Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Odd Nerdrum

Neo Rauch and Odd Nerdrum are my two largest influences right now.  They keep me going when I don't have the time or energy to paint.  I have been studying the both of them when I have a moment, at work, after Sophia goes to bed.  I've tried to show her, but she tends to want  to get a little too close to the book...  I have a book that has some pretty decent images from his show in 2007 at the Forum Gallery in New York and Los Angeles. 

The image below doesn't even begin to show the extensive amounts of color he uses in a small area, or the roughness and texture he produces with his signature style.  I think at this point I've stared at the images in that small book for a few hours, and am just starting to understand what it is to build up color and texture.  I've started applying some of his technique to the figures in my paintings and am definitely pleased with the results so far.  I think what I enjoy most about his work, is how it is almost impossible to discriminate between layers.  There are points where you can tell what color is layered on top, but for the most part it seems that he sands down his paintings quite a bit, and scrapes off layers of paint.  Creating a very interesting and a very complex surface.  It's wonderful, but so very time consuming.  This leads me to Neo Rauch......

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