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Painting
Formal Impressionism
 

 

"The goal of Formal Impressionism is to portray the personal nature of a subject by arranging a specific combination of physical attributes that reside within human perception of that subject."

Formal Impressionism began with my examination of the work of Nagel. I found his use of line to convey form and shadow evocative, and some of my earliest work experimented directly with his style.

Formal Impressionism then evolved under the influence of Auguste Renoir, Eyvind Earle and Frank Frazetta, incorporating impressionist principles that creatively use color and light to convey emotion and mood. Other influences that contributed to the development of my Formal Impressionist work were Piet Mondrian, Syd Mead and Wassily Kandinsky.

Formal Impressionism is a collaboration of color and line. Unlike classic impressionism, Formal Impressionism focuses equally on the color AND form of the subject (hence the name). Many crucial intangibles are exhibited though line: expression, posture, reaction, movement. These all interact with the viewer as significantly as color selections. In both cases, the choices of what to represent and what to eliminate are critical in forming art that successfully illuminates the subject more accurately than with direct representation.

  
 

 

   Paintings, 2009 Helmet

  
 

This is my first helmet design. I wanted the subject matter to be personal, and after considerable thought I came to the conclusion that to me driving is all about "the road". So I chose my favorite turns from my favorite tracks. Specifically this is "the omega" from Willow, Buttonwillow's "lost hill" going CCW toward "Riverside", Laguna Seca's turn 9 looking down from the "corkscrew", OCRC's turn 1 at El Toro, and turns 3 through 5 from Road Atlanta. I chose to paint the roads naked, with no other cars and a minimum of extraneous detail.

                
    		 
 
 
 

   Paintings, 2008 to 2009

  
 

Due to my position as Creative Director of BMS my artistic endeavors of late have focused on livery design and automotive customization. Now that BMS is no more I am working on new paintings, the first being a family portrait.

      
 
 
 

   Paintings, 2005 to 2007

  
 

These years saw my undivided dedication to painting automotive portraits. While this was trying at times, due to my love for diversity, it was a valuable experience that I believe has increased my understanding of representing specifics as they relate to a portrait; much the same way as my series on Patricia Ford did back in the '90s.

               
           
           
   
 		  
 
 
 

   Paintings, 2002 to 2004

  
 

It was during these years that I now consider Formal Impressionism to be fully mature. Which is to say that from this point on my challenge is to continue to advance the concept without becoming trapped within its definition.

                
           
           
           
        		 
 
 
 

   Paintings, 1999 to 2001

  
 

During this period I refined Formal Impressionism, pushing the boundaries of aesthetic viability and challenging my own physical talent for specificity.

                
           
           
        		 
 
 
 

   Paintings, 1998

  
 

1998 was my most prolific single year painting. While most of my work during this period consisted of portraits I also started applying the Formal Impressionist style to landscapes. This in-turn broadened my perspective with respect to painting portraits.

                 
           
           
           
           
    		 
 
 
 

   Paintings, 1995 to 1997

  
 

During this time my Formal Impressionist work slowly evolved into its own. This period shows the first use of curved lines and triangles together. I also experimented with florescent pigments as seen in Egler1_day and Egler1_night.

                
           
          
           
           
 
 
 
 

   Paintings, 1991 to 1994

  
 

While cosmetically different from my current Formal Impressionist work, one can see in this period the first transitions away from imitating Nagel and also the first appearance of the triangles I so often use to break up space and increase depth of field.

               
           
           
    		 
 
 
 
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