The thesis is an exhibit of thirteen paintings dealing with the human figure and its surrounding space. This document is a record of the thesis exhibit held in the Weatherspoon Gallery May 10 through May 31, 1964. Statistical information about all the paintings in the exhibit is included here. This includes title, size and media. Seven of the thirteen paintings are presented here in reproduction. Color prints of two of the paintings, also reproduced in black and white, are introduced to represent the kind of color usage and general color range. The printed catalogue is included as an appendix. A short essay describing techniques used in the thesis paintings is also presented

NC DOCKS at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Neill, Nancy L.

English

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

The Woman's College of The University of North Carolina LIBRARY CO COLLEGE COLLECTION Gift of Nancy  L.   Neill -.n  Exhibition   of   Paintii    s by ■    -      •    -       L. :  I   11 "• esis  Sabsiitted to the   Faculty  of the       ' •■   raity  of    ortl   Carolina at   Greensboro in  Partial   Fulfillment of the  Requirements   for  the   Degree ister  of  Fine Arts Grer nr/corc, •'    Carolina \ ■ ■ ,    1    "''■ roved by ■ ';• tl - r Gl Itrvt   Jf.r   O' t/r,       ""■' ser, APPROVAL SHEET This thesis has been apiroved by the following committee of the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina. Thesis Director / <.? Oral Examination        /   ~) _, X u Committee Members Jte. c -> /r h er-t 3/ l VJ May 5,   19&U  Date of Examination" 270359 NULL*  NANCY L.       An Exhibit of Paintings      (19&U) Directed by: Mr. Gilbert Carpenter. PP. #• The  thesis  is an exhibit of thirteen paintings dealing with the human figure  and its  surrounding space.    This document is a record of the thesis exhibit held  in the Weatherspoon Gallery May 10 through Way 31,  l°e>U.    Statistical  information about all the paintings  in the exhibit is included here.    This includes title,   size and media.    Seven of the thirteen paintings are presented here  in reproduction.    Color prints of two of the paintings,  also reproduced in black and white,   are  introduced to represent the kind of color usage and general color range.    The printed catalogue is  included as an appendix.    A short essay describing  techniques used in the thesis paintings  is also presented. Soi bents "ce •   le,   31 ee   and     r I' ■ ■ . | :ue Preface Ti i   ■'■'■' g   Is ai   • •■' "'• Lt   of  thirteen  paintings 1' Ith   the human figure and   its  BUTPOUI   LI ce.     IT Is   documenl    La   e   record   of the   thesis exl Lbit Veld   ir. the Weatherspoon Gallery May 1") Dug]    Way 31,   1964.     Statistical   information ut  al]   the   paintings  in the  exhibit  is   included here.     Ti I s   includes   title,   size  and  media.     Seven th<   thirteen paintings  ■- ■•'   presented here in •   luctioa.     Color  prints  of  t\        I   the   pa]   I Lngs, I io reproduced it   •]■-.'   i I Lte,   are   introduced  to resent  trhe kind  of color usage  and   general  color :•      e.     the  printed  ce1    L< cue   is   included  as an ■ • ]       Siz< sdis Ehe thirteen    aintinga  of the thesis  exhibit ■■■•■■   painted in  polymer  emulsion   en canvas. 1st   of  titles   and  sizes   follows  the  approximate  enoe   in  which  they were   minted.     Sore   were • Lnted during  the  same  time  span  since the artist av  work  on uv  to five  pirtlngs  in  varying   stapes completion  during the   same   period   of time.    *11 aintirgs   were  done  during the   1962-1964 s   From   September   to   May. 1. Steorer.wolf.   32"   X  34" 2. ^ar and  Woman,   13"  X 24" S.   J&n  annris   Son,   20"   X  :-2" • _s^ °£ iLa Sarth» 52H x 36" 5. African V.'oman,   SO"   X   36 '"• -arrior,   30"  X  36" 7. Ycung    .an  '•■ith   mrrle   Crackles,   30"  X  3C . hln^,   32"   X 36" • ear's  Jester,   32"  X  36" 19. _an,   52"   X  36" 11.  Tfoman ^Jestin"   in Desert   Sands,   32"  X  3T • 'Lnynr"  T*an»   v°ur-g Woman,    in     X 32 IS.   Boy,   33"   *  32" ■ King Afric Step-onvolf :.er By my sophomore college year I had taken two design courses, one stressing color and the other stressing composition.     The first semester sophomore year  I took my first course  in painting.    This initial class was a water-media course in which we used watercolor,  casein,  gouache and tempera. The teacher urged that we paint rapidly,  freely and experimentally.    We used large sheets of heavy paper of about twenty-four by thirty-six inches in size and painted with large brushes.    We painted extemporaneously rather than from preconceived  ideas.    We were  encouraged to paint abstractly. During this course we learned about color mixing and paint manipulation for the exploration of textural effects. I practised the use of sets of colors that I felt were particularly interesting.    One  set was ultramarine blue,  ultra- marine violet, cadmium red (deep, medium and light),  alizarine crimson,  black and white.    Another set I explored was yellow ochre,  burnt umber,  raw siena and black.    A third set I explored was cadmium yellow,   the cadmium reds,   black and white. These paintings were compositions of roughly rectangular blocks of flat color.    Darks were usually dominant with lighter, brighter colors penetrating.     These paintings were reminiscent of stained-glass. I continued this approach in oil painting my junior year.     I usually painted on large canvases of over forty-two 2. inches by forty-eight in size.  I particularly liked this size and shape. The paint was applied thickly and only slightly moistened from its tubed consistency. Impasto effects that I wanted resulted. I sometimes added sand and gravel to the paint for texture. Areas of texture were talanced with areas of flat naint. Washes of highly turpentine saturated paint were poured or brushed onto the canvas. It became necessary to paint on a table or on the floor until the large quantities of paint had dried securely. The texture and color gave depth. This depth created an effect reminiscent of landscape. The paintings may be described as treeless or objectless landscapes. After a time I placed an orb in the center of each picture. This orb was always of an extraordinary color. Because it was one color it seemed flat even though filled with sand. Varied colors and values of turbulent impasto surrounded the orb. This surrounding area had depth illusion. In this mode I wished to symbolize the vast strangeness of our universe. Natural phenomena, such as the sea, the sky, the planets, all beyond man's power were particularly evocative to me. During my senior year, 1960-1901, I desired to experiemnt with Renaissance techniques of rendering people and landscapes. I dabble fruitlessly with these techniques. An occasional free figure painting was successful. Basically, I continued to paint abstractly, but continued attempts at naturalistic notation outside class. Up to the past September of 1963, I had not 3. concentrated on figure painting. At the beginning of this semester I painted about four figure paintings.    One was composed of naturalistic colors and color modeling to show roundness of limbs.    Another technique I used was to  shatter the figure into triangular shapes.    These paintings were not  very  successful.    I started a series of drawings hoping these would  help me with technical development. I started a series of paintings of heads.     Initiall7>  I painted on large sheets  of paper  in black, white and gray.    I used a floppy,   pointed  brush for washes and textural effects. The heads were composed of varied dynamic textures.    They were abstract patterns of texture composed within a head-shaped area. Many of the textures were repeated in  the background for purposes of unity.    Eyes and other features were made clearly recognizable.    Only a few lines or edges severed the head from its  surrojnding space.    This closeness of an object and  its background bespeaks a relationship betw en the  person and his immediate  surroundings that I find interesting.    These heads illustrate a conflict with,  a conditioning by,   elements of the surrounding world. Repeating the head composition while experimenting with a variety of techniques  allowed ne to refine this pictorial  idea. I painted about five or six of these  studies on paper of twenty- k. four by thirty-six inches in size.  I also painted about seven heads in india ink and drew about seven in pencil. I continued by returning to the large sheets and adding raw siena. I painted with liquete* polymer emulsion as binder with ground pigments. Next, I left out black and began to experiment with a frontal view of the head in a wide range of colors. The head was a structural context for color and texture manipulation. Generally, the pictures consisted of bright areas of color.  I usually employed reds, blues and yellows in varied tints and shades. Thus the faces were broken into fragments of solid colors. I painted at least ten pictures in this series and then continued the theme on large canvases. When changing to canvas I used similarly proportioned rectangles to those I had been composing as paper.  I also painted groups of heads on long canvases since I was experimenting in order to epitomize certain textures, color relationships and compositional qualities that seemed best in individual paintings. At this time I reintroduced linear techniques that I had used in the past. These consist of detached, curving lines formed with a soft, pointed brush. They embellish either a lighter or darker surface so that they stand out against it. The addition of these strong, rhythmic lines to an already richly textured area turned out to be an arduous, risky task. The lines often turned 5. out to be of the wrong color or in the wrong place.    I had to find a new method.    The linear techniques had to be replaced  in the large  paintings I wished to do.     I did not paint for a number of days while thinking about the problem.     I looked at pictures by other painters on exhibit in my area hoping for ideas that would help me  in my work.     I made no particular decisions. Upon returning to my easel I painted  steadily for about four hours and resumed for two more hours after mid-day.    The resultant painting,  Man,  was unlike and better than any I had previously done in the figure series.    My next problem was to identify the good qualities  in order to repeat  them in following paintings.    I painted a "follow-up" painting using techniques I believed to  be similar.    This painting was quite poor.    The third painting clarified the technique  for me.    In following paintings I was able to handle the new technique with assurance.    Essentially,   the edges of the color areas had to be  in dynamic relationships since the conflict between these edges reolaced the rhythms that had been carried  by the lines. This is a simplification of the problem. I will describe the process.    First,  the figure is drawn in paint on the c*nvas  in a rhythmic, fluid  line measuring about one-half of an inch in width.    Then a central patch of color is filled in in his chest region. The colors used to compose this patch are not thoroughly mixed so that the area remains textured. Then color areas adjacent to this central patch are formed. They contrast slightly in either hue or value, but they relate harmoniously to the central oatch. Colors and values are repeated in varied parts of the picture so that one's eye moves back and forth over the canvas to similar color areas. One color dominates the others due to its repetition.  Blue is often the dominant color.  I found that any pure black or white, even as exposed canvas, would attract too much attention and concentrate interest that I wished to be dispersed in active movement throughout the entire picture. Black and white destroyed the balance of movement. After painting the first two successful paintings of the series I painted two others that turned out to be unusual. They were not uniformly composed of separate colored areas. They seem more realistic, more closely tied to illusion.  Land forms are recognizable.  In Man of the Earth browns in the bottom portion remind one of land while blues and white are much like skv. Textures aid this naturalism.  In Red Man some naturalism is present, but the colors are not naturalistic. Man of the Sarth relates a specific mood. Its dark greens and blues, its turbulent land forms, its dark, billowing cloud forms combine to show the viewer a dark storm inflicted on a cowering,   faun-like figure.    The mood  is violent.    This mood is a well  integrated  part of the whole  in Man of the Earth,  but not a characteristic  that I wished to repeat.     I desired more ambiguity of mood  so that a particular mood would not become  the dominant  issue.    Abstract qualities could then dominate the viewer's experience.    My aim was that the observer enjoy a spectacular or opulent sensuous color experience.    Therefore,   in the following paintings I changed a texture  that seemed to symbolize nature or a definite mood.     I chose colors  that were not naturalistic. Another painting of the figure  series  is exceptional.     Boy with Purple Crackles presents more realistic  images  than other paintings  in the  series do.    The two birds are painted similarly to the  hands. Thus a suggested relationship is presented.    These forms point in similar directions.    The boy seems akin to the birds.    He  shares  some of their characteristics and powers.     I plan to develop this theme of man  in relation to animals and birds at another time. Color photographs and black and white photographs of parts of the figure  series are presented here.    This  series was used to form the exhibit which was    the thesis for my Master of Fine Arts degree.    Unfortunately,  the color photographs,  although as good as possible,  present  the paintings with a strong yellow cast. This reduces the conflict between the blues and reds.    This 8. intensity is vital in the figure  series  since I have used these color effects for the emotional power these conflicts convey. Most  of the eight to ten hours spent on  each painting was used in adjusting these color areas. To conclude my description:   the thesis paintings are based  on a dominant human figure  composed of areas of color that are repeated outside the figure.     The figures have a nobility of stature and are poised rather than active.    They face the front with open  impenetrable eyes.    Each figure has a definite character.    These characters were not predetermined, but arose during the process of painting.     They are neither specific characters nor references to an archetype.    Instead, like individuals,  they present many traits and are open to many interpretations.    Title formulation was quite difficult.    The titles were made up after the painting was finished.    The titles were made purposefully vague so that the viewer's own ideas in relation to the pictures could be freed. J Ife V 1 V %. Sr #   ? 1 .   Woman R< iling in D> lerl Sands, 32" x 36" 12.   Young Man, Young Woman, 18" X J2" 13    Boy, 30" X 32" a pai ihr cmi size 6 7. 8. 9. 10. An Exhibition of Paintings by Nancy L. Neill These paintings are presented as a thesis for a Master of Fine Arts Degree. They were painted during the period of September, 1963 thru April,  1964. All the paintings were done in polymer emulsion on canvas. They are titled and are of sizes as follows: I Sleppenwolf, 32" X 34" 2. Man and Woman. 18" X 24" 3. Man and Son. 20" X 22" 4. Man of the Earth, 32" X 36" 5. African Woman. 30" X 36" 6. Warrior.   30" X   32" 7.    Young Man with Purple Crackles. 30" X 30" H.   King. 32" X 36" 9.   Lear's Jetter. 32" X W 10.   Man, 32" X 36" #   1° 

An exhibition of paintings

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An exhibition of paintings

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