Level 2, Part 1

This is the first Part of the second level program. We noted in the first level, that most artists have more than enough technique which is what most courses are about. Many courses include some of the elements of design, though most artists are weak in this area. What is rarely if ever discussed, are process and content. In the first level we focused on process being a natural step forward from the area of technique. In this Level we focus more on content.

We also want to encourage confidence and independence as you mature as an artist. To this end we will encourage you to take a more proactive but still directed role in exploring the topics of this level.

Table of Contents

• Content Revisited
• Thematic Content
• Style of Expression

Content Revisited

To put it simply, your content is your form of personal expression. It is the sum of all things by which the world knows you as an artist. As with most things in life, the clearer they are, the easier they are to work with and for others to understand and relate to. We break individual content down into two areas, thematic content and style of expression.

Thematic Content

Often, we choose particular themes as the focus of our art. Examples include:

• Representational subjects. These include landscapes, seascapes, figures, portraits, buildings and countless other subjects. We may choose a very narrow focus such as dilapidated industrial buildings at night, forest glades with sunlight breaking through or ballet dancers at practice. The narrower the focus and the more extensively we explore it, the more likely it will become a signature statement for us at some part of our career.

• Social commentary. Many artist adopt themes around social issues such as gender statements, discrimination and minority rights. It helps to pick hot or current topics if you want to garner attention. The plight of coal miners at the turn of the twentieth century is unlikely to gain much attention unless it is used as the basis of some new or unusual form of presentation. To become a signature statement, such work should span dozens of images and months or preferably years of the artist's career.

• Topical concerns. These are subjects or topics that have a wide conceptual base, often with an attendant theory or manifesto. Much of the abstractionist art of the  twentieth century had some conceptual basis. Art of this sort often occurs as movements with a number of artists exploring their own understanding of the base ideas. Colour field painting of the 1950s and 1960s attracted many of the leading names of that time such as Barnett Newman, Kenneth Noland, Moris Louis, Mark Rothko, Helen Frankenthaler and Jules Olitski among others. Each had their own unique vision of what colour field painting might entail.

• Personal conceptual realms. Most artists adopt or perhaps more accurately, evolve a personal content. Such content will usually contain very explicit imagery and symbolism. Mondrian created a personal vocabulary and geometry for expressing colour relationships in his images. At the same time, he wrote extensively about the meaning inherent in his work. Whatever you choose as your personal conceptual basis, it should be clear to you, yet sufficiently impersonal or open that the viewer can be engaged by it and come to some understanding of it.

Whatever you choose as the thematic base for your art, it should be clear in your own mind. Confusion and lack of clarity about it will likely be a visible characteristic of your work.

Whatever you choose, it should be a strong interest, a passion in your life. You need this passion to energize your work and carry you through both the exciting moments and the dry times. You need it to carry you through series' of significant accomplishment and length.

Style of Expression 

This aspect of content refers to the characteristics associated with the personal look and feel you develop for rendering the thematic aspect of your work. It is more than the personal toolbox of technique you adopt or develop. It is the vocabulary of characteristics which speak the essence of your message. Using the four thematic topics above, we can give examples of  styles an artist might adopt.

• Representationalsubjects. For a landscape painter, their treatment of light may be a signature characteristic. It certainly is a powerful expresser of mood and feeling. In a recent National Gallery exhibition, we noticed that Clarence Gagnon consistently had his fore to mid-ground in shadow and the mid or background highlighted with warm afternoon light. The harshness of daily life in the foreground was softened and given a sense of hope by the distant, soft warmth.

  A portrait artist might choose harsh colours and coarse brush marks to reflect a severe or businesslike personality. He might become known for an uncompromising and biting assessment of his subjects.

• Social commentary. In representing the theme of oppression, the artist might use dark or cool colours to augment pictures or text that explicitly express a specific message. An overall tonal and sombre ground might characterize an entire series. Short, stabbing textural marks in the ground might be used to suggest physical abuse. The point is, every colour choice, every choice of shape, line or texture can either augment or detract from the message.

  By experiment or by examining the work of others, discover or develop a simple selection of techniques and forms of expression that you will use consistently through your work for the duration of the current series at least. Some may become lifelong. When you're confident of your technique, tools and language of expression, you are able to focus your energy on creating the strongest visual statement possible.

• Topical concerns. In this case, the artist decides what aspect of the topic they want to explore and its characteristics. Feminism was a topic of recent widespread interest. An artist may have chosen a dark sinister pallet with a lot of red to symbolize spilt blood. Linear patterns might have been chosen in the background to suggest barbwire or rope, symbolizing bondage. The idea is that particular colours, shapes and patterns might become a personal symbolism of key aspects of the topic and used effectively to create the desired mood.

• Personal conceptual realms. for your own personal concepts, you have a wide variety of elements to choose from in terms of preferred shapes, colours, textures and patterns and compositional arrangements of them. You have a wide variety of techniques available to express them. Do bright colours work best for the message and moods you want to convey or are tonal colours better? Does a flat image space suit the expression of your theme the best or do you want a deep sense of space as a characteristic of your form of expression? Do areas of flat colour or intricate texture best convey your message? When you put all this together for yourself, you will have developed a very unique personal style.