Headspace

Leonid Afremov, 2012, Blue Lights

I've always been inspired by artists who have a keen sense of color and light.  When I look at a white sphere, I see a white sphere, and I have a habit of shading such a thing completely monochromatically; what I see in professional artists, though, is an ability to take in not just what they think they see, but what is actually there--which often includes more colour than our brain recognizes.  Most of us are programmed to see the object, filtering out excess information like reflected light, but the way some people can train themselves to see this effect and reproduce it is fascinating to me.  It makes all the difference between a pretty painting and a stunning one.

I am also in love with impressionism, the way an artist can give vague, blotchy shapes and imply so much detail.  It's always encouraging to see modern artists who still use this heavily and with such skill.

In this painting, in particular, I am struck by the contrast between the cool and warm colors, the blue lights and the orange.  In between, where they mingle, the colours turn to not only green, but also shades of cyan and even purple, colours I would not have thought appropriate on my own.  It inspires and reminds me to look at the world with attention to such details, to see the vibrancy in an object, not just its function.  The lighting of the watery street is astoundingly convincing, like I could touch the painting and come away soaked.  Though the painting is far from photorealistic, it is in some way hyper-real.