Beauty; what is it?

[alesoun]

Everybody talks about beauty, but what is it?

I'm working on a painting of a doll just now that everybody says is creepy. I think it's just been loved to bits, and that has a kind of beauty in a way. Well, to me, anyway, but I do accept that I might be weird.......

Well-scuffed and well-worn shoes have a beauty both practical and esoteric.

Steam engines and steam itself has a beauty. Never really thought about this before, because I've always kind of taken it for granted that spiders' cobwebs on grass in a low light and that kind of thing is beautiful.

Apart from hot babes or hot guys (which, of course, is a given), what do people find beautiful?

[ArtZealot]

"Beauty in things exists merely in the mind which contemplates them."

[VulgarDragon]

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Reckon it means the same thing as ArtZealot's quote.

[Katfayheirti]

I'm not sure what it is, but I do know WHERE it is
http://www.coris.org.uk/mrk/beholder_front.png

[alesoun]

Kat, please tell me it's not in the fridge! Please?

[Katfayheirti]

Kat, please tell me it's not in the fridge! Please?


No way. I never store bad puns in the fridge! I keep them organized on a nice little shelf.

[alesoun]

As long as it's cooked above raw.... ;)

[Ilaekae]

I don't think beauty has any relation to spookiness. The problem you're having with your doll is probably unsolvable because dolls are by nature spooky--they're almost but not quite human. That also applies to people who are TOO beautiful to be "normal." they're just...spooky...to a lot of people. The same goes for people who are just slightly "off-kilter" in the looks department, with the result that the most terrifying of all "monsters" in man's real/imaginary world are also the closest to being almost human in looks.

[alesoun]

Jeez! Kitteh, you read my mind! I was thinking of the antithesis of beautiful as being those perfect airbrushed images of movie stars that we don't quite recognise at first sight because the imperfections have been airbrushed out..

But, on a tangent from that, sometimes imperfections can be beautiful. Cracked glass that makes a prism, dirty, sloshy marks that make a texture, "happy accidents" that you don't intend when you paint, but you leave in.

Verdigris... probably my favourite shade of green next to one that I mix up that I don't know the name of....

[OmenSpirits]

What is beauty?

I'm still searching...

[s.ketch]

Hey, look buddy. I'm an artist. That means I solve problems. Not problems like "What is beauty?" 'cause that would fall in the purview of your conundrums of philosophy. I solve practical problems.

[arttorney]

In my experience beauty in humans depends very much on how drunk,or high, or generally horny one is. In the case of inanimate objects I usually see beauty in things that one would call mathematically elegant or sublime (Like it could turn in on itself and open a door to another universe or else lots of moving parts interconnect in a fascinating way). (I'm including nature in this, fractals, chaos, etc.)

[Alex Chow]

Hey, look buddy. I'm an artist. That means I solve problems. Not problems like "What is beauty?" 'cause that would fall in the purview of your conundrums of philosophy. I solve practical problems.

.....

[MiniGoth]

Almost everything, when viewed in the right way.

[JailHouseRock2]

For the record alesoun, when I said that doll was creepy, I meant it in a good way.

Creepy can still be beautiful.
I believe in finding beauty in negative spaces... isn't that what art is all about? Well for me anyway:)

Good luck on the painting,
matt

[TASmith]

When I studied jewelry making, I always thought symmetry was beautiful, and looked for it in figure drawing. Then I met a professor who said asymmetry was beautiful... I guess it's all psychological.

Young, healthy, athletic people are beautiful.
Old, overweight, disfigured people are ugly.
Carefully rendered drawings, paintings, and sculptures of old, overweight, disfigured people are beautiful.

Go figure.

Same applies to just about any vile, nasty thing you could ever imagine. Just look at all the demon/monster images on this site. Would you like any of them in real life?

What really amazes me is when you take a pair of really nasty old boots, the foulest, moldiest pair you can find, and then do a pencil sketch of them. All of a sudden, they're gorgeous.

[Black Spot]

Old, overweight, disfigured people are ugly.

I disagree - an inner light can make anyone beautiful.

[TASmith]

well a person's spirit is independent of looks. I guess I shouldn't say person, but merely the superficial facade. Even then, it's still just a matter of opinion.

[Smashed_Pumpkin]

Creepy + Beautiful

http://www.spokane7.com/blogs/moviesandmore/media/corpsebride.jpg

[VulgarDragon]

I disagree - an inner light can make anyone beautiful.

Yes, in a way. A person may not be physically beautiful at all but still have the capacity for love and kindness, which is a beauty in itself. Better than someone who's physically perfect yet is cold and evil.

I think all living things are beautiful in a way, even the creatures that most people would call either creepy or ugly. I'm perplexed that many people would call spiders or snakes ugly, yet they come in an amazing palette of colors and variety. Of course there are uglier things like sea cucumber....but still, they are beautiful in a way.

[TASmith]

See, that's the thing though. I tend to only use the word 'beauty' in terms of physical appearances. If a person's good, I usually say that instead. or other adjectives. That's just my habit. I also think beauty's over-rated. I've noticed most beautiful things in this world are very cold. Either that or way too hot.

[squidmonk3j]

Beauty occurs when nature supplies a becoming and pleasing reflection of your soul.

[Baron Impossible]

Beauty my arse. I like being ugly. If I could look like anyone it would be Danny Trejo

http://www.fecalface.com/artists/estevan_oriol/DannyTrejo.jpg

[Jason Rainville]

Buck, I'm quoting that somewhere, I have to :D

[Gavage]

I think of beauty as a sort of two-headed deal. Beauty A is a sort of warmth that can be felt and depicted in a complex way. It ties in with romance and love to an extent, the same sort of 'beautiful' I'd apply to a lover, family or a friend. The sort of beauty you slowly notice. Beauty B is clear-cut, airbrushed, plastic, demands instant attention, capable of the sexual but not the sensual, can be pictured in the most sterile way and be both hypnotic and yet give off a vibe that you don't really want to touch because it would probably ruin something.

Maybe it's simpler than that or more complex to most people. That's just how I see it anyway - I usually have one of the two in mind when painting a figure. I'm more aware of the former when making a picture of (or for) somebody I care about and/or respect.

[Black Spot]

See, that's the thing though. I tend to only use the word 'beauty' in terms of physical appearances. If a person's good, I usually say that instead. or other adjectives. That's just my habit. I also think beauty's over-rated. I've noticed most beautiful things in this world are very cold. Either that or way too hot.

An old person's face can show great wisdom and understanding. You have to look to see beyond the superficial to see real beauty.

Baron, he looks ticklish.

[Ilaekae]

He probably is, but I AM damn sure I'm not going to find out...you do it...

[VulgarDragon]

I'll bet that he is the type of guy who will pull up a chair and have a beer with you, and laugh at your jokes.

[TASmith]

"An old person's face can show great wisdom and understanding."

Yes, and in terms of what I was calling "ugly" I think adding age into it was unfair. It's the least of what might make someone "ugly". But, I don't equate wisdom with beauty, or truth with beauty.

Raphael and Caravaggio led two different schools of art, one being idealization is beauty, the other being truth is beauty. I side with Raphael. The truth is mostly ugly. It's important, but ugly. For beauty, an idealized form tends to catch more attention, even though beauty isn't nearly as important.

To describe a person's inner beauty, I like the word they use in Slovak. "zlaty". It means someone's golden.

[Black Spot]

Rubens painted golden flesh and the bigger the subject the better. The touch and feel of the subject then comes into play. Why limit yourself?

[Sorknes]

Some toys of mine looks seriously scary after years and years of use (and abuse), but I love them all the same, and all I can see is the love that I've poured into them.

I know of which toy you're talking about though, and if I didn't know that it was loved to death and the state it looks like now, I might've found it quite scary indeed.

It's the beauty of art though, you can create something that looks creepy or scary for some, but beautiful for others. If you manage to show that it got that way through lovingly use instead of being thrown in the scrap heap, it's great.

And for Rubens... They're so beautiful. I remember back when I got interested in art there was already all these skinny scary models that kept crawling into peoples images. I do it myself at times, but "normal" imperfect people are just... so much more for me. Even if they're fantasy creatures or whatever, that lil imperfection makes them come to life.

I started a Newborn picture that has my grandmother in it. I love her, I know her, I know all the crooks and crannys in her face, but I've gotten at least five feedbacks saying she looks scary as hell, even though I'm trying to make her that sweet old lady that she really is. It's my job trying to convey that loving and showing that the wrinkles are smiling wrinkles. So I guess I'll have to work more on it.

[Black Spot]

Sorknes I remember that picture - she looked interested not scary. I think old age is just scary to some people.

[Ilaekae]

"I think old age is just scary to some people."

Yeah...often to those of us already there...