What do you see?


Annemie Odendaal: "Ballet Shoes"
Oil & Charcoal
As a painter, you are required to look at things a little differently, a little deeper. Paint that emotion behind the eyes, capture the magic that isn't visible on the surface. You have to look at an object and see how things really are. You can not draw from memory, you have to really look investigatively. We have to examine every angle, it is the only way to develop or grow in your style.

Years ago the Impressionists tried this for the first time, followed by the post-impressionists, expressionists and cubists. Until then, everybody painted just what they saw on surface and from memory. Everything was picture perfect and pretty. Almost documentary, which make sense, since there wasn't any cameras.