On Beauty

An Artist Statement - Inspiration for my artwork

The last 12 months I have been letting myself be loosely inspired by what ever

imagery or compositions I have felt compelled by. This has been in the interest of

getting myself back into the practice of making art and not dwelling too much on

what messages I wanted to convey or what aesthetics I wanted to be confined by.

Instead I took the pressure off and just did what I was inspired enough by to keep

drawing until I reached a body of finished work I was happy with. Though now I feel

like I am starting to finally see a steady flow of consistencies in my inspiration and

my method. It’s not dramatic or controversial or even a technical breakthrough, but

simple and calm and thoughtfully composed. And I am happy with that because the

subject matter I feel most inspired by is simply illuminating universal beauty. And in

effect I think my work then is cultivated in a place of beauty and therefore the final

aesthetic reflects that sense of calm beauty.

I’m not talking about conventional beauty at all however. Though I find glamour and

fashion subjects all so beautiful the concept I see is far more expansive than just

that.

Beauty is not caused. It is.

This is a quote from a book I loved and has stayed in my mind ever since reading it:

“History of Beauty” by Umberto Eco, a philosopher and cultural critic (What a dream

job) who hunts through and discovers the multifaceted nature of beauty and how it

evolves across time and in different societies. And it describes the profound

influences it has had on art, culture and the human perception.

Through historical evidence mainly from artwork throughout history, he explores the

ever changing beauty standards over time. He discusses the reasons where they

may be societal, cultural or even due to technological advancements which redefines

our standards of what is beautiful. Even the power of beauty and how it has often

been linked to social hierarchies to maintain their dominance. And the impact of

beauty on self-perceptions and how the psychological and emotional impacts of

beauty standards can have an effect and evoke response from individuals. But the

part which stays consistent is that Beauty is subjective. It is a common concept

which varies from each person and can be influenced by these factors, but the

values of what is beautiful can be considered different from one individual to another

because it is intuitive more than it is physical.

This is why I love to think about beauty and how it can be captured in an artwork and

perceived by the viewer. Beauty is depicted constantly throughout the world through

music, movies, photography, theatre and art. And audiences are hypnotised by it.

This is all through history and never ages and gets old. It’s all through cultures as

being entertaining or attractive, or is symbolic and has meaning.

When creating art you have a real advantage I feel to amplify this feeling of beauty.

As an artist you constantly train your eye to look for these compositions, light vs

shadow, colours, angles, gestures, detail. So i feel you have the opportunity to put

them all together how you like it and create to your best ability. To play on those

emotions and feelings you want to evoke.

I am attracted to very nuance romantic depictions of beauty like a soft colour

palettes, pursed lips and wind blown hair. But also striking bold beauty like a

dramatic colour palettes, bold eye contact and a strong engagement. Elements of

nature are hard to resist, even if it is that the natural lighting contrasts from being

very bright on one side of the face, to being dull and darker on the other side. I love

exploring skin tones this way, and also natural elements like leaves or petals which

form complicated shapes to capture the light in a unique way.

My method I have developed for drawing these artworks I’m sure is not uncommon,

however it feels natural and satisfying to use the harmony of the digital tools to

compliment my hand drawn images instantly because I am drawing directly into the

iPad. I am currently using a brush which I feel depicts the rustic and organic

aesthetic between a watercolour and paint, but I also like to leave it looking clean

and crisp so I align and tidy my work with some tools. I like to use the eyedropper

tool to take colours directly from a reference image so I can really get those natural

realistic colours our eyes might not pick up on, even the strange light flecks I like to

use as I feel like they have a purpose in how we read the overall image. I feel like

this method creates a realistic depiction of my chosen composition therefore evoking

these elements of beauty in the most natural way.

It is a surreal idea to create something from nothing, just from being inspired by

something beautiful. And I am aiming to communicate this in my own way so that

others can also enjoy the beauty in their own way.

Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.

From “History of Beauty” by Umberto Eco