Painting Must Be Seen Through A Single Window

Every painter must try at least once to represent the splendor of nature on canvas, so that nature is a projection of his inner states.

Painting must be seen through a single window, as is the case with things made to look like the number 0: if you want to render a round ball high, you need to make it long, according to the same law, so that by standing behind it, it appears round. For this we must take into account the first eight parts into which the painting is divided: darkness, light, body, face, color, place, distance and proximity. Two more can be added to these: movement and stillness, because these are necessary to be depicted in the movements of the things imagined in the painting.

And, of course, the painting is divided into five parts. The parts of painting are five, namely: surface, shape, color, shadow and light, nearness and distance, or I could say: movement and enlargement, which are the two perspectives, as in the reduction of quantity or the reduction of precision of things seen in the distance, as and colors; and color is that which diminishes first, at equal distances, and that which lasts longer.

As for the two main parts into which the painting is divided, here they are. There are two main parts into which the painting is divided, namely: the contours that surround the imagined figures and that demand to be drawn. The second is the shadow. And the drawing has a very great merit, because it is not only in search of the things that can be seen in nature, but also of an endless number of others, which nature does not make. The drawing commands the sculptor, as well as all the manual arts, to carefully finish his embodiments, and although their number is endless, to show them in their perfect completion.

To this end, we will also conclude by showing that drawing is not only a human science, but a divinity in all the power of the word, a divinity that also manifests everything that God undeniably created.

Can you relate the rendering of a phenomenon of nature to the fact that it previously had the value of sensations and states that defined man at the moment when he contemplated his image?

My opinion is not different from what Leonardo Da Vinci said above. The observer of an image, like an abstract painting (thanks to the flowers with petals that combine white with crimson-red), can only see the outside, but not the inside. Although, this is the most important characteristic of a masterpiece: the viewer of a painting must first of all feel the feelings of the painter, not contemplate the spectacle of nature (presented through an authentic coloring) through a permanent static attitude.

Every painter must try at least once to represent the splendor of nature on canvas, so that nature is not only a projection of his inner states, but also a projection of his own existence beyond infinite time and space. In vain does the painter attempt to draw the shape of things, in the most vivid colors, if the observer fails to penetrate the mystery of eternal things that unites him with God.

In the work of the painter, the description of the image of nature must be inseparable from his life. And the observer of the painting will find that it is not enough to know the states of the painter to be able to see the diversity of nature in colors. But if the observer directs his attention to some previous states of the painter, he will find that he can safely foresee the unfolding of the phenomena of nature, since the painter’s behavior appears reflected in the form of aggressive or calm colors.

If the painting is successful, the observer will connect the rendering of a natural phenomenon with the fact that it previously had the value of sensations and states that defined the artist at the time when he created the image. Thus, if the observer is not able to directly observe the inner part of the painter, he will not be able to predict the course of his existence, especially if he takes into account the previous values of what he can observe. The possibility is motivated by the correspondence between anticipation and reality.

In order to resize leadership and integrate it into the space of art, you have to argue that the leader himself is an artist who conquers the world with his paintings. An artist who knows how to capitalize on his symbolic potential, an artist who made a creed out of being the eternal mirror of nature.

Painting Must Be Seen Through A Single Window that provides a wider perspective on the inner world of the artist. This window must ensure, at the same time, a good view of the landscape, which, however, can degrade if it bears – by analogy – the consequences of the inner conflicts that the artist faces.

Inner conflicts occur when a part of you wants to believe one thing and another part of you is totally against that thing.

* Notă: Leonardo Da Vinci - Tratat despre pictură, Editura Meridiane, 1971.