I have mentioned before (perhaps prematurely???) that I am in the homestretch in my piece. Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned it before because I am still pushing toward the end. I have told some (or many) of you that I write s-l-o-w-l-y and I do. Not because I can't type or I am having a hard time with my computer but simply because... well, I'll spare you the excuses (you've heard them before). Anywho... One of the things I use for inspiration in certain segments are pieces of art or music. Not so much because I am in love with the piece, but merely because the fit with where I am going. The artist that is inspiring the particular section I am working on right now is Edvard Munsch. I'd never heard of him before but I went in search of a picture that fit the mood I was trying to create-- so I googled (isn't it funny that's now a verb? I never would have used that word in that way 10 years ago. I would have said, "researched", "search for" or "looked up.") "long ghost-like features" which led me to narrow my search to "ghostface". I learned that was a term used in Scream but they chose that term because it was a nickname given to this painting
It was painted by a man named Edvard Munsch. He was a Norwegian painter who was at the forefront of the expressionist movement and particularly influence the German Expressionists. His art is deeply evocative- his philosophy being that he did not just want to paint pictures but wanted to paint emotion.
The Scream (seen above) was done in four versions all portraying the agonized expression. Munsch described his inspiration for the painting this way,
One evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the
fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the
fjord—the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a
scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I
painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The color
shrieked. This became The Scream .
Like I said, it's not my favorite piece of art, not even one I love but it does evoke emotion and it is leading down a winding road- not unlike the one in the picture. Do you have art or music that inspires you?
