Arthur Barnes is a artist who works in a variety of mediums including ink, watercolor, pastels and oils. He prefers to work directly from life and his favorite subjects are landscapes with an emphasis on nocturnes and scenes of the Erie Canal.
Arthur has had little formal training but was fortunate to study a year under Juanita Greene Parks in 1982. She had studied under Reginald Marsh and Robert Brackman. Brackman was a student of Ashcan artist/ teacher Robert Henri. Since that time, Arthur has been on a consistent course of self-training in art with an emphasis on learning through experience much like the Ashcan artists. 'You learn to draw. . .by drawing,' his teacher often recited.
Artists Statement on Nocturnes
'Half of our lives are spent in the absence of daylight. For the most part, the beauty of night goes by unnoticed and under-appreciated. It is my hope that my art can help people to see that the night is in fact a world of color and beauty. I use ink and watercolor to achieve my goal of creating loose, spontaneous works that have balance, rhythm and structure. I don't consider myself a traditional watercolorist. I use black much like the Chinese who considered it a color that represents a sense of quiet and of a coming of rest. The scenes in my art are of real places and things. I draw directly from life, usually in the dark, and then paint over the drawing afterward. I paint from a combination of memory and imagination in an attempt to capture a certain mood.' Arthur Barnes
Arthur Barnes joined Pixels.com Licensing on November 23rd, 2011.
