The Voice of the Pigments (art school by Paul A. L. Hall of paulhallart)

art school 101.  Pigment has a voice.  and ur eyes r the ears.



But then we have to return the subjective as the bigger subject of light itself takes us beyond or simple abilities to measure and to reason.  It's certainly a stretch to be talking about hearing with the eyes and now eating with the eyes as well.  There are other metaphors to use before I'm through, one of which is that I thought of my paintings that I was making for people to be for them as if it were, visual gymnasiums of use to them for the development necessary to envision a greater world beyond; a world of significance that was theirs and that they were privy to.



Now the point I'm making is that the oil painting is the most powerful collection of pigments because of the nature of the binder, oil.  Linseed oil holds 80 to 90 percent pigment, more than anything else in the art world except pastel which is pure pigment held in place by a bit of gum arabic.  But pastel, though rich in color is held in by the tooth of the picture plane and by application of a fixative.   Not as powerful as the oil painting using linseed oil which polymerizes and oxides turning the oil paint into a film so slowly that it takes a century to really "dry" (though in a month or so, depending on the relative humidity, it can be dry to the touch) and can easily last a millennium if applied properly.



This article is not about the medium of oil or gum arabic, but rather I'm writing about pigments, here.  I might add here that the paintings seem to be able to retain a lot of their characteristics even when transposed through the digitization of the photography and computer as well as the phosphors of the monitor screen.  The digitization of the image acts as an analog presentation of the work itself in a way.



  What you're looking at when you see the paintings is the voice of the pigments; compounds of cadmium, zinc, copper, aluminum, iron, carbon and so on.   It is the substrate for the instrument of light to bring their message to the eyes of the observer.  In this way the work of art is far more than mere composition or detail, but it is also a symphony of light which brings to the observer the voices of the very pigments themselves that speak of universes beyond eternity and promote the lowly human to a greater station of life.  No longer a consumer but now an observer.  There is now a wonderful purpose to the function of that person.



It brings out the indispensable role each of us can and must fulfill as individuals rather than mindless cogs in a dysfunctional machine given the flimsy excuse of "team".