Questions answers

Q: Do artists who do modern art disregard all the principals we learned, or

do they just super simplify things?
A: It is easier to do modern art because it would not require all the know how and
discipline traditional art requires. So an artist can produce art under the pretext that
he is expressing himself and hide the lack of art knowledge under producing
controversial reactions. However abstract art does have its place in the world and I
admire modern art that has been thought out. I have seen some wonderful modern
art. Modern art even though it does not need to fill so many requirements such as
landscape painting still needs to meet, balance, color harmony, and eye flow. If
these are not met then the artists is lacking essentials.

Q: Johannes, do you always paint from the front to the back ?

A: When I refer “think front to back” that is not the painting procedure. It is a
visualizing technique to create depth in your paintings. Except for watercolor, I do
not follow a specific procedure. I follow my gut feeling.

Q: WOULD IT BE SAFE TO SAY THAT PLEIN AIR PAINTING IS MORE ABOUT

THE MOMENT, COLOR , HUE, CONTRAST, AND EMOTION?
A: Yes, it has to be an honest response to the moment, a lot of emotion plays in, this
is why a good plein air will beat any studio painting if all the requisites are met-
because the emotions are impregnated in it, you have to see for yourself!

Q: IT'S LIKE WRITING A FICTIONAL NOVEL BASED ON HISTORICAL FACTS.

EMBELISH AND ENHANCE WHERE NEEDED?
A: yeah, good analogy

Q: What is the most difficult plein air painting you did and why was it hard?
A: For me it’s not the subject so much as my mastery of edges, value, color, deign
etc. The hardest ones are the ones that deal with subject matter I have not dealt
with or know, in which case I have to paint it as a study, so that it can be fused in
my memory for future paintings. Plein air is hard, externally, because of the light
glaring on the canvas or while painting in the shadow the light is so intense you get
false colors, glare, mosquitos, bystanders and tourists asking you to get out of the
way because they want to shoot the scene! But to answer your question the most
difficult painting was when I had to hike a couple of miles uphill with my gear to get
there. That was Avalanche lake in Rocky Mountain National park.

Q: Can you give some examples of poetic license to change reflections to fit
the composition?
A: Rule of thumb, always exaggerate reflected light when it is sunny, or move your
objects so in order to explain the existence of the most reflected light possible- this
will inflame your painting with luminosity. Do not overdo it, or paint it in settings
where the viewer will find it hard to find reflected light justifiable. Change things to
suit the composition, but the viewer still has to believe that the logic of nature was
not invaded! You can prolong or shorten water reflections to avoid tangents or to
allow your eye into the painting.

Q: WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT A MOTHER COLOR, SHOULD IT REALLY BE A

MOTHER HUE?
A: Mother hue would refer to tonal paintings where it’s one hue in different degrees
of value and saturation. But nature is not tonal, so its color harmony depends on
mother temperatures depending on the light source. Warm for sun, cool for sky etc.,
as general factors, because anything in the sun, including cool surfaces will be warm
and under the blue sky, in the shade, things will lean to the cool temperature. But
bear in mind, the shadow of the object and its light have to be related, since there
will always be a harmonizing factor between the two (light side and shadows side)
regardless of them being under separate light sources. The fact that almost every
object absorbs certain colors of the spectrum will make the object less subject to the
whims of varying light sources. This is the common denominator, of one thing in
several types of light feeling like it’s the same thing under different lights (instead of
several separate things). This is why the shade of a rock is not blue, but still related
to its counterpart in the light. White on the other hand, reflects light entirely, so if
the light and shaded side are under different lights, yellow and blue, then this oddity
would show up, almost like seeing two things in one! But yes in a nutshell I am
referring to mother hue.

Q: Did I see a blue sky in Jo's painting of Hawaii?

A: No, what you saw was a sky you thought was blue but if you were to analyze
it on a computer you would see it has green in it so he slightly shifted it to blue
green. When Johannes said "I never paint a blue sky or blue water", he means an
absolute blue on the color wheel. He tends to add some yellow to it to shift it
towards blue green hues so the sky harmonizes with the rest of the painting.