That Old Bald Cheater
Life has always been a game to me. Right back from when I was 17 and joined the military. There was a day in basic training when my Lieutenant called me into his office, sat me down, and told me that I needed to take the punishment my platoon was receiving more seriously. I was caught by a corporal laughing during the punishment, as although it was painful, I found it amusing to me.
His point was that we were meant to be feeling pain, and I was not??????, but I was at least not meant to show anyone.
Admittedly, it was only 3 weeks before this incident when I felt more mental anguish than I had ever felt in my life, and I mark that as the day that changed me forever. Since that moment, life has all been a fun game that we are all playing in one way or another.
In saying that, the thought of death is not amusing to me. It is something I fear more than anything in life, and once again I always feel like I am playing against it. From childhood cancer to car crashes, to working in a hospital for four years, I feel I have come into close contact with death on multiple occasions, and as I get older I want to gear my mind into a place where I can out play the reaper. In many ways I feel we are very often our own reapers, but nonetheless it is the same game whether it be against our own mind, or circumstances in life.
I wanted to capture this feeling in this idea. Life versus death and the game of it all. There is always a stopwatch running and time is running out.
I often represent death and time by using a deer skull. It is a significant symbol to me personally just as I often represent life with the lotus flower. These symbolically show up in most of my artworks and will continue to evolve over the years.
In this piece, the man is sitting on a chess board, contemplating his next move while a growing doubt is forming in the background. Time is starting to work against him, he has to make his move before death becomes a reality.
I found so much enjoyment designing and painting this piece. The lighting was an accident and one I have had difficulty recreating in artworks since.
I’d like to share this process with you as I often search for a long time to find the right composition and feeling. Some of my artworks have gone over the 40 hour mark in design, sometimes taking longer than the painting itself.
Chess is a two dimensional game where the thinking has to take place on so many more levels. I wanted to exaggerate this feeling by making the board three dimensional. To do this I had to create one.
From here I set up a board, look up a chess move and place the chess pieces accordingly.
I know a lot of chess enthusiasts enjoy my work, so I do my best to stay authentic to the game.
My own personal experience with the game goes back to having my ass kicked by my older brother time and time again as I grew up, and it only made me want to think harder about the moves I make in life.
At this stage I also want to find the right sized figure for the piece, so I start using mini mannequins. Eventually I had to use my amazing sculpting powers to create the blue tac man you see here at the right scale.
All I really wanted was a sizing mechanism, but using the figure also helps me exercise my imagination toward the end vision.
I have taken many advanced perspective drawing courses since I created this piece in order to refine my designs, but even in a detailed sketch, the magic of light can’t be made up. Especially when reflected in glossy paint like in these images.
Here I am doing my best to find a light source that creates drama. The great thing about this process is the accidents that happen. I didn't expect the glossy paint on the cubes to create so many unique effects. The light was subtly bouncing around like it was in a room of cloudy mirrors. This really excited me, so once I had 100 photos to work with, I chose a group of my favourites to use in the painting process.
Now from here I get to work. I have thousands of figure and skull images to work from to make sure the rest comes together and now the fun begins. My push for realism at this stage is paramount. I want it to feel real, so that my viewer's journey feels as though they are in the painting. An alternate world, but using techniques based on realism principles.
This was such an enjoyable artwork and when I had my solo show alongside Salvador Dali’s sculptures in 2019, it was no surprise to me that I had 5 people wanting to purchase this piece. It has since led to a series that will develop for years to come.
https://williamhigginson.com/chess-battle-sunflower-contemporary-surrealism-oil-painting
An afterthought for you.……
Realistic paintings are often ridiculed in the art world. A simple example of this is, “Why not take a photo?” or “What’s the point?” Generally I reply to these comments with… “You know that was done by hand”, a skill often very underrated, and one I admire.
As much as my work is surrealistic and created from multiple references, it is still based on realism principles. In other words, not painterly. I get to exercise my creativity in telling the story, but the painting process is very much technique driven. I sometimes laughingly call it advanced colouring in, but nonetheless it is a highly developed skill.
What a lot of people miss in this ridicule of realism is the meticulous process of a steady hand, patience, colour balance, composition, layers and design that goes with it.
In most cases a realistic painting is not simply a photo recreated in its exactness. It is a deep scrutiny of all possible design principles by the artist to make sure the feeling they envisioned and wanted to originally capture is laid out on canvas for all viewers to see.
An example of this is a close friend of mine named Roger Watt. A hyper-realist whom I consider to be one of the best in the world at what he does, as do many others. His representation in galleries in New York and London speak to this admiration.
Having come from a realistic graphite drawing background, the day I met Roger changed my life. I’d bet you’ve never seen a jaw hit the ground as hard as mine did on this day when I first saw his work.
I have spent a lot of time over the years in conversation about the importance of realism, and referring back to some of the comments, none have taken into consideration the entire process behind photo realism.
Roger’s process is meticulous and mind blowing. For starters, it comes with an eye that has been keyed in over decades with more experience than most artists will ever have by the age of 60, meaning his natural sense of composition and design is beyond advanced.
Having experienced his process over the last 12 years, I have seen how much work he puts into shifting perspectives, photographing multiple light sources and adhering to all abstract principles, all for use in the one image and shuffling around content so that the balance is sublime. Most of all though is his love of the work.
Check out his work here and it will blow your mind.
http://www.watt-art.com/
Bringing this back to my work, Roger, without knowing it, had the greatest impact on my artistic career without saying one word to me. The 12 years that have followed since this meeting have brought more value to my career than any other artist has…. Apart from my wife Olga of course.
I use what I have learned from Roger to constantly push for the next level of my work, maintain patience with my process, think about my message and most of all be kind and thoughtful about all of my actions. He is an absolute gentleman.
In closing, thank you for reading on to this point. Art on all levels is ridiculed in this world, much like anything that reaches any level of success from art to film and musicians.
In the end, an artist or anyone for that matter has to stick to their guns and create the work that means the most to them and be true to what they believe in. “
In doing so, the game of life is far more fun to play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBz9QPyiKCo
https://williamhigginson.com/shop-limited-edition-prints/limited-edition-print-that-old-bald-cheater