The following comments on two of my favourite art magazines were a feature of my blogspot for April 2008. They are now retired to this blog page.
International Artist # 60
In painting, one is very close to the psychology of colour, and one notices the dominant colour mix in every picture one reviews. The thing is that we like a picture partly because we have a preference for specific colours and very specific colour combinations. There is a whole science emerging from Dr. Max Luscher that details using factorial analysis those vectors of association, mostly subconscious, that drive our preference functions. These can be related to our age, our state of health, our monthly period, the time of day, our internal clock, our genetic makeup, our family relationships, our stress, and numerous other factors that contribute to our psychology.
The colours of the art we like and dislike, thus can be thought of as an accurate deep mirror of our health and psychological well being. It matters what your colour preferences are! In awarding prizes for competitions, the judges are driven by colour preferences as well as by a myriad of other more logical measures of an images value to them. The choices are inevitably subjective, and often differ from what you or I might like, for whatever reason. I put this to the test. There is a competition of still life flowers and gardens. Will I agree with the judges?
In international artist issue 60, I see lots that I like. There is a selection of images of more than a dozen finalists. Out of the 12 plus shown, I would not have chosen the Grand Prize Winner by Elaine Ruettiger. I preferred number 2, by Tracy Williams to it. Part of the reason is the colour mix. I once used to have lunch regularly at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. There was a still painting on the wall with an orange yellow mix that I was addicted to. Don't ask me why, but I would just love to sit alongside that image listening to the waterfall, for those who know the Gallery intimately. It is an amazing place to eat, and the salmon they do is usually very good, and not too pricey.
My next choice would have been a finalist by Sandy Delehanty of California. The texture of her image and the colour mix really get to me. What an amazing watercolour!
It was interesting to note that many of the winning images we done on a black background, which reinforces my theory about colour. Black is a strengthener for any colour preference. More than enough of the finalists were white black offsets, which suggests an inclination of the judges towards fairness. I can't argue with that, but the rest of the population is not all that fair.
AMERICAN art COLECTOR # 30
The American art Collector is a magazine with loads of advertising for collectors who want a quick glimpse of genres of images that show houses my have for viewing. Of the adverts, my favourite was that on page 229 for Lindsay Goodwin's image Table Setting at Johnathan Club. There is something about a seductive room with light on a table set for diners. It may be the time of day, such as just before a meal. I remember the wonderful settings and dining rooms on board the vessel Queen Mary 3.