Share to XI was going through the work of Bato Dugarzhapov. I would say he’s my favorite living artist. His work won’t be for everyone, but it always spoke to me.
Many of his paintings are of simple, understated subjects. A wave, a tree in a landscape, an outdoor staircase. But he paints them as elegant masterpieces. Often his paintings end up being only a vague resemblance of the subject in front of him, yet they appear oddly realistic. It’s like he is painting things we can’t even see.
It struck me that this is the difference between the true masters and those who are technically brilliant. Some artists are able to carefully render what they see, to almost photographic realism. And that’s impressive. But the true masters take it a step further. They are able to bend and manipulate the subject into something even more beautiful and harmonious and unique.
If you look at Bato’s work, notice how he changes the value key, purposely ignores detail, and pushes and exaggerates certain ideas. It’s not easy to paint like this! It requires a strong vision and the confidence to follow it. Vincent van Gogh was the same.
Confidence is key. From all the demonstrations I have watched of Bato, his confidence has never faltered, even when his painting is not coming together nicely. He has a vision, he paints it, and he moves on. He doesn’t seem to sweat the outcome too much.
It reminded me that I must be careful not to fall into “copy” zone. Instead, I must keep honing my vision of the world and trying to capture that. That is the goal of art. Not to copy the subject but to capture how each of us sees the world. That is what makes art unique.
What do you think of Bato’s work? Does it speak to you as well?
Also, we are running a brief promotion on our Tree Workshop. The price goes back up tomorrow.
Happy painting!
Dan Scott
Draw Paint Academy
