About Painting Perceptions

Great perceptual painting is not only painting from observation but also involves the use of memory, invention and inspiration from art history. Perceptual painting is painting life from a personal vision and experience not just recording appearance. As Cézanne said, “Painting is nature seen through a temperament.”

I am Larry Groff, a landscape and cityscape painter living in San Diego. After painting for about 30 years I’ve often felt discouraged that perceptual painting has often gotten less attention in the major art publications, online venues and art world in general compared to conceptually-based artists. Eventually I asked myself, “why not start a blog devoted to modern painting done from life?”

There are magazines, like American Artist, which has articles about some very good contemporary realists working from life but many of the articles lean towards a more conservative and non-modern style. There are blogs and forums on the web which focus more on academic realism or photorealism but there is little to be found in magazines or blogs that specifically focuses on perceptual painting with a contemporary modern sensibility. This blog aims to correct that problem.

My interests tend to be more with landscape, and this blog at least initially will probably reflect that, but still-life and figurative work certainly is just as relevant. I hope to have articles about painters working today whose work evolves from this long tradition of painters working from observation: Corot, Constable, Monet, Cézanne, George Bellows, Charles Hawthorne, Edwin Dickinson, Antonio Lopez Garcia, George Nick, Lennard Anderson, and many more. Some people might question why I also include painters who might work from photographs, drawings or memory and don’t strictly work from life. My answer to them would be that I’m primarily interested in great painting however it was made or whatever the subject might be. I see the focus of this blog to be paintings that have a look of life and not the look of photography, fantasy, memory or complete abstraction. However, great perceptual paintings might have some or all of these aspects. I’m not a “perceptual purist” by any means.

I’m not a scholar or particularly good writer, I’d rather be painting. I’m certainly no art critic, I hate dense modern art speak but I do feel there is a need for good writing about painting from the painter’s perspective. My hope for this blog is to encourage other painters or art lovers to submit articles, reviews, interviews and what ever else may be of relevant interest. I would love to see it evolve into a useful resource and community of like-minded people.

In practical terms I hope to use this blog to not only talk about other painters who work from observation but also to discuss anything related to painting from life. I plan to have articles and reviews as well as interviewing painters, interview podcasts, video when possible and relevant, articles on technique, reviews of painting supplies, and anything else I or anyone else might come up with.

Please feel free to comment with any suggestions or ideas, I welcome your feedback.

Larry

(revised slightly – 2/16/10 – LG)