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Visual Language
contemporary fine art
VL ANTHONY A. GONZĂ LEZ obra-de-gonzalez.com
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Features: Anthony A Gonzalez . Brian Croft . Deran Wright . Douglas Clark . Roberta McGowan
November 2014 Volume 3 No. 11
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Looking My Way
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ANTHONY A. GONZALEZ
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Anthony A. González
Capturing the ‘Attitude’
Eight years old, Anthony A Gonzalez discovered the journey to be a painter. One of his earliest memories is the drawing of a windmill. His sister was quite impressed by the novice artist and as big sisters do, made quite a fuss over Anthony’s drawing. With all the attention and compliments, Anthony’s confidence soared and he knew then he wanted to be an artist. So early in life, he did not know exactly what it took to do this, but looking around he saw comic books coming to life. That must be what artists do. From that day forward Anthony saved his money to buy typing paper from the local drug store. He painstakingly began to copy the comic book characters, like L’l Abner and such. The support and encouragement from his sisters made all the difference in the direction his life would take. “The Moulin Rouge” hit the screens in 1952, a British drama film directed by John Huston. José Ferrer played the artist Toulouse-Lautrec. When Anthony saw this movie everything changed in his world of ‘artist’. “Because of this movie, from that day forward, I wanted to draw and paint the figure like he did.” Throughout his younger years, Anthony visited many art museums and took in the intense beauty of other artists painting the figure. To see original paintings by the masters was an inspiration to his work. Every visit he made to a museum just stirred his imagination and desire to paint. Childhood turned into adulthood and Anthony joined the United States Air Force. He served for eight years before returning to San Antonio, Texas to work as a sign painter. Precious time was lost as his day job took over his life to provide for his family. He was able to take art classes at a local community college during this time keeping his hope of painting alive through those busy years.
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Time passed and life changed. “I quit my day job and decided to work toward an art career full time. I took classes at the San Antonio Art Institute and had some excellent teachers.” Jerry Alexander taught life drawing. His instruction made all the difference in the world to me going from the animated comic drawings to simple figure drawings and under Alexander’s teaching, Anthony’s skills honed in to classic figure drawing. From this day forward it became daily practice. Following the San Antonio Art Institute days, Anthony took private watercolor classes from watercolorist Mary Hetherington. Additional workshops he attended were from well-known artists that influenced his approach but his signature style was self developed. He painted both female figures and western cowboys in watercolor. A trip to Madrid, Spain led to figurative oil painting classes. Anthony fell in love with the deep richness of oils and the classic approach to European painting. Returning home he found himself still painting western scenes and cowboys. He realized he did not have subjects to paint from or photos to work from, so he dappled in other subjects. Narrowing down his choices, he drifted back to painting the female figure. He had been painting woman most of his career and that is where he constantly found discovery and growth. Over the next six years he had a studio in San Antonio and hired models to come to the studio to pose for him as he painted. Anthony found painting from life during these six years sharpened his skill even more. He began to see many different expressions and later realized the ‘attitudes’ that were right there in front of him to explore. From this discovery he continued to look for both the expression and attitude in the figure before him.
Right Page: La Gitana
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Anthony A. Gonzรกlez
Cherry Pie 8x10 in. Oil on Canvas by Hall Groat II http://www.obra-de-gonzalez.com/
Banana Split 16x20 in. Oil on Canvas by Hall Groat II
Chocolate Raspberry Tarts 18x24 in. Oil on Canvas by Hall Groat II http://www.obra-de-gonzalez.com/
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Anthony A. Gonzรกlez
A Small Bouquet Next Page: And Night Will Fall http://www.obra-de-gonzalez.com/
Suspicious http://www.obra-de-gonzalez.com/
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Anthony A. Gonzรกlez
Strawberry Short cake 8x10 in. Oil on Canvas by Hall Groat II http://www.obra-de-gonzalez.com/
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Anthony A. Gonzรกlez
Expectations
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Curious
Ann
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Anthony A. González
“Over these years my work with figures has been very rewarding. There is so much to explore. I don’t believe that I will ever exhaust this subject. Just like the landscape artist and floral painter never exhaust their subject… I will continue with mine.” Nine years ago Anthony built a studio near his home. It has been a personal space that has created the perfect atmosphere for him to continue his painting journey. He spends most days working in the studio with live models. He has given workshops at his home studio, in San Antonio, Spain and in Italy. He enjoys doing demonstrations when asked. “I enjoy sharing what I know with others. We are all learning all the time. I also paint still life here in my studio and go out and paint landscapes when I can. I am not like most artists that know what to expect from their paintings. I approach my canvas with a little nervousness. It helps me stay focused. When the painting is finished and when it’s a good one, I feel content and satisfied. It’s a great feeling to have…and then I know there is room for one more painting to explore.” Anthony paints by intuition. Using color, form, and composition comes naturally to him. Not much is planned as the model takes their place. Some lighting adjustments and costume changes create
the mood of the model. From there comes her expression and pose. As Anthony takes in the complete setting he has ideas forming in his head of the direction the painting will go. The expression on the model’s face is the most important for what he wants to portray. He gives total credit to the model for his work because he could not make up or create those expressions. It is something original and honest that he captures on the canvas. Anthony has two sons. The oldest son, A. Andrew Gonzalez, is an artist. His work is shown internationally. Andrew developed a totally unique original approach in his method of painting. He and his dad have never talked about ‘how to paint or draw’ or even discussed ‘the disciplines of art’, but they do share the experience of art genres, books, museum shows and other art functions they attend together. What hope began at age eight as a simple windmill drawing is still alive in Anthony. “I believe the inspiration is well and alive in me and will always be. All this is because my wife Beverly believes and supports what I do. I cannot leave out the many wonderful people I’ve met over the years and all of this because I chose to paint. These are personal friends, artists, collectors, gallery owners and those from my foreign travels. I’ve been very blessed.”
Tender is the Night in Progress http://www.obra-de-gonzalez.com/
Hasta Cuando Digo http://www.obra-de-gonzalez.com/
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