Painting Archives - John Gerstner

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Painting Fiction vs Painting Non-fiction

John Gerstner

Much of art can be considered non-fiction: a reflection of reality, captured with varying degrees of accuracy. The goal seems to be to put on canvas a replica of what the eye can see, though of course it is never exactly that. Even the Mona Lisa, celebrated as one of the most famous realist paintings, […]

camel and female in surreal landscape

The Artist as Mad Dervish

John Gerstner

I start with the flailing of a mad dermish. I smear, splash, scrape, wipe, dribble, draw … all the while blending colors and strokes until something says that’s enough. There’s something there. Let it be. Come back to it later. I do. Invariably I start to see shapes and patterns emerging through the chaos. Looking closely […]

woman gazing abstract

Facing the Blank Canvas

John Gerstner

For an artist, there’s nothing as daunting yet exciting as facing a blank canvas. The possibilities are infinite; and so are the risks. My approach is to simply make some brush strokes or marks or splashes of paint and see what that triggers. I try to keep the process an in-the-moment improv dance between eye, […]