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

-Camera Obscuras and Craftsmanship-

2/25/2014

0 Comments

 
I'm working to get the word out about this great product from Ancient Magic Art Tools.  There's no school like the old school and this is definitely the way to go in terms of visual experience.  This old technology, like any old photography, is much more beautiful than anything in our digital age.  My experience with camera obscuras, ambrotypes and tintypes has opened my eyes to the craftsmanship of these modes of visual interpretations.  

http://www.camera-obscura-lucida-shop.com/

http://KickCamera.com
0 Comments

-Give me work and I shall work-

2/18/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
I love working on commissions because it drives me to try as hard as I can to produce a refined product.  And as I work, I hone my process to try and find my own path.  I am completely unaware of anything except the translation of my idea to the canvas.  Being a paint brush for hire is very appealing to me, in terms of portraiture or any other subject because it is my job to create the image that hopefully will satisfy the patron.  It's all rather like a puzzle that needs to be solved or like being a detective using a process for discovery.  That is what really motivates me. 

0 Comments

-Paint Naturally and Like Super Meat Boy-

2/7/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
        I really appreciate well crafted paintings of other artists, but I always have a hard time appreciating my own work.  As a result, I form artistic technique crushes on artists and it drives me to obsessively learn as much about that artist as I can.  I do not think this is a terrible thing because I have learned a lot of history and painting techniques through this obsessive drive.  But lately, as a young artist, I feel like I am searching for techniques of my own.  It is dangerous to over think the artistic process (i.e, color usage, brush stroke, medium recipes) because over-thinking leads to hesitation, which is something that I wrote about in an earlier blog post.  
       The fear that is associated with making a "bad painting" is something that I know that I struggle with.  Truth be told, I want to make a beautiful painting every time I set out my palette.  This is the wrong mindset for creation because production needs to rule over all things.  Great composers of music churn out large volumes of music notation, not fretting about particulars in the beginning. And the same is true of great artists.  
        It may sound strange, but I encourage everyone to play the computer game: Super Meat Boy.  It is a game where you have to run through an obstacle course without touching any of the spikes or pits, which result in death.  The key to this analogy is that in Super Meat Boy, you have as many lives as you want and so there is no finite number that you need to obsess over.   You can die over and over until you reach the end of the obstacle course.  Once you reach your destination, the game replays all the deaths that your meat boy has gone through, knowing that only one of the meat boys makes it to the end. Painters can paint as many paintings as they want; the majority of paintings will fail, but getting back up and painting another and another and so on will produce the results.  It all comes down to the quantity over quality, especially in the early stages of a painting.  Be yourself, paint naturally, and learn to paint by painting.  And watch this super meat boy youtube vid.




0 Comments

    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