Lights in the Darkness: Fluorescent Paints

Every so often, I get these ideas for things I could try that might broaden my appeal as an artist to more collectors. The latest thought: blacklight paintings.

Photo by http://www.visualbliss.co.uk/UVPaint.htm (Colorful, huh?)

I've actually messed around with blacklight paintings years ago, in the early 1970s, I'd say. In fact, my first "real" painting was an apocalyptic vision with a setting sun. The painting was done in traditional acrylic paints, but the sun was finished in fluorescent red -- I wanted the sun to "pop." (I think I still have this painting, stashed away in a box in the garage).

Then I did a series of paintings in which I mixed fluorescent blue with normal white paint. I used this for sky color -- in normal room lighting, the sky was light blue, but under a UV lamp, the sky glowed a dark blue, muted by the non-fluorescent white that was added to the ultraviolet-sensitive blue. Thus, the paintings were "2-in-1" -- daytime scenes under room lights, nighttime scenes by blacklight.

I was never interested in the psychedelic LSD look of blacklight posters of the late 60s/early 70s. I believe some serious art could be made with fluorescent paints. Except for one problem:

Fluorescent paint isn't archival. UV radiation breaks the chemical bonds that form the fluorescent minerals, resulting in products that don't light up under blacklight. I'm not sure the paints last very long even when exposed to daylight coming in through windows or artificial lights at night. I'd hate to invest a lot of time and effort into works that could fade or change color within just a few years.

So -- if I proceed with the bunch of fluorescent paints I ordered, I'll have to make sure the paintings I make are fast and easy to do and placed in inexpensive frames, so I won't need to ask a lot of money for the pieces. The artwork would be original "posters" that may not be around in 25 years (probably much less).

We'll see what I come up with!

Courthouse Wash -- for Now!

Courthouse Wash is the title of my latest painting. That is -- it's the title for now. I was hoping to name paintings with more romanticized, poetic titles rather than descriptive ones. So -- title is subject to change without notice!

The size is 18" x 24" / 46cm x 61cm) and features a view in Arches National Park, UT in the late afternoon. Beautiful spot.

I'm not quite ready to sell this yet, at least not until I decide if I want to have prints made. It does appear on my website (which, of course, is either http://www.SouthwestSpaces.com or http://www.MarkJunge.com). Be sure and check it once in a while if you're interested in acquiring this piece.

Drawing (but NOT Quartering) Body Parts!

As you may or may not know, I offer a number of prints on Fine Art America. A few of them are of paintings I've done, but most are some of my many MANY photographs that I've played with a bit to make them look more like paintings.

And I'll have to admit -- I'm underwhelmed by the sales so far.

So...what to do, what to do?

Well, I'd like to be able to offer more prints of paintings, but frankly, I can't afford to pay for high-resolution digital images to be made of my artwork. And I don't have a large-format flatbed scanner.

My latest brainchild is to make some drawings of people, or at least parts of people, that I can scan on the equipment I do have. The drawings could be either in black-and-white, colored pencil, or -- more likely if I want color -- scanned as line drawings and then add color on the computer, so they'd be hybrid drawings + digital art.

These two drawings are details showing the joined hands of two young woman dancing. It's a subject that's near and dear to my heart since I've had a fetish for clasped hands and interlocked fingers (especially girls'/women's hands) for as far back as I can remember -- there's something terribly intimate and sexy about it. (I always loved the fact that in the many dance classes I've taken, many female students seemed to like holding MY hand(s) that way!)

I don't know if there's a market for this sort of thing or not. I've seen many art pieces in which the torso, heads and faces were executed in an artistic way. I'm thinking of other body parts besides hands, and...I dunno...maybe!

In addition, I understand there's a way to make the Fine Art America prints appear on my website. I'd like to figure out how to do that. It's hard to say if it would help, but I doubt it would hurt!

Once again -- stay tuned. Oh, and by the way -- my website URLs are SouthwestSpaces.com and MarkJunge.com.

Thoughts on Some Gallery Artists' Receptions

Last night I attended three art gallery receptions in Palm Springs, CA. One of those was for an artist I actually know; the other two I stumbled upon but decided to check 'em out.

The artist is Carrie Graber (www.CarrieGraber.com). She paints architectural details and interiors, often with a female in the scene who looks an awful lot like her. ☺

This is one of Carrie's paintings. It's realistic, yet she somehow achieved a look that would allow the piece to fit into contemporary homes or offices (unlike MY paintings, which are modeled after 19th century -- or older -- artwork). Most of her paintings seem very light and airy, even this nighttime scene. Her work is detailed but uncluttered which I believe is partly what gives her paintings that open look. They're quite pleasing to look at and would fit anywhere.

I noticed Carrie framed her paintings in a simple, natural-wood (pine? maple? ??) tone -- not a wide molding at all. I also noticed artwork in the other galleries I visited were framed the same way. And ANOTHER artist I know and like, Mary-Austin Klein (www.maryaustinklein.com), uses similar frames for HER pieces!

Clouds Over East Mojave             Mary-Austin Klein

(I love the zen-like feeling of Mary-Austin's art -- realistic, almost photographic; yet, uncluttered, lots of open space as with Carrie's work).

You can see the kind of molding I'm talking about here on Mary-Austin's paintings:

Again -- very simple, minimal blonde-colored wood molding. The grain is visible when you see it up-close.

All this made me think (OMG -- he's thinking!): is this a trend in framing contemporary art? Is this something I need to consider doing? And -- do I need to think about simplifying my painting and go for "zen realism"?

Don't know, don't know. I still love the works of the 19th century American Hudson River School painters and the drama they often portrayed. But I like Carrie's and Mary-Austin's look, too. And I'll bet they sell better in today's art-buying taste!

Some things I have to think about. (I should attend more gallery openings, too!)

Matins

I'm not sure if my latest painting is at a crossroads as far as what I'll be painting in the days ahead...

It's not exactly a desert landscape, and there's a human in the view! Still -- I like the results, but I'd have to do some serious thinking about how to include humans in the vast "wastelands" of the desert landscape.

In addition, conceiving of this image, and executing it, took longer than usual. I may have to increase the price to compensate!

Anyway, this is Baldwin Lake at the Los Angeles County Arboretum, Arcadia, CA. If you were a fan of "Fantasy Island," you've seen this lake as the "lagoon" that "Da plane! Da plane" supposedly landed in -- although, as you can see, it's much too small to land a plane here. (The Queen Anne House, the white-with-red-gingerbread trim structure Mr. Rourke used as his headquarters, is off to the right out of the field of view).

The painting is a combination of reality and fantasy. The Arboretum isn't open when the sun rises, so I've never seen the place with the backlighting I've depicted. Peacocks do roam the grounds, but they tend to remain near the entrance -- a good brisk walk off to the left. And I've never seen a young lady in a gauzy white dress standing there like this.

In addition, the lake's appearance goes back to 1997. Most of the papyrus plants (the green "pom-poms") seem to have died off. Also the curved palm tree on the right actually curves away from the lake, not toward it, and it's tall enough so the fronds should not even appear in the painting.

In any case, this is an idea I've had in my head for many, many years -- something tropical with exotic birds and an attractive young female (well, I assume she's attractive!) with my favorite color harmony -- yellow-green-blue. And the aquatic papyrus looks so tropical (African, in fact -- they grow along the Nile River from Egypt to Uganda and Tanzania).

I'll probably put the painting up for sale eventually. First, I'd like to see how prints of the image do.

Galleries...What to Do, What to Do?

I took a little trip to Palm Desert yesterday to run some errands...do some stuff I can't do here in the hi desert. One of those errands was to traverse El Paseo (a mile-long shopping district that's supposedly the equivalent of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills) and see what's the latest with the art galleries there.

El Paseo, Palm Desert, CA   (Image by City of Palm Desert)

Well, let's see...some of the galleries I knew were gone -- out of business, I assume. A few other galleries moved around...not sure, but I think they downsized to lower square-footage spaces. Some of the places I remember are still there, and there were a few newer galleries, too, giving it a go.

What I also noticed was the continuing shift toward contemporary art. I didn't see much classical representation artwork, which -- of course -- that's the kind I do. With two exceptions, I didn't see any galleries on El Paseo where I thought I would fit.

Another thing -- seems like these days, I get feelings of discomfort just from being in galleries. I was handing out business cards and promotional postcards to a few of the galleries, but y'know -- I've had enough bad experiences with galleries (including one on El Paseo -- he's still there, by the way) that I'm still not sure I even want to go with them.

The balance of power definitely favors them. Galleries are so used to doing things a certain way (and it's worked for them) that artists like me really have no leverage. Consignment only. Contact them a certain way, even at a certain time of the year. Exclusivity rights -- artists can't show anywhere else within a defined region. No real contracts spelling out everyone's rights. And essentially being at their mercy.

Their cut is anywhere from 40% to 60% of the retail price of the art. Lots of hoops to jump through, and then they may take more than the artist can afford; at least, until the artists become "hot stuff," which tends to be unlikely.

So-o-o...I guess I'll have to continue to find other ways of selling art. Don't know what yet -- I feel like I've tried everything -- but I may have to try those same things somewhere else.

I'll keep painting and then storing the paintings until the right opportunities come along. I have to minimize these art-biz gambling losses -- I've lost too much already.

And, of course, I'll keep hoping that the economy will improve so people will return to buying "luxury" goods like art.

Painting in 2015

Alright...Now that we're three days into 2015, I guess I need to start thinking about what I'm gonna paint this year.

I wish I didn't have to be concerned with making money at art. But I need to. My Social Security doesn't bring in enough, and we don't have enough $$$ in our IRA accounts to last very long -- a few years at the most.

And the fact is -- while traditional/classical landscapes DO sell, My research shows they don't sell really well. Nowadays, art in general isn't selling, let alone for a relatively unknown artist-dude like me.

Not being negative here -- I'm facing the facts and being real. Sometimes in business, one must re-evaluate what it takes to make it all work.

This is a painting by Czechoslovakian artist Alphonse Maria Mucha. The style (Art Nouveau) is a little too dated for me, but it's colorful, playful, I (think I) could do similar work, and maybe it would sell better than what I do now. And I believe I could be happy doing it, so it's not like I'd be "selling out" or "not following my passion."

Fruit, Alphonse Maria Mucha, 1897

Another possibility might be a much more dramatic, but realistic, version of landscapes, similar to what one might see as a background in a sci-fi video game or movie. I can't show examples of what I have in mind do to copyright violation issues, but if I ever make some images in this genre, you're see them here.

Finally, I need to find a way to produce scenes that are less expensive -- the simpler style of Mucha would help with that -- less time spent on painting details -- and I may need to give up on the labor-intensive use of transparent glazes, which is a bit like doing the same painting over and over and over again because I paint in multiple layers when I use glazes. I love the stained-glass look of glazes, but I have to ask more $$$ for my paintings because they take much longer to do.

Prints would be another option -- I just need to find a way to make high-resolution, but inexpensive, digital files of the paintings, something I don't have the means to do now.

Well, in any case, 2015 is gonna hafta be the year I sell art -- more of it for less with a different look -- either a little or a lot different. meanwhile, I'll continue to paint the traditional work as a hobby -- works I'll be proud to hang on my own walls!