Author Archives: Lawrence Grodecki

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About Lawrence Grodecki

I'm a visual artist with a contemporary look. My art is not so easily classified and some have told me I'm developing a new style... "Lawrence`s unique choice of combining his drawing, natural found objects and digital painting represent an evolved and mature art language." - Laara Williamsen

Eight Picture about Pictures

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Ever since I was a little kid I’ve loved going to the movies. Saturday afternoon matinees were always a treat in my little hometown. In those days we didn’t have to buy popcorn and drinks in the theater. Mr. Ratushniak (the owner) was kind enough to let us stock up on penny candy at the convenience store next door. If you were quick enough at making your choices, you would have time enough to browse through those “detective magazines” . . . it always seemed odd how the detectives had to help ladies who were wearing underwear. You always got a good feel for their dilemma, but you never got to see the detectives . . . good cover I suppose?

So I could never get enough of Sinbad, or Hercules, or The Three Stooges or so many others. As for Barbarella, the closest I could get was the gorgeous movie poster that hung outside the theater for what seemed like months, yet not long enough? I could never understand why that movie wasn’t matinee-worthy, and I was pretty smart for a 12 year-old.

In more recent years I’ve watched a fair number of art-related movies. I don’t even go looking for them, and yet there have been plenty. There have been some fascinating ones and some so-so ones. It’s kind of funny though. I often say that I can’t understand why people who love my art seem to want to know stuff about me . . . the emphasis should be on the art, and not me at all. I just don’t get it. Yet here I am watching these films, totally captivated about these artists’ stories, and paying almost no attention to the art.

Anyways, here’s a partial list of those films. I’m no critic, so I’m just going to list them along with a brief comment. I hope you find something of interest, and by the way, they’re certainly not all bio-pics. If you know of any not on this list, by all means add a recommendation in a comment, and foreign films are more than welcome.

So without further adieu, here’s a list of eight, in no particular order:

  • Klimt, starring John Malkovich
  • Frida, starring Selma Hayak . . . perhaps my favorite in the bunch
  • Renoir – a French film about the artist’s life in his later years, especially his relationship with his son, who went on to be a film director
  • The Thomas Crown Affair – the more recent one with Pierce Bronson
  • The Best Offer – an intriguing mystery about a high-end, reclusive art dealer
  • Tim’s Vermeer – an interesting documentary
  • Girl With The Pearl Earring – a close second in the favorites department starring Scarlett Johansson

That’s it for now. As a final note, I’m surprised that I’ve never come across any film about Leonardo, so if you know of a good one, please let me know . . . and that’s da Vinci, not DiCapprio!

Who's Counting by Lawrence Grodecki

Some of My Fresh, New Art

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For over a month I’ve been talking about putting my art out there in limited editions. It’s only a matter of time now before I do that. I’ll easily have a dozen paintings offered in editions of 50 each, possibly 52. I’m thinking the number of paintings will be closer to twenty than a dozen, but they may not be released all at once.

I want to keep this post short, so I’ll be blogging more about this move over the next few weeks. In the meantime, at least six of my limited edition selections have never been published elsewhere, such as my site on Fine Art America. Here’s five of them, and for a change I composed a group shot – I hope you can view it okay – it looks great on my laptop!

As not all the titles are finalized, I won’t mention any for now. However, if you have any questions then please add a comment here, or send me a private email to: ljgrodecki at google [dot] com.

I hope you enjoy the view . . . the one in the middle has never been seen before, other than by me. 🙂

A collage of five new works by Lawrence Grodecki

A collage of unpublished creations, soon to be available in limited edition.

 

Announcing “Who’s Counting?”

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The past dozen days or so have been extra-hectic this holiday season. The memorable moments are many, and it’s times like these when I’m tempted to gush over my two daughters. I can’t even start, because if I do I won’t know when to stop!

With a lot more company this year, there were only a few private hours most days, and in those times I worked on this new picture (shown at the bottom). This new one is actually a complete redoing of the pair you see at the top of this post. That top left one was done about 7 years ago. I believe it began with the scan of some shiny paper, such as the foil wrap on a chocolate. That’s where it shiny, metallic look comes from. The one on the right is a later rendition of the left one.

Anyways, I took these older picture and married them up with another sketch. Then I played with some special effects, including a “colored pencil ” one . . . that colored pencil one is the base (or starting point) of the finished piece. You can see that on the left side below. The finished piece is on the right and is called, “Who’s Counting?”

I love that title. This picture has a lot to say, on many issues, but I’m keeping that private for now. However, this title – Who’s Counting? – speaks volumes. It’s an interesting question to keep in mind while viewing the picture.

As in many of my creations, there are several “tiny surprises” in the small details, but you won’t be able to see them here. You can see most of the blending effects though, and visual tricks, such arms that suddenly look like legs . . . or is it legs that appear to be arms?

A Gentle Epiphany

Aside from all that, over the past couple of weeks, while working on this picture, I noticed another change come over me. It happened while on a short break from my art and in a brief online discussion with a fan. She mentioned the passion put into my art. I suddenly realized that this is no longer totally true. It feels like that passion has changed. It’s still there but now it feels like the process of the art has become an inseparable part of me, kind of like breathing or eating or sleeping, just not physical. That’s a very comforting, nice feeling but also a calm one, so I’m not sure the term “passion” fully applies to it.

I know that almost sounds spiritual, and I suppose it is . . . I’m just grateful for the change, and for the way this picture came out.

Presenting “Who’s Counting?”

As spiritual as that may be, there is also the public side to my art . . . “putting it out there”! Over the past few months, and in discussions with some very talented and experienced art professionals, I’m pretty much convinced that I should offer some of my art in limited editions. They will be signed and numbered. It may be a small run of 25-30 prints. If so, then the pricing will be much higher than my current offerings on FineArtAmerica.

That’s why I’m delaying making this picture available for acquisition right away.

If you have any serious curiosity about these limited editions, I’d love to hear from you privately, by email directly, or through my website or on social media. For now, I just want you to enjoy your view of “Who’s Counting?”

two images of a painting called "Who's Counting?"

Who’s Counting – From start to finish.

A digital painting called "I Want To Take You There"

I Want to Take You There

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This post is about today’s release of a new painting, called “I Want to Take You There”.

It’s the feature image here. The bright, playful and curvy figures in the center took awhile to complete – a few days of touching up something that had been at rest for several years now. By Friday night the only thing left was to add some sort of background – at that point I really had no idea what that would be.

For my backgrounds I often browse through several older creations, picked one or part of one, and then play with it using different effects. If you’re familiar with layering that essentially what I did for this background. Sometimes It can be a very simple process, other times not so easy. No matter what, inevitably there is some tweaking involved . . . altering shapes, redrawing, cropping, colors, contrast and so.

If it starts to be a struggle then I’ll stop and reconsider whether I’m on the right path. Over the years that happens often, and that’s when I’ll leave one painting and go on to another. That’s one reason why I have so many unfinished projects. However, more often than not, when I revisit a piece, what was once a struggle can suddenly became an easy labor of love . . . and that’s when something happens . . . I like to call it a little magic.

Friday night had its magic moments.

When it was finished I posted this painting on Twitter, as I like to do to get some feedback, to get a discussion going. It was a really nice reaction, and especially the exchange I had with a fellow artist who loves my work. She judges a lot of art in various shows, and she commented on how she finds my work hard to respond to, though she loves the “gorgeous complexity”.

I told her how I’ve found that my favorite compliment is basically, “I like it but I don’t know why!” I told her that to me it seems pretty simple, but then if I have to explain it . . . “Oye!”

We also talked a bit about those hard-to-explain moments when something special happens in the process, that little magic . . . the “wow” moments. I look for those moments, but mostly wait for them, and definitely cherish them. She understood exactly what I meant.

Finally, often there’s something ephemeral about a piece, something I really want to convey, to somehow pass on to you as a viewer. It is kind of spiritual. We talked a bit about that too, and for some reason it got me thinking about Madonna’s old hit, “Just Like a Prayer”. That link takes to a video of a live performance of her song, and through the course of this viewing, a few minutes before midnight, came the title, “I Want To Take You There”.

A picture called Learning To Dance

You Look Like You’re Looking For $50!

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I’ve spent the past 3 days revamping my web site on Fine Art America.

The galleries have been completely refreshed, much better now . . . you’ll see what I mean if you visit the site. Also, I’ve taken off the smaller print options and added a few larger ones. Each creation is now available in six different image sizes – there used to eight or nine. I’ve also fiddled with the pricing, but nothing major though. In the process, it finally occurred to me how to have a little fun with this holiday craziness, beginning with Cyber Monday.

As of today I’ve dropped my price by $50 on select pictures and sizes.

Here’s the fun part though . . . the savings will only last until Saturday, December 6th. By Sunday morning I will have taken off these savings, at least most of them –  I have no idea which ones will remain! Then for the following week  I’ll do something similar.

Currently this selection includes twelve of my creations as shown in the list below. These are all from my gallery called “Fan Favorites”. If you click on any of the picture titles, you will be taken to that picture on my site (in a new window).

I’ll be letting people know about this offer on Twitter and elsewhere throughout the week, and I do consider this to be one of the few ways to thank you all for tolerating my ramblings, and especially my quirky sense of humor.

Now here is the list, by title and then the size where you will find the $50 savings.

Enjoy the view, and please do me a nice favor and share the news, either through this blog post, or on my art site, or both. I know how easy it is to forget to do that, so please don’t find me rude for asking . . . there are much better reasons for that foundation! ha ha

  1. Commonality – 20″ w x 16″ h    (50.8 cm w x 40.6 cm h)
  2. In the Right Place – 24″ w x 24″ h    (61 cm w x 61 cm h)
  3. Learning To Dance – 24″ w x 18″ h    (61 cm w x 45.7 cm h)
  4. Leaves in Elegance – 20″ w x 16″ h    (50.8 cm w x 40.6 cm h)
  5. Forever Dancing – 20″ w x 16″ h    (50.8 cm w x 40.6 cm h)
  6. Missing You – 16″ w x 20″ h    (40.6 cm w x 50.8 cm h)
  7. Promises – 16″ w x 20″ h    (40.6 cm w x 50.8 cm h)
  8. Shyness Revealed – 21 5/8″ w x 24″ h    (54.9 cm w x 61 cm h)
  9. Sunset on the Beach – 18″ w x 24″ h    (45.7 cm w x 61 cm h)
  10. The Other Way – 20″ w x 16″ h    (50.8 cm w x 40.6 cm h)
  11. Touched – 18″ w x 24″ h    (45.7 cm w x 61 cm h)
  12. Angels Calling – 36″ w x 25 3/4″ h    (91.4 cm w x 65.4 cm h)

Important note: For safe Christmas delivery the order deadline is midnight, Dec. 15th. Also, all orders have a 30-day money-back guarantee.

In the Right Place - art

WTF – Happy Thanksgiving!

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There’s so much going on around the world that is so damn troubling. Like countless others, it seems that no matter what one does individually or collectively, these troubles persist. Yet we try.

I’m one of those who in the past few years has tried to avoid “the news”, as in “mostly the relentless accounts of the worse current events”. In fact for me almost everything about what we call “the news” is among the most troubling of our current events.

As hard as I try, one simply cannot avoid some stories, such as the ongoing Ferguson debacle. I usually don’t blog or comment about these terrible tragedies, but for some reason this one has gotten me down more than most . . . I’m reminded of an incident that happened about 12 years ago, in Birmingham, Alabama.

I was there for a few days on business, along with a few others. One evening a co-worker and I decided to go for a walk, check out the city a bit. We were close to downtown, walking distance from the convention center, and there was plenty enough to see and do. In other words, we came across a pool hall.

It seemed like a nice, safe area. It was clean, lots of lights, a beautiful evening, friendly people around, and so on. We felt extra safe when we noticed a few police officers. They stood out partly because they were on bikes, just strolling around. One especially stood out because he looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime. They also had on these skin-tight uniforms – a tight shirt and shorts – at least on of the Village People would be so envious.

A few minutes after seeing these police we were safely inside this nice, clean pool hall. We got ourselves some whiskey & coke and soon the game became so relaxing. In other words I began to kick his ass . . . oh, how I missed my snooker! To make matters sweeter, the music came on. Nice tunes on the jukebox, courtesy of two very attractive young ladies in the corner, the only two others in the place, aside from the bartender. I glanced over. They really were stunning to be honest, especially with their smiles and giggles.

My friend and I continued with our game. Then Arnold entered the hall. I had my back to the ladies in the corner, which is where the policeman was headed. All of a sudden those giggles turned to loud screams. In a horrible flash I turned to see what was going on. The ladies had their arms up and backs arched away from Arnold – a defensive posture. It was necessary because the policeman had a long nightstick raised and extended in his right hand.

In this flash I saw this nightstick begin its downward assault. Almost miraculously, it stopped. No one was hurt. The young ladies left their drinks behind and made a quick exit, visibly shaken but at least not beaten. The officer had his back to us the whole time. I can’t remember if he glanced over in our direction behind he quickly left the place as well.

We asked the bartender what had just happened. She told us that apparently these young ladies did not have any I.D. on them, so it was unclear whether they could legally be in this licensed hall.

My reaction now remains as it was then, and it’s the same for Ferguson, “WTF!!!”

I forgot to mention that these were ladies of color and the officer was white . . . they also appeared to be close to the same age.

Anyway, I can’t stop any of this madness. About the only thing I can do is offer my little sign of peace. It’s not much. It’s just a savings of five bucks, and by that I mean I’m giving away my novel – today and tomorrow – November 26th and 27th.

While the book is about love, it does have its unsettling parts and aspects . . . did I mention fear? Still, overall it’s about the best of humanity . . . at times like these it seems we all need reminders of that means . . . a temporary escape from some of these troubles.

So here’s my Amazon link to “Dawn at Last”. While I know it doesn’t mean much at all, at least it’s a little something . . . a little gift.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends. Finally, to my friends around the world, even those whom I have yet to meet, I’d be honored to have you accept my gift.

a picture of leaves

Painting In Time

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This is my last “art post” for awhile. It’s about time, or perhaps timing is the better choice of words?

I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked in various ways about how long it takes me to create something. Even when not asked, it becomes an awkward aspect of announcing a new project.

Incidentally, I’m one of those who agrees with Leonardo da Vinci and many others . . . a work of art is never finished . . . there is some universal truth in that, I’m sure. What is amusing about that is looking at the beginning of a piece.

If art has no “ending” then where does it really begin?

That can be a fascinating question to tackle. For example, in a way “Rita’s Vision” took me less than a week to complete – sometimes completion feels like a surrender, but a very sweet, peaceful one. But where did this picture start? If you read my my last post, Some Notes on My Art Style, you can see that this picture really began almost 10 years ago, with the collection of some leaves, and then a scan. But then there were many pictures that came out of this scan, and each time something new happens. Something is learned?

A style eventually emerges, change happens . . . often unnoticed. There are elements in this picture that were not part of that style ten years ago, so in a way each picture is the result of weeks and months of other pictures. That applies not only directly to the these leaves, but indirectly too – all those other creations that had their influence as well.

Let’s not forget that without those leaves none of this would have happened . . . this art. So where did these leaves come from, the first ones? Some may call this philosophical whimsy, but to me it’s not. It’s another example of a prominent theme to my art and novel. Everything blends and time is certainly no exception!

I’m going to try to avoid this issue of time in the future (no pun intended). When it comes to art, and especially with art, time really is so irrelevant.

Finally, the picture at the top is what I’m playing with now. There’s no name yet – that will come in a different now. By the way, now is my favorite time!

 

Fourth in a series of paintings.

Some Notes on My Art Style

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This is yet another post about my art, but perhaps the last for awhile.

There’s a few things I’d like to clarify, based on some of the questions and comments I’ve had recently on various social media. Much of this ties in with what I’ve said many times, “A lot of my art is done with leaves. Also, I paint with light.”

The best way to show this is with a few pictures. The first one is a very simple example of how I begin several of my projects . . . with a scan of a leaf or leaves, as shown below, on the left. Next to it you can see how I drew over part of the veins of the leaf . . . selectively. I do this on screen, rough at first, but then with a lot of smoothing, as seen in the right picture. There are several other adjustments to follow, such as reshaping, not to mention color.

Two images of a leaf

A simple example of using leaves as a base for my art.

The Leaves Become My Canvas

The next example is much more involved. It begins with a group of fall leaves. I lay them out on my scanner with a little thought paid to composition – but not too much – so it is not quite random. Because of this, it may take two or three tries before I’m satisfied with how the leaves look on-screen. It’s mostly an intuitive process.

After that I may work with the entire scanned image, but more likely I’ll just use a small, cropped portion, and then enlarge it. In this case I’ve done a series of cropped sections. Put another way, now I have three very different scans. Each one becomes “my blank canvas that really isn’t blank.” – after studying this image for a minute or two, I’ll start sketching, based on whatever has caught my eye.

Now here are those three images I’ve been talking about. “A” refers to the main scan (1st one), while “B” is part of the middle region in”A”. In turn, “C” is the bottom left part of “B”.

three scans of a set of leaves.

One scan of leaves, but three different “blank canvases”!

 How the Picture at the Top of this Post Came to “B”

From there it really becomes an adventure. With no preconception of what I will find, I have full confidence that something exciting and intriguing will show up. It almost always does! So it often feels more like a discovery than a creation, as if the picture or story is waiting there to be drawn. Perhaps that’s a different way of interpreting one’s muses? I like to think so.

Take image “B” for example. I’m showing it here again, but this time with a mauve rectangular inset that shows what was to become a series of pictures, only one of which has been published.

 

picture of leaves

Image “B” within an inset that shows the base of a series of paintings.

Now here are the pictures that came of this inset – for most of these, there are dozens of renditions done to get to what you see here. These remain untitled as they are still considered works in progress:

first in a series of digital paintings

The first in this series, chronologically.

second image in a series of paintings

Second in the series.

Third in a series of digital paintings.

Third in the series.

Fourth in a series of paintings.

Fourth in the series.

Now here is the last in this series. This is a version of the published picture, called, “Troubled”. If you click on this image, you will be taken to the final version of “Troubled” on my site.

last in a series of digital paintings.

The last in this series, so far.

“Rita’s Vision” is There Too . . . “C”

Thank you bearing with me so far. Now I’m going to show you what came out of the smallest cropping – image “C” from above. I’m showing it again here, rotated to match the picture that became of it. That picture follows right after – it’s my newly released piece called “Rita’s Vision”. Once again, clicking the image takes you to my site:

repeat of image "C", rotated.

Image “C” from above, rotated 90 degrees.

a picture called "Rita's Vision".

That’s enough for now. I intended to discuss the issue of how long it takes to make my creations. Given how I do things, that’s not always an easy question, so it looks like I’ll be doing one more style-related post, but it will be much shorter than this one.

They Call It Progression

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Well I made a promise in my last post, so I’m going to try to keep it:

In my next post I’m going to explain the changes I went through, style-wise, while bringing“Angels Calling” to form. This may seem self-indulgent, but it will be a worthwhile exercise for me, and hopefully there will be something you might learn as well? At the very least there will be lots of pictures to see!

This has turned out to be more difficult than I thought . . . it’s very much like trying to put something special into words, even though you know it’s pretty much impossible to fully do so.

That has certainly been the case with this this blog, though it’s easier if I focus more on technical things that happened through the month. For example, I went back to sketching in curves that were never there in the first place . . . it’s very much like doing the sketch after the painting is done . . . it turns out this is quite opposite of the norm.

I learned that while watching an intriguing documentary about the Dutch Master, Johannes Vermeer . . . his painting, and especially his technique. For me it raises a lot of issues that surround “what art is” and the misconceptions about digital painting. There’s also this curious issue of painting with light . . . apparently that’s not supposed to be possible, but I didn’t though that . . . it feels like I’ve been doing that for years now.

It’s a fascinating film in that context, especially since the mystery of Vermeer has lasted over 300 years. The findings in the film can be a little disturbing to some art lovers . . . it was that way for me. To avoid any spoilers, you can see the trailer here if you like: a documentary called “Tim’s Vermeer”.

A Blurring of Visions

In many ways this project was a blurring of previous ones, though it felt more like a fine blending by the time it was finished. For the first time ever, I spent some quality time looking back on my development. It happened differently through each of three major stages of detailing . . . always unexpected. As a reminder, the project I’m talking about is “Angels Calling”. It consumed my October, and during this month I went back to study at least half dozen pieces, ones I’ve done over the past decade. I’d compare some aspect of the current project to one of those older pictures. Then immediately I’d notice something nice about my own progression. Sometimes the changes are subtle, other times stark, and always a little amusing, but not in any nostalgic way.

This happened with every old picture that came to mind. Oddly though, these were also breakthrough pictures for me personally, usually involving new tools or applications of old ones – the personal “wow” moments. Taken all together, this led to an immense sense of calmness, like finding balance in a new way, and certainly style-wise. It’s a really good feeling.

Finally, I mentioned a series of 41 renditions in the progression of “Angels Calling”. How it works is that every time I make a fundamental change to a rendition, I save it as the next highest rendition number. That way I can sit back and see if each change is for the better. If so, then the higher numbered version becomes my new work-in-progress. It’s an elegantly simple system, and it works beautifully. Still, it’s not always easy to decide whether an improvement has been made, or if the previous rendition is the better one. However, in the making of this picture, it was all a very smooth process.

One rendition pretty much flowed into the next. It was never a struggle, yet still challenging . . . demanding a lot of patience and just as much attention to countless details. So here are some “snapshots” of various renditions . . . the numbers are noted in the captions. Thank you for spending your time on this post, and I hope you enjoy the view.

Rendition #2 of "Angels Calling"

Rendition #2

Rendition #10 of "Angels Calling"

Rendition #10

Rendition #17 of "Angels Calling"

Rendition #17

Rendition #31 of "Angels Calling"

Rendition #31

#41 - The Final Version of "Angels Calling"

#41 – The Final Piece

If you wish to see how this looks on my site – or view any of my other 60+ pieces – click here to visit my art on FineArtAmerica. Also, feel free to email me with any questions. 🙂

 

October’s Calling

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October was a little different, amazing by my standards. I spent the bulk of my time creating one picture. It took at least five weeks, especially with all the detailing that went into it. All my social media activity slipped big-time, especially this blog. I needed that break and for many reasons, including going through a creative transition. When I was about half done “Angels Calling”, it came to me that something special was going on . . . more on this further down.

As soon as it was finished, I launched “Angels Calling” on my site on FineArtAmerica. That was a few days ago and soon after my first customer got in touch with me. We exchanged a few pleasant emails, and she was so genuinely grateful that I created this piece.

Clutch Hitting During the Month of October

Then it really hit me, that unsettled feeling that comes with finishing a major project like this one. I’ve noticed it before, but it seems each time I learn something new. When you finish a painting, especially one that feels like a breakthrough of sorts, there is the experience of a sense of loss. That happens even more when you recognize that something unique going, a change in both process and technique. You get to watch it take form . . . there’s no real hurry to finish the picture . . . you don’t want this journey to end, but you also know that it must.

Often, in those times, I’ll dive into something else right away. It feels very much like trying to replace something that’s vanished. It doesn’t take long to become immersed in another project, yet there is this lingering of the previous one. At the same time, I must put on my business hat, announce “Angels Calling” and promote it online. Then I inevitably start thinking of the painting as being more as a product. The process still lingers, but again, this “changing of the hats” seems to helps in putting a closure to the journey.

Perhaps it was then, when it was launched, that the journey becomes an arrival?

 Upon Arrival

In my next post I’m going to explain the changes I went through, style-wise, while bringing “Angels Calling” to form. This may seem self-indulgent, but it will be a worthwhile exercise for me, and hopefully there will be something you might learn as well? At the very least there will be lots of pictures to see!

Finally, I’m going to show you two renditions of “Angels Calling”. The first one is the earliest rendition, at least the first with a layer of leaves on top of the sketch. The second one is the final and published version . . . it’s #41. There was a lot going on in October, between #1 and #41.

Here they are . . . clicking on the final version will take you to “Angels Calling”on my art site.

digital painting

First Rendition of “Angels Calling” by Lawrence Grodecki

Final Version of "Angels Calling"

Final Version (#41) of “Angels Calling”…now on my FAA site…the picture links to my art site.