Table of Contents
Master Insights
Art is an intrinsically human process that requires a physical "touch," deep technical knowledge of chemistry (the Ufficio della Pittura), and a disciplined mindset. To succeed as a painter, one must move beyond digital shortcuts and embrace a path of humility, constant practice, and a respect for the materials that have sustained the Old Masters for centuries.
Hi, my name is Ricardo Lapin, I'm an active multidisciplinary artist, and I'm delighted to have been invited to write on the Fuumuui Blog about things related to visual arts: materials, techniques, helpful tips, and above all, sharing my experience and knowledge.
For decades, I've taught hundreds of people (from 5 to 95 years old), taken them out to paint outdoors, to paint murals with their grandchildren, or to create environmental sculptures in cement. I've organized exhibitions for them and encouraged them to participate in international competitions. But most importantly, I've witnessed the generational shift and the influence of vast amounts of information, the arrival of new technologies, and the considerable confusion this creates for someone who wants to develop their talent as a painter, as an artist.
I had the privilege of having excellent teachers and professors at the two academies where I studied, and later, finding graduates who studied a decade or two after me at those institutions, I discovered with surprise that much knowledge had disappeared with the old guard of professors and with the new trends in Conceptual Art that often heralded "the death of painting."
I have seen how realistic painting styles, reminiscent of the pre-photographic era, have resurfaced, and in general, the clash of schools that has always existed, then as now. I want to begin—after half a century of painting—by stating some certainties that are surely not absolute truths, but are my truths at this point in my career & my life.
1. The Human "Touch" vs. Artificial Intelligence
First, I am fully convinced that nothing artistic will emerge without the "touch," the human contact with the working materials. With all due respect, digital art will face its test in a hundred or 150 years, which in terms of human history is very little, but enough to filter out the trends and distinguish relevant contributions to the history of art.
I have spent decades lecturing on artists, art movements, and museums around the world, and although there are many shrewd merchants today building marketing networks and galleries for all kinds of machine-produced works and applications, I can affirm that Artificial Intelligence will produce artificial art.
Because art is something intrinsically human, it demands a lot of work, dreaming, failing, and progressing. It means Human qualities, and characteristics, human mind & soul.
In this world, what comes effortlessly quickly disappears. This doesn't mean that the point is to work hard and strive: it must be done in the right direction. There are traditions in painting, and being an artist is a path, a craft, and also a state of mind.
2. Painting as a Language: The "Do’s and Don’ts"
We live in times when, at the touch of a button, a sheet or canvas printed with colors, light and shadow effects, perspective, and all sorts of pyrotechnics comes out. And we have a young generation that demands everything right now, immediately.
Art is a process. A process that flees from the clock: it takes the time it takes, but one thing is clear: you can't become a painter in a couple of weeks or months or any deadline. You have to practice, practice, and keep practicing. Whether you decide to be an abstract or figurative painter, there's no way to hide from learning, experimenting, failing, searching, starting again on the same painting that "didn't turn out right."
I've met quite a few colleagues in artists' groups who believe that by declaring "That's how I feel", they have an excuse to justify an anemic, poorly painted picture, riddled with basic errors and horrors from a technical point of view.
Or seeing works in “serious” exhibitions and thinking, “My God, such a promising approach, and this painting will crack or darken in a few years, simply due to ignorance.”
Those weighty academic studies of the old days were often overwhelming, but there's a lot of chemistry involved in pigments, binders, supports, glues, and all the materials used for painting. You can buy materials and apply them blindly, or with a YouTube tutorial, but it's like writing poems or novels with spelling mistakes.
Painting, in its many sub-disciplines, is a language, and if you want to be a painter, you have to know the basics, the long list of “Do’s and Don’ts,” because Dr. Murphy says—and he's never wrong—that painting that turned out so perfect and powerful, that everyone praises, will end up deteriorating and being destroyed if you haven't learned the “Ufficio della Pittura,” as Leonardo da Vinci called it.
3. Much of the Knowledge From the Past is Irrelevant
Much of the knowledge from the past is irrelevant, that much is clear. Having studied that the natural ultramarine pigment came from lapis lazuli, and that the synthetic pigment—which I painted with 40 years ago—was a mixture of aluminum silicate, sodium carbonate, sulfur, and carbon- it didn't help me at all when it came to using it.
Nowadays most pigments are now synthetic mixtures due to the toxicity of lead, or metal chrome colors, and more.
But there are things that are fundamental, and while they appear in quite a few blogs, articles, and comments, they are often mixed with myths and falsehoods, and spread by dubious experts.
The first step of ignorance is presuming to know, and "not knowing" in the craft of painting will cause us to waste time, money on materials, and sometimes frustrate someone with a true passion for painting, but who is progressing blindly.
4. No One Ever Invented the Wheel
Knowledge has been accumulated over generations because the Old Masters were alchemists who experimented extensively, learning from trial and error until they arrived at reliable and consistent materials and techniques.
This is how fresco and oil painting were created, the latter diluting paint without yellowing or darkening colors (through oxidation). You don't need an encyclopedia, but having a book of recipes, palettes, and techniques from the Old Masters can be very helpful.
You don't have to read it all; it's a reference book. If you paint on paper, it's good to be interested in what they were doing in the 19th century or why the Al- Fayyum portraits (Roman funerary portraits in tombs) have such intense colors, as if they were painted yesterday and not 2,000 years ago.
A must-have book for every painter is: "The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques" by Ralph Mayer.
Many people studied and tried to decipher the technical secrets of old masters and virtuoso artists, their palettes and mediums, but Ralph Mayer synthesized all the encyclopedias and books on the subject.
Published in 1940, it remains to this day the “Painters’ Bible.” Its fifth edition (1985) includes an appendix on polymer (acrylic) colors, directing readers to over 40 books by people who have studied the matter. That is professionalism and thoroughness.
Various encyclopedias and books exist, but this is the most concise, containing all the knowledge about techniques and materials.
5. To be An Artist, You Have to Have "An Artist's Attitude"
There's a lot of ego in these creative professions from creators, to collectors, enthusiasts, critics, gallery owners, and experts. I believe that to be an artist, you have to have "an artist's attitude", which isn't a pose or a position, but rather:
HUMILITY
Being open to learning and assimilating, understanding that without mistakes there is no progress. We move forward from what we disliked in the last painting and want to improve.
SELF-CRITICISM
To accept constructive criticism. When I started painting in oils at age 10, my mentor and teacher, the painter Eugenio Mariani, said that “we have a tendency to be permissive with ourselves and very critical of others. We must correct this natural tendency.” I'm not saying to be masochistic, but to accept and examine other people's opinions.
There's a preconception that criticism is an attack, an aggression. I perceived this at my second art academy: the students feared the mid-year and end-of-year critiques as if it were a matter of life or death.
At my first academy, it was a right and a privilege to receive "criticism" from the teachers; the interaction and learning were with their assistants, who were veritable encyclopedias and knew tricks and technical solutions to every problem.
And just because "an eminent figure" says something doesn't mean we should take it as gospel: that same self-criticism implies critical thinking, analyzing, understanding, seeing what's true, using our own reason. And it may be that we ultimately don't accept that critical opinion, but only after a sincere & open evaluation.
WORK AND PERSEVERANCE
That mentor from my childhood and youth required us to paint at least three canvases per week, and we met in his studio every two weeks to critique all the students' work with him. If someone couldn't paint that much, well, they had to find another teacher: he called it "WORK DISCIPLINE", and it wasn't just a rule.
Today, in less rigorous times, I'd put it this way: draw, paint, sketch, paint, paint, and paint. It's not just painting that demands discipline; the same goes for an athlete or a concert pianist.
If you abandon painting, for whatever reason, even for a while, the "hand-eye-brain" connection that Paul Cézanne spoke of, loses its flexibility. Like a concert pianist or a basketball player, you have to start from scratch.
I hope I haven't overwhelmed you. Next time I'll write about families of materials and how to get the most out of them.
