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Contemporary Seascape Paintings: History, Qualities, & Creation.

Most of us who like the environment and the sea are drawn to the inexorable delight of viewing a contemporary seascape picture. Having a gorgeous, unique seascape artwork to appreciate and the ability to look at it anytime you want is the pinnacle of art ownership. Year-round, seascape paintings may reflect the lovely aspects of the ocean, its lighting, ambiance, and sentiments.

Jon Bandish is one of them!

Born in Philadelphia, his works are concerned with the quality of light at different moments of the time because of how that affects human feelings. His pristine seascapes depict a contemplative observing method and show the mesmerizing visual phenomena of lighting on flowing water.

The unbeatable qualities of seascape paintings to connect with:

Glancing out over the water is a reassuring and relaxing feeling. It draws your focus and allows you to contemplate nature's natural glory, causing you to stop and think about yourself. Glancing out over the water is a reassuring and relaxing feeling. It draws your focus and allows you to contemplate nature's natural glory, causing you to stop and think about yourself.

The elements' constant movement gives a relaxing and invigorating effect. It has aesthetically pleasing rhythms and patterns. The purity of light near the shoreline can elicit a variety of emotions and surroundings which can be captured in contemporary art.

The possibilities are great when it relates to representing the ocean. The beach is a constantly changing scenery that has served as a source of motivation for many painters. This topic is popular, especially because of its aesthetic richness and the dichotomy of land and water. Artists not only develop their craft but also communicate their feelings by depicting the sea.

A stunning, profound, and imaginative reflection of what the beach is about may be found in an abstract seascape artwork. Maybe the seascape will engage with you via form, movement, and rhythms.

Seasons have distinct visual characteristics. The setting sun of winter provides dramatic and ambient hue and shadows. Clear winter temperatures produce gorgeous tints, while foggy circumstances produce attractive soft undertones. Summer brings beautiful rich colors, brilliantly contrasted sunlight, and spectacular dusk. Changes in sea levels and tidal elevations year-round may produce dramatically diverse vistas, particularly on plain, wide pristine beaches. Every one of these alterations influences the quality of a beach painting.

It is always important to know the history to understand its evolution. Let's have a brief walk back in the history of seascape paintings:

For centuries, art has flourished. It's only logical that it would experience rising trends considering its long and distinguished past. Artists all across the globe have turned to age-old themes again and again, with the seascape creating ripples in several of art history's greatest significant eras.

The beach has always been a favored place for painters to explore color, lighting, and motion. Many artists have attempted to capture the unusual lighting, which is usually consistent in the skies yet unstable at seas. For individuals seeking to reflect the "true state," sea canvas painting is a particularly relevant topic.

The impressionist artists and post-impressionists spent most of the latter part of the nineteenth century studying this vivid and shifting light, which may be seen in seascapes. They hoped to preserve nature's elusiveness, believing that this brief moment could still prevail.

When we think about the impressionist landscape from France, we can't help but think of Claude Monet. The painter was a pioneer in the impressionist style and was known for his coastal paintings, such as his Normandy seascapes.

The divisionists devised a mechanism that employed customized color split to capture light waves in their paintings at the same time. When two colors are placed next to one other, they seem to blend in the eyes of the audience, producing a distinct aesthetic experience.

Do you have fond memories of long walks down the beach, deep in thought? Painters enjoyed painting and expanding the notion since they were too familiar with the circumstance. When the sun starts to drop, the seashore becomes a peaceful zone instead of an energetic one. The environment is suitable for the emotions to drift in the ocean depths among the waves.

In The Monk by the Sea, one of the most iconic scenes in art history, Caspar David Friedrich, a nineteenth-century German artist, managed to capture this feeling. The monk emanates pure tranquillity and concentration amongst the hazy, shadowy split of the ocean boundary.

Seascape paintings have been popular through time and remain so now. Many artists have been influenced by the beach, allowing them to develop new art concepts, feelings, and delights. Within the artistic realm, the ocean and artwork have now become partners, linked by reciprocal thinking and passion.

Now the burning question. How Does a Professional Artist Create Stunning Seascapes?

1. Mastery in painting the lights:

Because water reflects light, an artist's ability to portray light is critical. They do so by taking into account a variety of parameters, including the curvature of the waters and whether they are painting on acrylic medium or oil. Even the sort of bulb they're using might have an impact on the illumination of the artwork. This is why some painters prefer to paint in fresh weather, or even outside.

2. The basic shapes to draw the sea:

Shapes in the sea assist the painter in creating the ocean waters design and the reflection of sunlight. A calm sea is a basic flat surface, whereas turbulent seas are more intricate. This is when shapes come into the equation. If an artist wishes to paint a landscape with waves crashing, he may start by drawing rounds, squares, and cylindrical shapes to provide the groundwork for the water's forms.

3. Shattered Color Is Important:

Painting in split color is yet another innovative water method used by painters. To give the illusion of roughness in the liquid, several bright shades are stroked on top of one another in splotchy streaks. They look to be a jumble of hues real close, yet the landscape is gentle and lovely from a distance. The method of broken color is associated with the famous Impressionist painting style.

4. They use both hard and soft lines while painting:

Soft edge, hard edge, and lost edge are all used by professional artists. A seamless flow between two forms in a landscape is known as a soft edge. While a  lost edge is a super-soft, hardly visible edge. With a stronger contrast, hard edges emphasize the subject's contour. Hard edges are less prevalent in seascapes, but they may make a great impact - practically. A crashing wave is an excellent illustration of a harsh edge on a coastline.

Professional Gambler

The art world is a funny one. I’m boothmates with a great artist at a show and we’re talking about the ins and outs of being a working artist nowadays. He comments to me that being an artist is like being a professional gambler. I laughed but he’s essentially correct. You make work in your studio, spend money to apply to shows, knowing you don’t get your money back if you don’t get and you don’t get feedback either. If you do get in you have to figure out travel and hotel and mostly hope for good weather, big crowds, and a few people to buy. Now your goal is to equally to build your name in a crowded marketplace, not the easiest of tasks. All in all, it does feel more like being a professional gambler rather than a professional artist. I laughed and went on about my day but it’s stuck with me. So to any who come across this think on his sentiment, what do you think?

The Hudson River School and Jon Bandish

In 1825, Thomas Cole moved to New York City. Several years later he would come to be known as the founder of the Hudson River School, widely regarded as the first American artist’s guild. They followed in the footsteps of the Romantic painters in Europe, capturing the wildness and immensity of landscapes across the Americas which had, until now, remained mostly unacknowledged in the world of fine art. They explored themes of the sublime, and the contrast between the enormity of nature and the relative insignificance of humans by comparison.

Jon Bandish works this same subject matter into his own art. He has long been captivated by the awesome power of the natural world, and he illustrates this in his oil paintings by juxtaposing elaborate landscapes with to-scale human figures.

Nature is massive in a way that is difficult to comprehend. It is all too easy to get caught up in our own small lives and forget that we are just one small piece of the puzzle. On the flip side, we may get caught up in the many unbreachable issues that plague our modern society and the world may seem cramped and overcrowded.

But it does not take much to reconnect with nature. Lie beneath the stars and you will see how the sky reaches around the edges of the earth. Stand on the top of the highest hill and follow the ridgeline as it fades into the distance. Walk deep into a forest and watch the many layers of trees shift as you pass. And notice, in each of these situations, how every inch is steeped in details. Air particles fill the space between you and the edge of the atmosphere.

Nowhere is the vastness of nature more apparent than in the ocean. The ocean makes up more than two thirds of the earth’s surface. Workers on night boats cannot see a foot past the gunwale before the beam from their flashlight is swallowed by the impenetrable darkness.

It is understandable, then, that the ocean would serve as great inspiration to an artist like Jon. Indeed, it is his special focus. He moved to Delaware to be closer to the beach, and he often depicts scenes from beaches in Hawaii. This is where his love for bright colors shines through. Sunsets, tropical waves, and sunny sands distinguish his work from the masters who preceded him. Where the Hudson River painters were dark and moody, Jon is playful and fanciful. His paintings bring light to even the darkest East coast winter days.

Jon seeks to immerse his viewers in his work. He wants to convey the majesty of the ocean even to someone who has never been to a beach in their lives. Details are vital to this pursuit. Jon uses the smallest brushes available, with little more than 5 hairs each, to enhance the tiniest features on even his largest paintings.

Written by Gwenn Meyers Independent Writer

Transcendentalism and the Age of Status Quo Art

Transcendentalism and The Age of Status Quo Art

By definition Transcendentalism is the means to navigating oneself to a higher plane of thinking, feeling, and understanding by way of allowing all of the senses to experience the world.  American and European artists in the past have claimed that such experiences can permeate the work of artists and the subsequent enlightenment within the work most definitively leads to better art.  Furthering ones artistic endeavors to better outcomes I believe is and should always be the chief purpose of the artist and thus Transcendentalism I believe is an integral tool for the artist. 

I grew up along the East Coast of the U.S. and spent much time looking at long, grey skies for weeks on end during the winter months only to enjoy the first warm spring days to such an extent that it still feels criminal, after 40 years of my life, to remain indoors.  This is a basic rationale for Transcendentalism.  Everyone who experiences true winter cold for the entirety of the winter season appreciates the warmth of spring and summer and this can best be demonstrated during those first few days of warmer weather.  I would invite you to the Jersey Shore or Delaware, Virginia or Carolina beaches to see just how many people flock to resort towns with nothing but smiles and towels.  It is not to say that various weather patterns and different climate conditions are not conducive toward an improved lifestyle or for the artist better work though.  I mean only to point out that the people who do not experience climatically desired weather conditions year round fully take advantage of the weeks and months when the conditions are as desired. 

The reason that they do this is because they feel an inherent or innate connection to the elements; to Nature, which they do not necessarily feel outwardly during the colder seasons.  They therefore decompress their minds and bodies and instinctively allow themselves to be at peace with the world.  Essentially they are becoming one with Nature.  The point that I wish to make here is that we as animals on this planet have an intrinsic relationship with the natural world.  Because artists and other creative oriented people draw inspiration from diverse sources the natural world very often is disregarded in the contemporary world of art making however I believe that this is a perilous error on our parts. 

I do not however mean to make a point of claiming that all artists and creative people should only pay homage to the natural world in their artwork however I also do not believe that it should be disregarded.  The popular ideology that artists should live and work only in the city atmosphere is not particularly conducive I believe toward a well rounded artist.  Consequently existing in part with the world that we create has benefits as well and those should not be overlooked either.  The main focus I am trying to discuss currently is that Transcendentalism has become a dated component to the creative process by the vast majority of contemporary artists not in large part because the belief that artists should be urban inhabitants and free from the realm of coexistence within Nature.  I believe this to be a flawed philosophy and I believe it is why the work of contemporary artists, as a whole, in large part lacks credibility and vitality.  

Dare To Be Great

In the Age of Status Quo Art a lacking concept for artists to be concerned with is the desire to create a work of grand significance.  This is a strong statement I know but the type of work that I see in the gallery setting today suggests that my contemporaries are satisfied with permeating a type of work that is more of a study or relatively completed piece.  I think that this type of effort stems from the education received in today’s art schools.  We all must very much be concerned with the type of looseness necessary for good painting and a certain type of freshness of application and stroke that employs a sensibility of freedom throughout the composition. 

I charge my contemporaries however with employing a sternness of conviction to become greater than what they are as artists and thinkers.  Perhaps it may be suggested that there is a possible connection between the type of education received today and the lack of conviction in one’s work.  Furthermore it may be suggested that such a connection also derives its existence with other variables that include other social patterns, like self perpetuating regurgitation art as well as the lack of obscurity in the artist’s living situation so as to ponder one’s own thoughts and allow various forms of transcendentalism to grow innate beliefs. 

Through such forms of living truly great art and artists mature.  Unfortunately though this is not a primary objective of contemporary artists and the work therefore suffers as a result.  Instead of seeking out the best gallery representation and the best showcases artists should seek to become closer with their own individual thoughts so as to become a uniquely identifiable artist with particular and almost private work. 

I believe it is through such processes that unique connections to influential artists and their work develop into more precise and intellectually provocative relationships.  Isn’t that the hierarchical ambition that every artist should experience?