway, excellent work Petar and I can't wait to see more.
Phil
Hi Phil,
DeleteFrightened Monster is 5 X 7 inch.
Yes, you are right, although I did not mention the concept of luck in my post, it is indeed an important element. But we hardly can control much of it, at least it seems so, and that is probably the reason I skipped it. Being born under a lucky star, or having a good karma, being lucky…is definitely important. But on the other hand, there is space for improvement, I believe. One has to invite luck into his life by being active, working hard, making clever decisions.
By the way, where can I see your work, Phil?
Hi Petar,
DeleteI don't have much of a presence online. However, I posted a couple images on deviant art that are pretty representative of the majority of my work. Since I work full time, I haven't really needed one, but it's something I should probably work on.
http://phil0923.deviantart.com/
I am a scientific illustrator of flora and fauna mostly - at least that is what I am always asked to paint. I work mainly in acrylic. It is not very creative work, but I guess I shouldn't complain. However, it is the main reason why I admire your work so much. There is so much creativity and fire in the way you paint, and your subject matter. In my work, the less creativity, the better.
The other half of my portfolio is graphic and exhibit design. So that means designing my illustration into a graphic panel that explains a little bit about the animal, and so on. My exhibit design work is mostly 3d models of museum spaces before they are constructed, etc.
In any case, your little paintings are gems, and the owners will be very lucky to have them.
Best,
Phil