Sunday, July 11, 2010

The Legitimacy of Painting

She said children love to paint because it brings legitimacy to their work. Painting connects them to that long artistic tradition with the likes of Picasso, van Gogh and Matisse. Is that why I have such a hard time letting go of oils as a medium? I was after all taught that great artists paint in oils. You cannot call yourself a painter if you do not paint in oils. Even the artists I most admire, call themselves illustrators, not artists or painters. Is it because they feel the same way? That because they use watercolor or ball point pen that they are not worthy of the term artist? And why do I continue to struggle with oils, knowing I could much better results in the other mediums I have learned and love?