The secrets of mastery art from Old Masters.
He is looking at me from his self-portrait. Very slowly, he becomes more alive. I’ve been working on oil reproducing of Rembrandt self-portrait for three weeks now. Realizing that it’s almost impossible to make an absolute copy, so that you can look him in the eye and wince.
And then I put the final brush stroke in front of me the old man. He lost everything he had in his life, living somewhere with students. He has no home of his own, he lost his only sun, beloved Saskia left him even earlier. He has nothing and he has everything. Skill and ability to convey flesh and blood and soul in portrait so that Goosebumps run over the skin.
We look at the portrait of Rembrandt and wonder how is it possible in one small life a person could reach such heights? Paintings by Old Masters are amaze us with extreme technical skills and a certain sense of distinctive and sometimes haunting beauty. Creative flight and imagination, and skill at its highest point.
How to achieve this in our time?
This is what I want to discuss now.
Did the Old Masters have as we don’t, or was there something in their everyday life that we now lost?
Why do we need to set to ourselves such a high standard?
It seems to me that if I swap any other profession instead of an artist. The questions will not change.
How much time do you need to invest in your profession to grow both professionally?
Please note there is no known artist who would become famous without study and practice, no matter how gifted he might be.
Take for example the biography of any famous artist. Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso (cubism), Claude Monet (impressionism). History shows that if a person works hard on his art, he will succeed. There are no nuances or techniques in painting that anyone can’t master.
What helped them reach such heights? Dream, perseverance and hard work!
Goethe said, “ Whenever you think or believe that you can do something, take it up, because there is magic, grace, and power in action.”
INSTAGRAM artist_inessak
