-
Harley Brown – soft pastel artist
Those of you who follow my work may know, that this March marks 20 years since I created the website acrista.com and the Acrista Art brand was born. The first half of this period I spent mastering the soft pastels as a material and the artist who greatly influenced me during this time and was a sort of virtual mentor for me, was the pastelist Harley Brown. I came across him after subscribing to International Artist magazine, where Harley had regular articles, sharing wisdom on the artist’s life and priceless practical advices on the creative process. During this period, I acquired his two books: “Eternal Truths for Every Artist” and…
-
Quotes from “Alla Prima”, Richard Schmid
“The thing we label as talent is not a single ability. It is a complex mixture of motive, curiosity, receptivity, intelligence, sensitivity, good teaching, perseverance, timing, sheer luck, and countless other things.” “Serious painting is not something that can be learned casually. You must be willing to sacrifice many other things.” “I regard my disasters as invitations to learn more.” “Art happens in the mind of the person seeing them.” “Don’t reject difficult ideas simply because you fail to grasp them immediately. Put them on hold until you do, then decide. Many things in painting become clear only after considerable experience, and that takes time.” “The reason why painting remains…
-
“Art is not work; it’s playtime”
Months after leaving the tracks of the office work, I am starting to understand what it means to really enjoy what you do – in my case, to be a full-time artist. I might have a bias from a year and a half of editing, because lately I don’t have any need to express my emotions in words. and maybe this is because I feel purposeful and confident, owing to moving in the right direction… My thoughts are not scattered, they are actually quite arranged. due to the difference in the status quo (I don’t work in an office, but in a studio; and I communicate only with ‘colleagues’ whom…
