David Heskin – David Heskin

On Mastery

Somewhat recently, a bizarre concept has emerged and been so often repeated, that it seems worth wrestling with conceptually. The idea is that one can achieve mastery in their chosen art after 10,000 hours, or some other pre-ordained duration, chained to one’s practice. This statement can not possibly be the truth, or perhaps it is a half-lie at best. It pre-supposes that all attention to the art making act is equivalent across all people and all disciplines. It ignores the vast amounts and sources of attention-deficit-inducing distractions that are all too common in this new technocratic millennium. Most importantly, it reduces the quality of attention and experience with a purely quantitative definition of mastery, a concept which evades most concrete definitions if we truly look into them.

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Reproductions

Prints on Canvas, Metal & Paper

Original Paintings Available from the Artist

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Art Instruction

Link here for Current & Upcoming Courses

Since 2011, Aloria Weaver and I have been teaching painting seminars in far-flung locations around the world. There have been more paintings generated in these classroom settings than can be truly factored. We have had the pleasure of sharing the our continuing research and study of painting and painting mediums through our unique style of collaborative teaching, with hundreds of passionate international artists as our student base. We have also had the pleasure of working alongside a number of brilliant art instructors, sharing our dedication to the craft and to our students.

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Demo Paintings

A wide variety of approaches to painting are required to teach a wide variety of painting courses. Here are a few of the demonstration paintings that have some from the classroom. Many of the demo paintings are collaborations with Aloria Weaver.

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Portrait & Figure Drawing

Wish I Were Here

Wish I Were Here, 2017
Self-published, collector’s edition of 33 art books.
Features 64 pages of small scale paintings in three different chapters:
Paintings created en plein air, from memory & through the imagination.

There is always a unique angle available in painting, a stone as yet left unturned. Escaping predictability is essential to continued growth. Novel color combinations and different approaches help to kickstart the discovery process and help bring full presence back into the work. Quick studies & small paintings are useful in capturing fleeting atmospheric conditions, both with inner and outer vistas.

Painting from Life

“You will never love art well, till you love what she mirrors better.”

– John Ruskin

Engaging in the diligent practice of observation is a refining aspect of Art, as much as it is a skill to be applied. The nature of observation is constantly in flux; from the entire scope of sight, down into microscopic details. We cannot simultaneously see everything in focus at once, and a painting can be a deeply accurate reflection of our true mode of perception.

Engaging with the eyes and working through the hands to awaken the heart to an order of beauty in which the artwork and the artist are blessed to partake.