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Whether it's painting, sculpture or digital wall decoration, there is an awful lot that passes for art these days.  It's not uncommon for all manner of creative expression to be referred to as art.  But it's fair to question whether visual expressions of one's existential grief, political ideologies or desires to shock are really art.   It's also fair to speculate whether expressions that require little or no skill should also pass for art.  As such, it seems reasonable to draw a distinction between these types of "artistic" expression and fine art.  John F. Carlson, in his Guide To Landscape Painting, stated that if it's not fine it's not art.  So, it's a discussion that's been around awhile.

Fine Art is defined as visual art, such as painting or sculpture, which is created for aesthetic reasons and judged primarily for its beauty.  Another notable characteristic of fine art is that its creation requires great skill, accomplishment and imagination.  As such, the creation of fine art is a highly intellectual pursuit.   That's what makes it fun.

Bringing In The Day's Catch by Robert J. Simone

As I write this I am struck by just how inexhaustible the discussion of distinguishing Fine Art from other forms of "artistic" expression could be.  But since this is a blog article and not an encyclopedia I'll confine the discussion to the single characteristic of Fine Art that most distinguishes it from other forms of "artistic" expression.  That being beauty.  And even then, for the sake of brevity this discussion will touch on just one aspect of conveying beauty, albeit the most important.  That is light.  And since I am a painter, the discussion will pertain to painting.

The primary means of bringing beauty to your paintings is through the depiction and use of light.  John F. Carlson, in his  Guide to Landscape Painting, defined light as "....that enveloping, radiating, diffusing something that transmutes our everyday world into a livable and beautiful place."  Therefore, it stands to reason, that the successful portrayal of a convincing light will transform our paintings into livable, beautiful works of fine art.

Sundown by Robert J. Simone

Of course we can't create actual light in our paintings.  But we can create an effective illusion of light playing over the forms depicted in our paintings.  Depicting such a play of light necessitates a good, even second nature, understanding of The Form Principle. 

The form principle is a basic convention that breaks the phenomenon of light and shadow into value progressions.  It's how we depict volumetric shapes on a two dimensional surface.  It's usually demonstrated by a strong light shone on a plain white plaster sphere from the upper left.  The model is usually broken into 5 zones or types of light.  Light, shadow (both body and cast), midtone, reflected light and accents (both light and dark).  Looked at on a pure values scale that's 7 different values.  Midtone exists on the lit side of the ball as the darkest part of the light.  Reflected light exists on the shadow side of the ball as the lightest part of the shadow.  Nothing on the shadow side is as light as the values on the lit side.  Nothing on the lit side is a dark as the values on the shadow side.  The shadow is darkest near the light.  The light is darkest near the shadow. 

We could slice the pie thinner.  In fact disciplines such as Classical Realism do break the 5 types of light down further.  Some into 9 values others more.  This is perfectly legit but, for the purposes of our discussion, not necessary.  Visual depiction will work just fine with 5 values plus accents.

Also according to Carlson, the color of an object depends on the play of light for it's beauty, too.  In short, beautiful color is connected to the authentic portrayal of light.  The color cast of the light shining on an object diffuses itself into the local color.  On a sunny day, we see warm light and cool shadows.  I am reminded of a saying from the early stages of my personal pursuit of painting.  "We often do with white what we should do with color".  Said another way, a students inclination is to depict bright sunlight by using more white.  They try to go lighter to get the effect.  The effort is short circuited by the fact that white is the coolest color available.  It's better to go warm, way into the yellowy range to depict sunlight.  Combine that with cool shadows, and the illusory effect of sunlight will work well.

       Ankle Deep by Robert J. Simone

In my painting Ankle Deep (12x12;oil) the viewer feels a bright warm sunlight due to the yellow-orange rim light on the sandpiper combined with cool, bluish body and cast shadows.  Without this depiction of sunlight the beauty of the piece would be diminished.  But with it the painting qualifies as fine art.

Admittedly this is a cursory explanation of one aspect of transforming our artistic expressions into fine art.  Bringing fineness to our art requires more prolonged exposure to these principles and others.  It's also born of passion.  If you love painting, what follows may well be for you.

My ongoing studio painting class, The Fine Art Of Painting, is designed to assist artists of all levels in bringing more fineness, that is polish and beauty, to their paintings.   This long class meets every Monday from 10AM - 2:30PM beginning January 3rd, 2022.  The long class format is one of kind in the Tampa Bay Region.  It affords students with plenty of actual painting time as well as  plenty of personal instruction at their easels.  For more details click the link above.

If you're intrigued but not able to come to the Tampa Bay Region for weekly classes I may be teaching a workshop near you this year. 

I'll be in Jupiter, Florida, upstate New York and Long Island, NY in 2022.  New workshops are posted as details are ready.  So please sign up for my email newsletter to stay abreast of developments.

You can also arrange to have me come to your area by working with a local art group or art center to arrange a workshop.  Contact me if you'd like to try that route.