greenhills art critique

The North Missouri Art Critique was held Saturday morning, April 3rd, 2010, in Marceline. Usually folks from Brookfeld, Trenton, Chillicothe, and North Central Missouri attend. That Saturday, the day before the Easter holiday, the twenty participants were mostly from Carrollton.






















This month's presenter shared how to critique your own work. (Click on triangle tab below each video to view it) Highlights from each video follow.

"What you got to do, you got to step back from yourself," Richard Johnson of Brookfield, "and judge the art as something that is not so attached to you. That is very difficult, because some of the time that's what you put into your art, it's lot of you."



"The rules or elements of art are partly based on the physiology of seeing. I put that on there, because there are rules of art. Partly, it's because of the way we see things, why things look realistic, and why they affect us in certain ways. It's partly of our biology. But, they come also from social and cultural influences, as well as our contemporary situation. There are so many things are rolled up into how we judge what we are looking at, as far when you see a piece of artwork."

"When I decide to critique my own work, first thing I ask, what is your impression? (This image) is taking me some where. The second thing, and many of you may know this technique, is I squint. What that does when you squint, you are taking out the detail, and you are making it into simplified values. When I do that (this image) still takes me somewhere. Next, what is the general quality of the design, the flow of the design? All these questions I am asking, a lot of times, these end up as part of your unconscious. They are in your head."

Pen and Ink (right) by Jim Jones of Dawn drew many comments about the speed, rhythm, and motion of locomotive.
(click to view 2 minute video)



Color photo (right) by Jan Leakey of Carrollton. Questions came up of where to place the signature. Mr. John-
son, "To the credit of the image, you can hear the sound of that waterfall." (Click on 3 minute video)



Oil painting (right) by Darrell Gardner of Marceline. In short video artist explained scraping a detailed background off. Nora Othic: "For me it is more about the back lighting, the fact that her hair is lit. A real good abstract pattern without it being a portrait of anyone." (Click on 2 minute video)



Watercolor (right) by Denise Belcher of rural Carrollton. Snow on rafters of her barn that she saw, when out feeding her horses. Strong composition. Lines dividing up the space. Difficulties of working in watercolor are admired. (click on 5 minute video)



John Wayne (right) by Chris Miller of Standish. Sculpture has its own set of criteria. Glossy finish. Sometimes weld mark are cleaned up first, but in this case it reminds us that it IS METAL, just like brush strokes tells us what a painting is made of. He used metal parts he had laying around his shop. Parts are not reshaped. He was commissioned to do this figure, and you can tell by his posture that he is in a conversation with someone. (click on 3 minute video, below)



Conte crayon (right) by Elizabeth Kruse of Carrollton. (Double click on image to enlarge.)
Her husband posed as she painted. It took him reading two Wall Street Journals for her to complete it. Comment on how some pastelists say they PAINT, other say they draw. The lighting is well done. His shirt is suggested by a few strokes. (click on 8 minute video)



Stained glass by Don Warford (right) of Carrollton. He claims the process it merely a mechanical one. Richard points out, "when you are making the art you have to determine what is important, whether or not you are being nit-picky about things, and in something like this, the actual finish, the way the glass is cut, the way it is put together, the way the cane is cut and soldered, is all a part of the ART. So, don't cut yourself short. Most people could do this." Good composition. (click on 3 minute video, below)


Adam Naming The Animals (right) by Nora Othic of Marceline. Richard: The thing about this painting is the flow of the lines. Nora spends lots of time putting her design together.She has this guy looking over here. She has all these (animals) looking over there. Pat: Look at the muscular of Adam and of the animals.(click on 3 minute video)





The critique ended with a delicious lunch prepared by NOMO members, who hosted the event at the Masonic Lodge in downtown Marceline. Following the meal, an art reception was given down the block at the North Missouri Art Gallery, for the Carrollton Artist Group Show.