James Elkins: A Short Course in Forgetting Chemistry

Elkin believes painting to be distinctive in that it is something which can never be taught or learned, but rather it is something almost innate, something the artist can do instinctively. He believes it to be like alchemy – the production of a substance which no formula can describe. I agree with the idea that you can’t be taught how to paint. Clearly you can be shown different techniques of applying paint and informed about the properties of different paint, but how to actually create a painting is inevitably something that comes from within oneself. To combine what is painted with how it is painted so they become indivisible is to create something other than the chosen subject - a work in itself. Monet seemed to be more concerned with the process painting, the making of marks than creating a likeness to his subjects. The relationship between an artist and their materials is one that is so individual and unique, one that cannot be shared or replicated by another. The artist handles the materials, the paintbrush, the palette knife, the paints in a way that is comfortable to them, a way that is their own. There is a definite direct connection between what the artist sees in their mind - what they want to create - and the paintbrush in their hand.