"I was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico. For as long as I can remember I have always been fascinated by the process of drawing and painting. In 1974 I met two well respected artists: Siegfried Hahn and Howard Wexler, with whom I trained and studied over the next few years. Mr. Hahn studied at the Royal Academy in London and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in the 1930’s, and Mr. Wexler at the Pratt Institute. Through them, I was exposed to the drawing precepts of Lecoq de Boisbaudan, whose disciples included Rodin, Monet, Whistler, and Degas as well as the oil painting mediums of the late Jacques Maroger. I was trained both in oil and watercolor. The watercolor approach I employ arose from the 18th century Norwich School in England, and produced such great watercolorists as Cotman, Turner, and Girtin. I was also trained to use the Maroger mediums with my oils. The mediums were developed by Jacques Maroger who spent most of his life dedicated to reconstituting the lost painting mediums of the Renaissance and Baroque painters.
I have always drawn and painted exclusively from life whether it be a model, still life, or landscape. I do not work from photographs. My procedure is to establish the composition in the first one or two sittings with the model. This will involve several small pencil sketches to establish the flow of the composition—the major lines and shapes, both positive and negative. After the composition is established I execute a drawing in pencil on butcher paper. This is done quickly, with no thought to detail, to basically establish the size of the canvas. After the canvas is prepared with a tinted lead ground, I begin drawing again on the prepared canvas with charcoal. After the charcoal drawing is finished, I go over the drawing again with pencil trying to improve the charcoal. Once this is done, I begin laying in the paint again trying to improve upon what has gone before. I try to impart the illusion of detail with as few brushstrokes as possible. I think that “less is more.”
I believe that working from life imparts a greater vitality to one’s work. I admire greatly the old Masters and their love of painting and dedication to the job—painters such as Velasquez, Titian, and Mantegna. I feel that many of the sound principles of draughtsmanship and painting from that era have been lost or forgotten. I also believe that they could extract, paradoxically, the widest range of expression from the simplest of means. They were masters of color, form, tonality, and draughtsmanship. I, in my own working habits and in my own very small way, am trying to emulate their example.
I’m interested in exploring the human form in different manifestations using veils, masks, and other props combined with dramatic lighting to slightly skew the visual experience. I suppose I’m trying to paint what’s inside the model, i.e., the emotional and psychological underpinnings. I also hope my work evokes emotions within the viewer, a visceral and/or intellectual response which at times might even be disturbing.
I feel myself to be in a long line of painters, beginning around the 15th century, who have employed the same materials and techniques. I relate to the “Old Masters” and Renaissance painters. Perhaps one could say that I am trying to explore the psychology of the modern day via the Old Masters’ approach and palette."
Dan Griggs
I have always drawn and painted exclusively from life whether it be a model, still life, or landscape. I do not work from photographs. My procedure is to establish the composition in the first one or two sittings with the model. This will involve several small pencil sketches to establish the flow of the composition—the major lines and shapes, both positive and negative. After the composition is established I execute a drawing in pencil on butcher paper. This is done quickly, with no thought to detail, to basically establish the size of the canvas. After the canvas is prepared with a tinted lead ground, I begin drawing again on the prepared canvas with charcoal. After the charcoal drawing is finished, I go over the drawing again with pencil trying to improve the charcoal. Once this is done, I begin laying in the paint again trying to improve upon what has gone before. I try to impart the illusion of detail with as few brushstrokes as possible. I think that “less is more.”
I believe that working from life imparts a greater vitality to one’s work. I admire greatly the old Masters and their love of painting and dedication to the job—painters such as Velasquez, Titian, and Mantegna. I feel that many of the sound principles of draughtsmanship and painting from that era have been lost or forgotten. I also believe that they could extract, paradoxically, the widest range of expression from the simplest of means. They were masters of color, form, tonality, and draughtsmanship. I, in my own working habits and in my own very small way, am trying to emulate their example.
I’m interested in exploring the human form in different manifestations using veils, masks, and other props combined with dramatic lighting to slightly skew the visual experience. I suppose I’m trying to paint what’s inside the model, i.e., the emotional and psychological underpinnings. I also hope my work evokes emotions within the viewer, a visceral and/or intellectual response which at times might even be disturbing.
I feel myself to be in a long line of painters, beginning around the 15th century, who have employed the same materials and techniques. I relate to the “Old Masters” and Renaissance painters. Perhaps one could say that I am trying to explore the psychology of the modern day via the Old Masters’ approach and palette."
Dan Griggs
Posts
