instinct
Winter Morning 16" x 20"
When I opened my email this morning I first received Robert Genn's Twice-Weekly Letter, entitled 'The Art Instinct', and then the weekly Illustration Friday, whose theme this week is 'instinct'. Weird. Bob's letter is all about the relationship between the preference for landscapes and the need to hunt for food:
The reason so many people in so many cultures prefer a landscape painting to other art is that in the Pleistocene and earlier times, pastoral images were part of finding something to eat. So suggests philosophy professor Denis Dutton in The Art Instinct.
Coincidentally, this morning I photographed this 'pastoral image' that I completed yesterday (more on the process later). All of a sudden I have the instinctive urge to post it for Illustration Friday.
posted by andrea at 12:22 p.m.
17 Comments:
What a lovely image! And very interesting to learn about instinct in regards to food hunting.
I'd love to hear more about your art process.
wonderfully peaceful!
Stunning landscape Andrea!
Nice theory but I thought most early art involved animals more than landscapes... are there lots of cave paintings of trees?
this is beautiful
You've done an excellent job of capturing the sense of the cold of winter. I must admit though, I don't feel any more hungry than usual when I look at it - maybe a painting of the cookie aisle at Safeway would do that!
Interesting hypothesis by Prof Dutton, maybe some validity in it, interested to know what his views on still life might be. Anyway, all of that is a little beside point, as we are discussing your piece which as someone else said truly conveys the feeling of winter.
I LOVE this piece, is this the direction you're heading in?
I too often wonder why landscapes are so preferred so that theory is interesting. In terms of value of old artwork, I wonder why landscapes with a figure or two are usually considered more valuable than without.
And Illustration Friday? you are SO pushing it missy, HA!
Heya, your Salmon Arm fan here. Wow, somehow you built so much "air" into this one -- I love it! Has a real sense of a great big (cold) vista or distance. I am in awe!
Lovely piece!
i just feel like keep looking at it...
I love the palette on this one.
I'm not sure I concurred with the landscape=urge to hunt/gather food as its appeal. (Certainly not the reason I like them).
wonderful!
i don't think i have ever seen you paint such a wide landscape...
I love it. Really captures the cold stillness of the wintery landscape. I can hear the crunch of steps on the snow.
Interesting theory about why landscapes are so popular.
Beautiful composition!
This is so serene and captivating! You are as expressive with a muted palette as you are with those vibrant colors... I just love this! RG's article was definitely very interesting... he seems to have a never-ending supply of ideas to write about!
Now that's serendipity! :) I love your landscape.Very much! :)
so beautiful picture!
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