Robert Genn's Twice Weekly Letter
Insight and inspiration for your artistic career.

Dear Artist,

Yesterday, Marsha Chatman wrote, "I'd like to know what value or prestige is given to works done on paper compared to oil on canvas. Here in Italy, art on paper seems to be a second-class citizen and considered mainly preparatory. What about the accuracy, confidence, freshness and delicacy that paper requires? Do you think it's because people are simply unable to do quality works on paper?"

Thanks, Marsha. Anyone who has accepted the challenge of watercolour knows how tough it is to get that fresh, unlaboured look that the medium asks. I've watched perfectly sane folks with high intentions become emotionally unhinged, throwing ripped Whatman into the dumpster.

While artistically sensitive folks may treasure paper art because of its difficulty and sensitivity, the general public often doesn't. Fluctuating with the times, public devaluation has come about for several reasons. With all the technology around these days, paper art doesn't always look handmade. Recently, the flooding of the market with inexpensive photo-lithos, photocopies and giclees has cast a negative light on all things paper. The downward pull has been felt by all. Even the repro-makers have fought the trend by printing on canvas. Then there's the business of getting the artist or others to put a few juicy strokes here and there to make a print more like an "original." When mild deceit enters, mild distrust arises.

The perceived prestige of oil on canvas is based on a rich tradition. It was good enough for Rubens, Rembrandt and Renoir. Funnily, acrylic, even though those guys never heard the word, currently gets away with similar glory. Probably a better binder, acrylic's only problem is it's not oil. Everyone knows oil is expensive. An oil well in the back yard is almost as good as a Rembrandt at auction.

We need no snobbery or pecking order by media. We of the brotherhood and sisterhood need to go out of our way to praise and feature all works done with joy, integrity and quality, no matter what the support or medium. We need to educate and inform by showing enthusiasm for all art that is simply better. The three artists mentioned above used paper for preparation, mastered paper techniques, and saw paper's value and beauty. Their drawings and sketches hold thrills of their own. Let's go for the democratization of quality.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: "Their houses are new, but their prejudices are old." (Alexander Griboyedov, 1795-1829)

Esoterica: In our daily quest for joy, we ought not lose our respect for craft. When art comes too easily, it loses its art. "Watercolour painting is notoriously difficult," said Walter J. Phillips, "so much depends on directness and speed, and certainty of intention. Tentative or fumbling touches are disastrous, for they cannot be obliterated easily."

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