You Are What You Paint

How important is the subject matter you choose?  A friend of mine trying to become a famous artist in Soho, said that every artist was looking for the next gimmick. Jackson Pollock was looking for that next big thing. He practically locked himself up in the barn at East Hampton, hoping to make that break through to become legendary.

Some artists are known for the subject matter they choose, Gauguin for his tropical paintings, van Gogh for his sunflowers, Willem de Kooning for his crazy looking naked women, Wolf Kahn for his beautiful trees and landscape, Cezanne and his famous mountain Montagne Sainte Victoire in the south of France, Degas for his ballet dancers, Monet for his garden paintings of Giverny, Soutine, obsessed with life and death celebrated and painted food, especially meat and Singer Sergeant know for his portraits; the list goes on. 

Some are known mostly for a single painting, such as American-born painter James McNeill Whistler, who painted Whistler’s mother, Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, The Scream, by Edvard Munch, American Gothic, by Grant Wood, The Girl With the Pearl Earring, by Vermeer (a book was even written about the inspiration of this painting), and Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans. 

And still others are know for their style, their use of color, their craftsmanship, drawing ability, line, mediums they use, scale, etc.

I have painted many series, from horses, flowers, people, still life, etc, but I do believe that I will always be known for my color.

What do you think you will be known for? 

This is my thirty-eighth painting of my #paint52 challenge, medium Atelier Interactive Acrylic on vellum, Title-When The Lights Go Out In the City, measures 6-3/4″ x 9-3/4″, price $175 plus Shipping and Handling.

*All art from Janet Vanderhoof’s Fine Art Gallery, maybe seen in Janet’s studio at Morgan Hill, CA.   You may purchase through contacting my email jvander51@msn.com or phone (408) 460-7237.  Thank you!