Newbsie

[Jonathan]

Uncle Newbsie has been creating some really good work lately:

 

[william.scherk]

Tightly executed and with a gorgeous Paul Cadmus-like surface/depth. I especially like the muted dimensional chiaroscuro and general freedom of gesture that energizes the composition in its frame. He is solving whatever problem we thought he might have had in 'loosening up' and following his instincts in gesture and form.  I like that these in no way seem fussed to death or distorted on any plane.

 I hope he is happy with these and perhaps forgives us early over-wrought declamations (at least on my part. Since Newberry has re-frenzed me on Facebook and I have praised new productions there, I  keep the same editorial tone as set there).   I did not point out things my eye caught out to be unkind (though Unkind I certainly was) but to sharpen his game. I take no credit, only pleasure, now.

It is a cold day in Heck when both Jonathan and William give encomiums to Newberry. But I think he deserves  praise in measure to criticism. It is like he is   letting his horse take him places today instead of reining his steed too tightly and in too regular a pattern. .

Good show. I am going to go put on another sweater.  

[Thorn]

Very nice modelling of form in the portrait. I noticed some of it was lost in the finished piece due to a bit muted skin tones (I think it needs some of the warmth from the light/skin to make the face pop). Could just be differences in the photographs though.

[Jonathan]

On May 11, 2016 at 3:19 PM, william.scherk said:

Tightly executed and with a gorgeous Paul Cadmus-like surface/depth. I especially like the muted dimensional chiaroscuro and general freedom of gesture that energizes the composition in its frame. He is solving whatever problem we thought he might have had in 'loosening up' and following his instincts in gesture and form.  I like that these in no way seem fussed to death or distorted on any plane.

 I hope he is happy with these and perhaps forgives us early over-wrought declamations (at least on my part. Since Newberry has re-frenzed me on Facebook and I have praised new productions there, I  keep the same editorial tone as set there).   I did not point out things my eye caught out to be unkind (though Unkind I certainly was) but to sharpen his game. I take no credit, only pleasure, now.

It is a cold day in Heck when both Jonathan and William give encomiums to Newberry. But I think he deserves  praise in measure to criticism. It is like he is   letting his horse take him places today instead of reining his steed too tightly and in too regular a pattern. .

Good show. I am going to go put on another sweater.  

I like the nuanced color usages. Newberry has always been a big fan of atmospheric depth, or what he calls "transparency," and lately he's been taking the technique to a much more refined level, adding selective saturation to the effect:

He's developed a better understanding of managing the complexities of realist composition. He's become much more symphonic. Gone, forever, hopefully, are the days of playing each instrument as loudly as possibly at all times in order to try to be bold. The new Newberry appears to now recognize the expressive power of selective volume control, and of rests -- that there is so much more dramatic potential in limiting the palette. There's great enjoyment in being able to hear the woodwinds at a volume that is optimal for their timbre rather than hearing them at a volume at which they can compete with the entire brass section at full volume. It's refreshing to see visual emphasis (which necessarily means the cutting back of some forms or characteristics, as opposed to the mindset of trying to emphasize everything). Newberry has learned, or is leaning, the value of quietness, and of speaking at comfortable volumes which are quite sufficiently loud and bold enough in comparison.

J

[Peter]

It’s hanging upside down.

Friar Toke from Sherwood Forest

[Newberry]

On 5/23/2016 at 0:55 PM, Jonathan said:

I like the nuanced color usages. Newberry has always been a big fan of atmospheric depth, or what he calls "transparency," and lately he's been taking the technique to a much more refined level, adding selective saturation to the effect:

He's developed a better understanding of managing the complexities of realist composition. He's become much more symphonic. Gone, forever, hopefully, are the days of playing each instrument as loudly as possibly at all times in order to try to be bold. The new Newberry appears to now recognize the expressive power of selective volume control, and of rests -- that there is so much more dramatic potential in limiting the palette. There's great enjoyment in being able to hear the woodwinds at a volume that is optimal for their timbre rather than hearing them at a volume at which they can compete with the entire brass section at full volume. It's refreshing to see visual emphasis (which necessarily means the cutting back of some forms or characteristics, as opposed to the mindset of trying to emphasize everything). Newberry has learned, or is leaning, the value of quietness, and of speaking at comfortable volumes which are quite sufficiently loud and bold enough in comparison.

J

 

Good comments Jonathan. Have we turned a corner? It seems so. 

[Jonathan]

It appears so!

J

[Jonathan]

By the way, my initial post on this thread originally included the WIP/nearly-finished portrait of Pietros Maneos, but apparently the link is broken or something.

Here's the scan of the finished work:

Fabulous work!

J

[Jules Troy]

Really nice work!

[Jonathan]

Newbs has found a solution to his problematic painting "Man Moving Forward Out from Oblivion":

 

Michael Newberry‏ @newberryartist Nov 10

 

Transcending Oblivion https://newberryarchive.wordpress.com/2018/11/10/transcending-oblivion/ …

 

 

And he has changed the the title to "Transcending Oblivion."

 

Here's the story:

https://newberryarchive.wordpress.com/2018/11/10/transcending-oblivion/

 

Unfortunately, I don't think that he realizes what he has here. He's abandoning the background.

I know that this proposal is probably much too "postmodernist" for him, but keeping the background rather than discarding it, and displaying it at a bit of a distance from the cropped section, has a powerful effect -- much more powerful that the original had on its own, and much more powerful than the cropped section has on its own. Taking his sketches/studies, as well as prints of the various stages that the painting went through prior to going under the blade, and placing them between the background and the cropped section would add to the power of the effect.

J

[Newberry]

Jonathan,

Thank you, It is a quite brilliant idea. Perhaps a moving experience for the audience. Both pieces are against a wall in my studio, it hasn't occurred to me to throw out the background. I will keep your suggestion in mind. Undoubtedly a postmodern collector would enjoy buying the background, it fits beautifully with PM view of destroying art. Funny irony that.

Cheers

[Jonathan]

57 minutes ago, Newberry said:

Jonathan,

Thank you, It is a quite brilliant idea. Perhaps a moving experience for the audience. Both pieces are against a wall in my studio, it hasn't occurred to me to throw out the background. I will keep your suggestion in mind.

Cool! Great!

Thanks,

J

[Jonathan]

OMG, Newbsie loves death. He worships it! It's his sense of life and his view of existence. Death is his metaphysical value judgment! Everything to him is doom, frustration and despair.

Heh. But, seriously, cool painting.

J

Michael Newberry

November 25, 2018 · 

 

He has borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how? (Stealing Shakespeare) mixed media, 24x20”, private collection. My attempt at a gesture oil sketch, I like it. Skulls are dark, light, anatomical, morbid; serving artists well. #skull #mixedmedia #naturemorte

 

 

4646

 

14 Comments

[Newberry]

On 1/2/2019 at 1:37 PM, Jonathan said:

OMG, Newbsie loves death. He worships it! It's his sense of life and his view of existence. Death is his metaphysical value judgment! Everything to him is doom, frustration and despair.

Heh. But, seriously, cool painting.

J

Michael Newberry

November 25, 2018 · 

 

He has borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how? (Stealing Shakespeare) mixed media, 24x20”, private collection. My attempt at a gesture oil sketch, I like it. Skulls are dark, light, anatomical, morbid; serving artists well. #skull #mixedmedia #naturemorte

 

 

4646

 

14 Comments

I don't disagree with you about the above. Like Rand going ballistic about Rembrandt's side a beef, but she was truly disgusted by it. I tend to think about the relationship between the amount of time involved in creating work and if the subject matter is worth that time. I doubt I would spend more than a few hours on symbols of death. I did spend about 3 weeks on a portrait of a tattooed guy. But just the painting of the skull it seems kind of creepy to me. Though I have done a lot of anatomy studies for paintings, especially if a run into a problem; always good to build from the bones out. 

 

[Jonathan]

19 hours ago, Newberry said:

I don't disagree with you about the above. Like Rand going ballistic about Rembrandt's side a beef, but she was truly disgusted by it. I tend to think about the relationship between the amount of time involved in creating work and if the subject matter is worth that time. I doubt I would spend more than a few hours on symbols of death. I did spend about 3 weeks on a portrait of a tattooed guy. But just the painting of the skull it seems kind of creepy to me. Though I have done a lot of anatomy studies for paintings, especially if a run into a problem; always good to build from the bones out. 

 

Huh? You say you don't disagree with me? Do you mean that I've accurately identified your soul, your sense of life, and your metaphysical value judgments? You're a death-worshipper?

Or do you mean that you don't disagree with my point that it is nonsense to assign those views/beliefs to an artist just because he painted a skull and Rand irrationally believed that she could come to such conclusions based on her angry, subjective interpretation of his work?

J

[Newberry]

1 hour ago, Jonathan said:

Huh? You say you don't disagree with me? Do you mean that I've accurately identified your soul, your sense of life, and your metaphysical value judgments? You're a death-worshipper?

Or do you mean that you don't disagree with my point that it is nonsense to assign those views/beliefs to an artist just because he painted a skull and Rand irrationally believed that she could come to such conclusions based on her angry, subjective interpretation of his work?

J

Neither. 

[Jonathan]

1 hour ago, Newberry said:

Neither. 

Do you know what you meant?

Come out of your zealot fog and try to be coherent.

J

[Newberry]

38 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

Do you know what you meant?

Come out of your zealot fog and try to be coherent.

J

I didn't like your multiple choice options. Quote from above: " I tend to think about the relationship between the amount of time involved in creating work and if the subject matter is worth that time. I doubt I would spend more than a few hours on symbols of death. I did spend about 3 weeks on a portrait of a tattooed guy. But just the painting of the skull it seems kind of creepy to me. Though I have done a lot of anatomy studies for paintings, especially if a run into a problem; always good to build from the bones out."

[Jonathan]

2 hours ago, Newberry said:

I didn't like your multiple choice options. Quote from above: " I tend to think about the relationship between the amount of time involved in creating work and if the subject matter is worth that time.

Ah, I see. You're making stuff up as you go along.

When you've declared, in your essays, what you can "detect" about other artists' souls, their senses of life, metaphysical value-judgments, psychology, etc., you've never mentioned before any relevance of the amount of time involved in creating the work in question. It's a new, special criterion that you've just invented to exempt yourself from your own rules.

J

[Newberry]

1 hour ago, Jonathan said:

Ah, I see. You're making stuff up as you go along.

When you've declared, in your essays, what you can "detect" about other artists' souls, their senses of life, metaphysical value-judgments, psychology, etc., you've never mentioned before any relevance of the amount of time involved in creating the work in question. It's a new, special criterion that you've just invented to exempt yourself from your own rules.

J

I made a comment somewhere ages ago about Rand’s unfair dismissal of Rembrandt’s Side of Beef which is a quick oil sketch and I contrasted it with his multi-year project Danae. Makes sense to me. About judgments here is a link to what I think you are referring https://atlassociety.org/commentary/commentary-blog/6268-detecting-value-judgments-in-painting   I don’t see what your problem is with it, but it doesn’t really matter, everyone makes their own choices about art, I only shared what I believe. 

[Jonathan]

13 hours ago, Newberry said:

I only shared what I believe. 

Yes, I know that you share what you believe. Actually, you preach what you believe. And you believe it regardless of whether or not it's true, and you have no interest in allowing any amount of reality to change your mind. Believing falsehoods, especially about Kant, is of utmost importance to you. It's your religion.

J

[Newberry]

I think you, particularly, are wise to discount everything I write. 

4 hours ago, Jonathan said:

Yes, I know that you share what you believe. Actually, you preach what you believe. And you believe it regardless of whether or not it's true, and you have no interest in allowing any amount of reality to change your mind. Believing falsehoods, especially about Kant, is of utmost importance to you. It's your religion.

J

 

[Jonathan]

10 minutes ago, Newberry said:

I think you, particularly, are wise to discount everything I write. 

 

Indeed!

Be safe out there, Newbsie! Remain ever diligent in watching out for the evil Kantian postmodernists. They're out to get you with their Sublimity.

And I wish you the best of luck in fighting Kant via your invention of the "Neo-Sublime" -- making the word "sublime" mean what it should mean, without the icky stuff!

Bwah-hahahaha!!!!

J

[Newberry]

https://twitter.com/museummodernart/status/1089943711189032960?s=21

[Peter]

49 minutes ago, Newberry said:

https://twitter.com/museummodernart/status/1089943711189032960?s=21

Impossible standards. Who can top that? Very funny.