Peace-Burial at Sea, 1841 - J.M.W Turner

Over the summer of 2010 I was able to visit the Museo del Prado with my family. I’ll be honest, I mainly wanted to go as I had just seen a huge banner displayed across the top of the museum with one of J.M.W Turner’s paintings. I gaped at it, my heart going to my throat in excitement. Sure enough, as I read the title, it was an exhibition staring one of my favorite artists. The exhibition was titled “Turner y los Maestros”. Turner and the Masters.

I had no idea what to expect, but I did know I just HAD to go to it. I pleaded to my parents that the extra fee would be worth it. This was an exhibit meant for me! I just knew it! For you see, Turner has always been one to capture my imagination and my respect with his pieces such as Rain, Steam, and Speed. They agreed, and I bounced up and down in glee, and hugged them tightly. I couldn’t wait to see what I was to find through the museum’s doors.

I will begin by admitting a part of me was dissapointed with the exhibition. It’s not that I didn’t love seeing all the grand artworks put on display, however I was hoping to see more of Turner’s later work, which is my personal favorite and often considered his best by critics.

Instead, I was met with Turner’s early work. Not only was it his early work, but the exhibit was clearly shown to be a competition between Turner and the painters he was inspired from. Turner’s painting would hang next to the grand master he was attempting to imitate, and it was up to you to decide who “won”. I learned that Turner was fiercely competitive and would constantly challenge himself and his contemporaries by stealing and copying and adding his own twist to the image.

The Deluge, 1664 - Nicolas Poussin

The Deluge, 1805 - J.M.W Turner

In most cases, especially when a human face was involved, I chose the master’s version. There were some versions of course, where Turner triumphed, but my heart fell because I was hoping to see an exhibition in which Turner shined. I wanted my parents to see why Turner was so amazing, to prove to them that this was an artist worth respecting.  I could see how my parents eye also fell to the master’s piece and how they tended to choose them over Turner. There were very few paintings that displayed his strength, and I left the exhibit feeling a vague sadness in my soul. It wasn’t until my dad spoke up that I realized how foolish I was being.

“I can see why you like him,” He started “He sure did a lot in his life! You can see how he was growing, practicing, and learning from all those paintings!”

There.

There it was, the glow in my heart was back. My love for Turner grew even brighter as my father’s words hit me. Of COURSE he wasn’t a master painter right away. It took time, and what we just saw were paintings that took up all of that time in between student and master. With each painting one could see where his strength was, atmosphere. Each of his paintings that, when compared to the master’s, won was because of how he captured light and the slightly hazy but all too clear vision.

I had a smile on my face the rest of the day. My eyes danced as I realized what this meant.

Rain, Steam, and Speed - The Great Western Railway, 1844 - J.M.W Turner

This idea is exactly what my blog will be about. Learning, practicing, and growing. It’s time to compete with oneself and keep on pushing the limits of what we as artists can do. This blog will hopefully be of use to you in that I will gather information from our contemporaries and analyze them, and let you the readers know if its worth your time and money.

This means, in short terms, that I will be reviewing tutorials, art magazines, art books, anything art related. I just know how at times when I see $100.00 tutorials, I would SO love to see the material in it and see if it’s worth it and read a nice and thorough review. I hardly ever find this, sadly, so sometimes I invest and come out losing.

I love learning, and reading other people’s techniques in addition to exploring my own. Just like Turner, I believe in studying one’s fellow artists.

I hope this blog is useful to a few of you! And since I am studying current day artists, that means that if you are an artist who has created a teaching tool and would like me to review it, please don’t hesitate to ask!