Eric Alexander Santoli
  • HOME
  • BIO
  • PORTFOLIO
    • DRAWINGS
    • WATERCOLORS
    • OIL PAINTINGS
  • COMMISSIONS
  • TEACHING
  • LINKS
  • CONTACT
  • BLOG

-hanging a picture is a lot like painting a picture-

1/24/2015

0 Comments

 
   I recently had the task of hanging a painting over a fireplace in the gallery where I work.  I have hung work before for shows and so on, but it struck me that there's a correlation between hanging the work and making the work.  When I make a painting, I start with a general idea and work down from there.  It is a process of broad to narrow in many ways; from large painting strokes to small details.  The larger picture has to be pleasing before you can proceed.  This is also why many great works look great as a thumbnail as well as full size. 
Picture
"Nymphs and Satyr" William-Adolphe Bouguereau 1873 (Detail + Thumbnail)
Picture
    The general picture is the skeleton upon which the work is made and the same is true for hanging a work on the wall.  When I hung the work, I started with a generalized rough sketch of the dimensions and shapes, which is exactly how an academic painting starts.  Even the sketch itself has a form of beauty that I find compelling.
    After the dimensions are laid out in the sketch, then I went to the wall and measured off exact distances to place two hooks for each side of the painting.  The sketch proved invaluable at this point with all the measurements laid out.  I hung the painting and stepped back and realized the picture was tilted.  I was sure my measurements were correct, but it was definitely skewed.  My inner perfectionist wasn't happy so I took the painting off the wall and moved the left hook 1/4" up.  Re-hung the painting and found it was still wrong.  I went back and forth for twenty minutes and then realized that my measurements were perfect, but the fireplace was sloped.  This created a visual discrepancy and made it look like the fireplace was off kilter.  The painting ended up looking straight, without actually being straight.
     Just like with so many paintings, it's a back and forth battle to make the details look just right.  As Norman Rockwell once said,  "Sometimes they come easy and sometimes they come hard."  In the end I had to make the painting look like it was straight through an optical illusion.  And in the end, isn't that what painting is?  An optical illusion.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Categories

    All
    Academic
    Canvas
    Color
    Colorblindness
    Drawing
    En Plein Air
    Frames
    Motorcycles
    Music
    Oil Painting
    Pet Portraits
    Philosophy
    Portraiture
    Progress
    Reading
    Reviews
    Skateboarding
    Teaching
    Technique
    Varnishing
    Watercolor
    Writing

    RSS Feed

​​© ERIC ALEXANDER SANTOLI 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  • HOME
  • BIO
  • PORTFOLIO
    • DRAWINGS
    • WATERCOLORS
    • OIL PAINTINGS
  • COMMISSIONS
  • TEACHING
  • LINKS
  • CONTACT
  • BLOG