Oil Paintings

I created oil paintings in my different art periods. This is traditional technique that is still superior. I love this technique; it is one of my favorites. I like this effect of traditionalism on oil on canvas artworks. It feels like recognizing some delicious spices from good old days. In fact, the best moment of our life is, without doubt, this particular moment, now. But, nostalgia is so cute. For me, painting in oil is like using a time machine. For some of my creative ideas this is very suitable. For example, idea that time is non-linear, and that I can reverse the time. But, I also use other artistic techniques.

Russian Painting

I usually paint in my art studio, fully equipped with all necessities. There is artist easel, canvases, paints, brushes etc. But, of course, many famous paintings were created outside the studio, for example, in the nature, in the open air, or en plein air (French expression).

Beginning

I began creating oil paintings while I was still studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade. Before that I painted gouache and watercolors to gain a foundation practice that is necessary before you switch to oil. Oil needs painting skills.

Expressive style

At the beginning, I painted motifs like figure, nude, portraits, landscapes. They were created in expressive style. The style characteristics were: energetic broad brush strokes, intensive colors, dynamic composition. This style was adequate for expressing mighty vigorous energy, passion and joy. I didn’t choose the style rationally. It was like explosion, like volcano. Although there was a brutal civil war in my surroundings, it still couldn’t interrupt the source of absolutes joy that existed at the very core of my being.

Creating oil paintings with broad mighty brush strokes and bright intensive colors kept me safely at the very center of that intensive flow of perfect energy where nothing else but pure joy existed. Just writing about it recalls all that beauty and delight.

There are a lot of paintings that I created during that period. One of those paintings is MY MOTHER IS DANCING.

Also see:

–Giant

–Hydro Massage

–Spanish Landscape

–Red Rose

From expressive style to postmodernist art or postmodernism

I remember an afternoon while I was still an art student. I was alone at the studio at the Faculty and I contemplated how it is so amusing creating paintings the way I did. It felt like I was in Aladdin’s cave full of valuable objects, in my case, candies. I was free to enjoy all those candies as much as I could, but, eventually, I got a little bit bored. Aladdin cave began to look somewhat monotonous. I needed something new to amuse me.

I am not familiar with the approach in visual art that art is, in fact, a battlefield. In that story, while creating oil paintings artist must struggle with an empty white canvas in an attempt to conquer that horrible monster. There is another scenario, where artist has a pompous quasi purpose to preach, to lecture, to teach the society, the human race, politicians, and so on, and so on. It just wasn’t very appealing to me.

I didn’t want to loose the pleasure of painting, but, the change was a good idea. This was not a struggle at all, just a glimpse of idea that something new is arising. And, just like that, I pointed my right index finger up to the ceiling, in direction of the imaginary cloud that crossed my mind. It looked like I was expecting that the cloud would give me an answer. I immediately made a drawing based on that scene. As soon as the drawing was done, a new idea was born. I knew I will use pure colors, but instead of furious broad brush strokes and vibrating forms, I will use defined forms and textures, fonts, symbols, Mickey Mouse ears, dog-tooth pattern and so on. There are several paintings from that phase, like ME IN THE TUB TWO OR TOO.

Also see:

–Black Mickey

–Big Scissors

–Clouds

–Swimming Pool

–Red Mickey

Postmodernist art or postmodernism

When I was a Masters student at The Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, I further established my postmodernist art or postmodernism. All the elements remained pretty much the same, textures were more purified. Paintings were similar to collages. The components of the paintings, like textures and forms could exist and be observed autonomously. For example, you can pay attention to a cloud, which was on the painting, and notice brush strokes, tones and color nuances. Cloud as an independent texture can be observed as an individual painting itself. Simultaneously, there is awareness of a painting as a whole. It looks totally balanced and harmonized.

This style is still present. There are numerous paintings created in this style, like RUSSIAN PAINTING.

Also see:

–Dark Chocolate, Four Mickeys, Big Mouth

–Abstract Portrait

–Bicycle

–Big Cloud

–Ich

–Bowie

–Iman

–Double Portrait

–Lapels

–No Name