DVD - David Shevlino

Remember the old days of painting videos - remember Bob Ross and Helen Van Wyk, and Bill Alexander with his mighty fan brush?  One artist on a darkened sound stage, giving you a half hour walkthrough of some rudimentary techniques.  We might shake our heads now at how abbreviated and primitive some of the techniques were but for a lot of us, those videos and TV shows were the introduction to a lifetime’s fascination with paint…  and with painters.

Today’s videos are so, so, so much different.  The technology to make one is available for us regular folks without a television studio, and this means more access to the great brains behind the great art.  We have a way to network and purchase the videos via the internet.  We have preview videos on Youtube!  Ok…  this post could easily turn into a rah-rah-rah about how great the Internet is.  I will resist the urge. 

Anyhow, there’s a trend in videomaking that goes beyond the nuts and bolts of technique, to explore the motivations and thought processes of the artists. This is beyond basic technique - into the heart and soul of artmaking. I love it.  I love hearing why an artist chose a particular technique, not just how it was done.  I love watching them select a particular brush, manage their palette, approach problems on the canvas in their own particular fashion.  The thought that another professional would share the REAL secrets of their art and not just the mechanics is thrilling.

David Shevlino’s new video has just come out.  He sent me a preview copy about a month ago (which was great, it really whiles away the pneumonia!) and I’ve been waiting to tell you all about it.  Here’s what I really like: TWO paintings.  Not one - he does two paintings and talks about both of them.  David talk about not just the nuts and bolts but the “why” of the setup.  What the paintings mean to him, why it’s set up this way, how he gets it done.  The voiceover is thoughtful, unintrusive, and informative.  The music is great!  (Played by David and his brother, no less.)

Another thing that struck me and made the process interesting - David’s work over time has become less academic, more abstract and intuitive.  As a realist, this is a fascinating thing to watch.  You can see the body english he puts into the strokes, a sort of painterly kung fu.  He employs whatever means necessary to make the image in his head, including some non-traditional image transfer.  And the whole time, he’s narrating with thoughtful insights and explanations.

So, yes, I loved it.   It’s available now, and I recommend it.  :-)  To Order: http://mysite.verizon.net/davidshevlino/dvdpage.html

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