Rick Findley, The last Orientalist - English

Rick Findley

The Last Orientalist

An interview made by: Arch. Mohammed Nagy

(Read in Arabic)

Rick Findley, is an artist, architect and co-founder of Findley Fine Art Company

Hi Prof Rick! … Can you give everyone here a little bit of background of how you got started in your artistic adventure?

As a child I liked to draw. In my teens, I took a class making things and drawing with T square and triangle. I was very good at this. I continued in college, getting two degrees in architecture. I have a number of brothers that are architects, all older than me. I learned a lot from them while growing up. I learned how to draw perspectives while in school. This has helped me in my drawings and paintings!
I have taught drawing, including technical drawing of one and two point perspective for many years. Teaching helps me better understand how to be a better architect and artist!

Great... But I want to know some details about things which enrich your artistic hobby ...And what about other fields like architecture or urban design… etc.?

Designing and seeing your designs built are very important in being an architect. Understanding the 3D aspects is critical, and being able to draw out your ideas so a builder can actually put them together is essential.

My interest as an artist grew from my experience as an architect. Knowing how to determine perspective angles, foreshortening of objects that are in the cone of vision, and getting proportions right are very important in developing both a building design and a painting. Composition is also very important. This is part inherited from your parents/ grandparents/ relatives, and partly learned through close observation and personal experience. The choice of subject, the angle of view, the time of day, the aspects of sun/ shadow all contribute to an interesting design, or a better painting. Understanding something about "tone" (dark/ medium/ light values) and color (the color wheel and how colors combine) are important as well. I do "realistic" paintings, of buildings and landscapes, which I observe in person. Using sketches and photographs, I develop the painting first by careful composition, as noted above, and then thorough and accurate layout. This requires patience, discipline and time.

Well! With a focus on fundamentals, what are the best tools an artist can learn to grow?

First and foremost, however, the choice of subject MUST interest me in some manner. I must connect with the buildings or natural features I draw/ paint. If I do not connect, I adjust the view angle, or sun/ shade aspect, or color to make the view interesting. If I am not interested in what I want to design or paint, i do not do as well. You must be "inspired", or the effort may fall short, you will not do your best.

In some respects, designing/ drawing/ painting is like any creative/ artistic act. You create a "story" to share with others. You need to create an idea, a message, and a theme to communicate to your audience. In architecture and art, the audience is of course the people who occupy and use the building, whereas in art it is the people that may view your drawing/ painting. Having a message that you are inspired to share is an important part of the process.

And now we know the skills an artist must have to draw a professional portrait ... what about the tools... Type of colors you enjoy when you use?

I use hand tools pencil, pen, straight edge (t square and triangle) to layout my work. If I draw from a photo, I must use a proportional system to enlarge my work onto the paper or canvas. Sometimes I use a grid to overlay on the photo to transfer scale to a larger drawing, to make sure proportions are maintained.

I use a simple color palette of primary colors: red, blue& yellow, with white and very infrequently black. When I paint with oils, I paint directly from the tube, dipping my brush into the tube, applying the paint to the canvas, then adding other "pure" colors over the initial color. Oil paint dries slowly, so this method allows me to mix colors directly on the canvas. This does not work so well with acrylics or watercolor, as they are water based paints and they dry more quickly.

When I try to analyze this acrylic painting of the New Ghourna Mosque, near West Luxor, Egypt, as designed by Hassan Fathy ... I'm really surprised by the proportions neatness ... is that one had been drawn in that location or it's a photo you have captured and then you drew?

I took the photo while at new Ghourna. I drew the layout by eye only (no grid). I simplified the painting by not including some trees that was in the foreground. Proportions were captured by using my pencil as a measuring tool.

1) I would hold my pencil up to the photo on my laptop.
2) I would place my thumb at the location of the element in the photo that I wanted to transfer to my canvas.
3) I would quickly, with a light touch, draw the element in pencil
4) the final painting is small - 8 x 10 inches in size. It worked because the image was well defined in the photo, and I took care in selecting the color of the sky, the color/ textures (including the stains observed) of the plaster material, and the intense quality of sun - very much a part of Egypt, to make striking shadows. Also, you may notice the edges at the top of the wall, and the changes in planes of the dome are somewhat "fuzzy" - this was intentional, whereas the shadows in the openings in the wall are "crisp". This gives the painting a sense of 3D, solid and in bright sun. To compose this painting, I made sure the top of the wall was higher up on the canvas, above the horizontal midline of the painting.

Great! But why did you decide to erase the trees from the view?

I did this to focus on the building, strictly for the "composition". I agree completely, that trees are very important in building and city design. You see your observation points out one main difference between "art" and "architecture" or planning cities. In architectural and city design, the practical aspects are essential. In art, being practical is not a requirement. However, in design, combining one's "dreams" and inspirations to make a creative and compelling environment should combine both artful aspects and practical needs. If the artful aspects take over, a building or urban design becomes a "sculpture", and possibly too impractical. on the other hand, if the design is obsessed with only practical aspects, it doesn't engender or enhance life and living for the users/ occupants - rather, it may be too "machinelike" and unlivable - this is where a balance between the "art" of making designs and the "science" of making designs must be developed and thought about during the process.

Aha... And so as we talk about HASSAN FATHY and the history of Egypt... Are influenced by David Roberts and john Frederick Lewis as they also are orientalists ... I want to know more about your visit to Egypt?

I was in Egypt for nine months on a US Fulbright grant, to teach (@Ain Shams) and do research (drawing/ painting historic structures). I lived in Zamalek and visited Ain Shams 2-3 days each week, working with urban planning students at the upper two year levels. On Friday mornings, I would go to Ain Shams, meet my TA (Ahmed I. Amr) and he would drive us to an historic urban location to meet with students and raw until prayer. It has been the most significant experience as a teacher, to work with the learned faculty and many great students of Ain Shams. When not at school, I would travel within Cairo and to outlying cities/ locations and record what I observed with sketches and photos. Upon my return to my flat, I would select the photos which were of greatest interest, and begin a drawing or a painting. I completed about 35 drawings and paintings based on my trip to Egypt. They are now on display at my city's governmental building for this month of February. I have also given presentations on my experience to students and professionals in my community.

I should add that the works of artists such as David Roberts are fantastic, even if they are a bit "romantic" as orientalists' views of historic Egypt. My works are not meant to be as "beautiful", rather as close to what I observed as possible. For example, my painting of the Al-Ghouri Madrassa and Mausoleum shows the textures I observed in the walls and stonework of the Madrassa/ Mosque, without trying to make them "pretty" or "romantic". I feel this is more honest and representative of the true qualities of the urban place.

Cairo is an enormous urban center with about 20 million inhabitants, one of the most densely populated cities in the world. This is reality, and must be understood and addressed, whether one is an artist, architect or planner.

Looking through the grand portal at Al-Ghouri

In contrast with the previous painting... This one seems not to be realistic... It’s like a manually rendered sketch ... What the reasons made you decide to do so?

Actually, I have completed this painting with more details included, and hope to post it soon! The finished painting I think is more "colorful" than the photograph. This is often what happens when doing art. The work "takes on a life of its own" by this, I mean the painting must stand on its own which requires adjustment from the source photograph. In other words, the finished painting and the original photograph are not the same. When you visit Mohammed Ali 1 Mosque at the citadel, and look up into the domes, you will see the richness of colors, which the photograph cannot completely capture. So, when I did the painting I exaggerated the colors to create a more striking result. I think this is referred to as "poetic license".

I also like to be more expressive than absolutely realistic in my paintings. Otherwise, I would be a photographer only.

And what about selecting oil colors not acrylic ones as the previous painting?

As I mentioned earlier, oil colors dry much more slowly, which allows the painter to mix the colors directly on the canvas. I found that being able to mix the colors before they dried provided a rich blending effect of more than one color. When working with acrylic, one must work much more quickly as the paint dries fast - in the winter, or in Egypt, when the air is dry without much moisture, acrylics dry extremely quickly. this means that you have to have a more precise layout, know exactly which colors are to be applied and in specific locations. if you have the time to let oil colors dry before moving the painting, then it is a good choice. Another thing to consider is that oil paints require good ventilation and must be cleaned up with solvents, so care must be taken while using them. I even wear plastic gloves to keep the oil colors from being absorbed into my skin, as they have a toxic effect. Finding out about paints and thre chemical properties is also important; to know which ones are safe on the skin and which ones are not. Being smart is part of the process.

Aha ... I got it ... but which type of colors let you have more details in the drawing? Are they the same and depend on the artist skills? Or what?

I think using colors depends mainly on the artist's skill. It is just like architectural design or urban planning, it requires practice.

Details in a painting depend also on the thickness of the paint being applied to the paper or canvas. Oil paints can be "thinned" out with solvents or linseed oil to make them flow more easily, so that details can be better achieved. Acrylics and watercolor can be thinned with water which allows the paint to be more workable. My most detailed drawings and paintings are done with permanent ink in fine pens and watercolor. You can create very precise drawings using pen, ink and watercolor...as fine as a digital drawing it requires focus, patience, high skill and time.

What about digital painting storm...? Who will be winning Manual or Digital ... and have you ever try Digital one?

Well, that is an interesting question. I have tried doing Google sketch up, but feel more successful in doing work by hand I like having to "think things through" while I realize the drawing on paper or canvas...personally, I learn so much more drawing by hand. I have also drawn with Revit, which I feel is an effective tool for an architect, as it constructs a 3D set of images as you work. i prefer Revit over AutoCAD.

So you mean using Sketch up or Revit in modeling and rendering ...?.. If Yes,
I'm asking about digital painting using Tablet and Adobe Photoshop …
In my city, Google and sketch up are used more often that adobe Photoshop. A few graduating architects know Photoshop; however the profession of architecture sees more practical benefit in sketch up or Revit. Mainly sketch up for design and presentation drawings. Revit and AutoCAD are used for construction drawings, for documentation to get buildings built. Professional commercial artists or illustrators use adobe. Their training is different than architects or planners in America

Thank you so much for your time and we hope to see you in Egypt once again in the near future.