Joseph McGurl - 10-12-09
October 12th, 2009
“Daybreak Sail” 24″x36″ Oil on Canvas
Available at J. Russel Jinishian Gallery, Inc.
I first read about Joseph McGurl’s paintings about 10 years ago in an American Artist article about a group of painters who traveled to France to paint together. I have always been captivated by his work and as you can see it is of the very highest quality. One of the things I find intriguing about his work is that he approaches it in a more academic manner. As I have mentioned in my post on Sarah Lamb, this manner of painting has regained steam in the past twenty years and the work that is being produced is astounding. To see a short demo of Joseph’s approach you can go to his “Works in Progress” page on his site. If you are interested in exploring artist (both past and present) who paint this way you can also visit The Art Renewal Center. You will never make it through all the paintings on that site but it is sure worth trying! The Art Renewal Center also has several pages of articles on the revival of classical realism and articles on “What is art?”.
What I like about “Daybreak Sail”
It glows - Which is very appropriate for a sunset and it is also one of the reasons they are so hard to paint. If you have ever tried to take a photo of a sunset you realize that it never really works out because sunsets glow and photos do not. The layering process that Joseph uses (and a excellent handling of values and colors) makes this painting glow. I would love to see it in person.
Drawing - As I read information in Josephs biography section on how he learned to paint I noted that he does all of his large scale paintings not from photos but from smaller paintings he does on location. You can’t do that if you can’t draw well.
Patience - There are not many who can paint this way. I really appreciate the patience involeved in paintings using layers. It is a testimony to McGurls integrity as an artist in a day and age where often volume is valued over quality.
Look and Enjoy!
