Detail from page 6 of the sketchbook, “Holbein 10P #1”.
To start with, I have been looking for pictures of people walking in front of window spaces. While looking I a came across Marvin Newman.
Marvin Newman Wall Street II, 1956
This image just floored me. There is a series of works Newman took at this location with this light. Just loved it. I wanted to try to paint something along this line.
Duke St, London - 2022, Francesco Gioia
So, I’m looking for source material, and then I came across this image by Francesco Gioia.
This image is perfect. Its exactly what I wanted to paint. I can’t do it better.
Non-Attributed WW2 photo
It makes me feel a lot better to know how closely everyone is looking at everyone else. That is what my interpretation of the meaning of art is. A visual communication of ideas.
For a long time I felt shame about ever taking from someone else. And taking a composition from someone is kind of like stealing. But if you look at it another way, its also kind of like paying respect to the person you are stealing from. Your taking the time to understand what they did.
Study
And… if you have any matured artistic style of your own, the end result is not going to be a direct steal anyways. It becomes something new.
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