The Infant Kyle • Oil On Canvas • 16 x 20 By EricScottBloom ©MODARTIST.
The Infant Kyle • Oil On Canvas • 16 x 20 By EricScottBloom ©MODARTIST.
The Great American Painting
The Infant Kyle • Oil On Canvas • 16 x 20 By EricScottBloom ©MODARTIST.
The Great American Painting
When my son Kyle Eric Bloom was born on December 1st, 1994, I knew from that moment, on that day, my life would never be the same, and that something truly remarkable would emanate from his entering the world. At that time I had been seriously painting
since 1983, and at that particular time had been devoting a lot of my painting to learn the nuances of Portraiture, although I had an equal passion for Abstract Expressionism.
That Arizona Autumn morning, a happening occurred to me that would eventually lead to my creation of The Great American Painting. It was early morning, and I was sitting at my desk, writing an essay, on of all things, portrait painting. Kyle was in his diaper, sitting a few feet away of our big leather couch, comforted among big piles of freshly washed laundry. I looked over at him, and saw my infant child; so tiny and so soft, noticing an expression on his face, as he stared at me. This was an expression I had never really seen full-fledged before. It was a connection between us, brimming with the most vulnerable appearance I had ever seen on his face before! Even the position of his miniature body seemed to carry a palpable curiosity to it. However it was his deep, blue eyes that contained the most intense look of vulnerability . I was so startled and taken by the intensity of the almost hypnotic curiosity and wonderment in his big, azure-colored eyes, that I grabbed my 35mm Pentax SLR (there were no digital cameras then), loaded with Ektachrome slide film, sidled slowly over to him; two feet away, face to face, and before his expression changed, managed to click two frames of this beguiling combination of examining demeanor and blank countenance. His expression was mesmerizing me. This tiny, little, semi-bald blonde creature was staring at me so intently, his stare seeming to say "WHO exactly are you? I have a feeling I Know you; but are you my Father? My Brother? Could you be my Uncle, or simply just my baby-sitter???" There was an intense, vibratory aura encircling his gaze. And it wasn't just me who was triggering his provocative wonderment. In those fleeting moments, it was everything surrounding him. He seemed to be frozen in a stare that was asking all the important questions. "Who am I ? WHERE am I? Why am I? And who exactly is this large person before me, seemingly as curious about me as I was about him?!" Before I was able to take a third shot, he had come out of his infant searching, and was reaching out to me with both arms, giggling hysterically, at "Daddy."
A week later I stopped off at Tempe Camera, and laid down the cash, impatiently awaiting to see the two images featuring my son's searching quest for Knowledge and understanding. And there they were! Very slightly out-of-focus, as it was a dull light protruding through the curtains that had provided the light that morning. However the slight softness of the images didn't bother me one bit, as I immediately realized that I had managed to capture my child's invariable mix of emotions and hyper-curiosity, creating a photographic record of what it's like approaching two years old, and suddenly wondering who, where, and what you are, and especially in a moment of hypnotized wonderment about who the adult is, who is so unremittingly fascinated with you.
The finished slide was like a sculptor's bust. An infant from the chest up, to the very top of his head. And not only did his facial expression glow of imperceptibility, but his little body was propped up, as he seemed to, in the same, unsure, yet still loving fashion, proposing doubt, but Knowing and believing deeply that the man with the camera was his very own compassionate,
safe, nurturing father and friend.
The very next step was to use the magnifying loop to study the slide. After reflecting upon the photographic version, I placed the slide into the projector, and lined the image up with a 16 x20 canvas, with the plan to create an oil painting, based on what I saw plastered against the small canvas. I had painted so many portraits over the past few years using this time-honored method, however, for many reasons, I took three takes as much time, study, and concentration creating this particular portrait. And not just out of a desire to create a face and body that told the story of what it's like to be a an infant, alone in a house with someone known as "Daddy," or to create a professionally rendered , highly detailed set of features in oil; but much more importantly, to attempt to invoke a conglomeration of thought and emotion that had instantly grabbed my heart and desire, and stealing my love for this person who I knew would change MY life,
for the rest of His Life.
I'd completed the canvas in approximately four days, and everyone who saw it (on wooden and cement walls; not Facebook walls) had very similar reactions. They Knew, in their minds and hearts, that there was something most especially exclusive; obviously referential, that combined photographic and painterly diligence, which produced not just a portrayal of an infant in a momentary state of anxious peril, but of THE infant,
at his perhaps most unsettled, yet obviously open to fatherly love.
Still thoroughly enthralled and excited a couple of years later, when I was given a gift, a primitive form of a personal computer called WEB-TV, I began posting the image on as many fine art-related websites as I could find. Not long after, I was the very first artist to win The Digital Consciousness Artist Of The Month, based solely on the portrait of Kyle, by a true gentleman, Jonathan Eoyang, administrator. A couple of months later, I was shocked and bemused to receive an email from a high school student and budding artist, Sophie Hardbattle. She told me she had come across the painting surfing for a subject to create her college entrance thesis around. She told me when she saw the jpeg, she knew instantly that it was Kyle's portrait she would write about in order to get into the art college of her choice! She had been so entranced by the child's expression, so much so, that she wanted my permission to write her thesis, centered around the canvas. Of course I granted her permission. I was floating on a cloud. She interviewed me about my life as an artist, and asked a whole slew of questions surrounding the portrait, my inspiration to paint it,
and how exactly it came to be "born."
Well, I'm extremely proud to say that her thesis did indeed get her into a prestigious art college, and on a scholarship! She has been working as a graphic artist,
very successfully, ever since.
I am currently seeking out a serious collector of relatively unknown fine artists (although I do have my own coterie of collectors and admirers), with knowledge of modern art; an un-quenching thirst for collecting the esoteric, and, the wealth to purchase this meritorious work of fine art, regarding the human condition.
To contact me with questions or comments regarding
THE GREAT AMERICAN PAINTING, click on the tiny e-mail envelope
at the bottom of this page.
The Great American Painting
When my son Kyle Eric Bloom was born on December 1st, 1994, I knew from that moment, on that day, my life would never be the same, and that something truly remarkable would emanate from his entering the world. At that time I had been seriously painting
since 1983, and at that particular time had been devoting a lot of my painting to learn the nuances of Portraiture, although I had an equal passion for Abstract Expressionism.
That Arizona Autumn morning, a happening occurred to me that would eventually lead to my creation of The Great American Painting. It was early morning, and I was sitting at my desk, writing an essay, on of all things, portrait painting. Kyle was in his diaper, sitting a few feet away of our big leather couch, comforted among big piles of freshly washed laundry. I looked over at him, and saw my infant child; so tiny and so soft, noticing an expression on his face, as he stared at me. This was an expression I had never really seen full-fledged before. It was a connection between us, brimming with the most vulnerable appearance I had ever seen on his face before! Even the position of his miniature body seemed to carry a palpable curiosity to it. However it was his deep, blue eyes that contained the most intense look of vulnerability . I was so startled and taken by the intensity of the almost hypnotic curiosity and wonderment in his big, azure-colored eyes, that I grabbed my 35mm Pentax SLR (there were no digital cameras then), loaded with Ektachrome slide film, sidled slowly over to him; two feet away, face to face, and before his expression changed, managed to click two frames of this beguiling combination of examining demeanor and blank countenance. His expression was mesmerizing me. This tiny, little, semi-bald blonde creature was staring at me so intently, his stare seeming to say "WHO exactly are you? I have a feeling I Know you; but are you my Father? My Brother? Could you be my Uncle, or simply just my baby-sitter???" There was an intense, vibratory aura encircling his gaze. And it wasn't just me who was triggering his provocative wonderment. In those fleeting moments, it was everything surrounding him. He seemed to be frozen in a stare that was asking all the important questions. "Who am I ? WHERE am I? Why am I? And who exactly is this large person before me, seemingly as curious about me as I was about him?!" Before I was able to take a third shot, he had come out of his infant searching, and was reaching out to me with both arms, giggling hysterically, at "Daddy."
A week later I stopped off at Tempe Camera, and laid down the cash, impatiently awaiting to see the two images featuring my son's searching quest for Knowledge and understanding. And there they were! Very slightly out-of-focus, as it was a dull light protruding through the curtains that had provided the light that morning. However the slight softness of the images didn't bother me one bit, as I immediately realized that I had managed to capture my child's invariable mix of emotions and hyper-curiosity, creating a photographic record of what it's like approaching two years old, and suddenly wondering who, where, and what you are, and especially in a moment of hypnotized wonderment about who the adult is, who is so unremittingly fascinated with you.
The finished slide was like a sculptor's bust. An infant from the chest up, to the very top of his head. And not only did his facial expression glow of imperceptibility, but his little body was propped up, as he seemed to, in the same, unsure, yet still loving fashion, proposing doubt, but Knowing and believing deeply that the man with the camera was his very own compassionate,
safe, nurturing father and friend.
The very next step was to use the magnifying loop to study the slide. After reflecting upon the photographic version, I placed the slide into the projector, and lined the image up with a 16 x20 canvas, with the plan to create an oil painting, based on what I saw plastered against the small canvas. I had painted so many portraits over the past few years using this time-honored method, however, for many reasons, I took three takes as much time, study, and concentration creating this particular portrait. And not just out of a desire to create a face and body that told the story of what it's like to be a an infant, alone in a house with someone known as "Daddy," or to create a professionally rendered , highly detailed set of features in oil; but much more importantly, to attempt to invoke a conglomeration of thought and emotion that had instantly grabbed my heart and desire, and stealing my love for this person who I knew would change MY life,
for the rest of His Life.
I'd completed the canvas in approximately four days, and everyone who saw it (on wooden and cement walls; not Facebook walls) had very similar reactions. They Knew, in their minds and hearts, that there was something most especially exclusive; obviously referential, that combined photographic and painterly diligence, which produced not just a portrayal of an infant in a momentary state of anxious peril, but of THE infant,
at his perhaps most unsettled, yet obviously open to fatherly love.
Still thoroughly enthralled and excited a couple of years later, when I was given a gift, a primitive form of a personal computer called WEB-TV, I began posting the image on as many fine art-related websites as I could find. Not long after, I was the very first artist to win The Digital Consciousness Artist Of The Month, based solely on the portrait of Kyle, by a true gentleman, Jonathan Eoyang, administrator. A couple of months later, I was shocked and bemused to receive an email from a high school student and budding artist, Sophie Hardbattle. She told me she had come across the painting surfing for a subject to create her college entrance thesis around. She told me when she saw the jpeg, she knew instantly that it was Kyle's portrait she would write about in order to get into the art college of her choice! She had been so entranced by the child's expression, so much so, that she wanted my permission to write her thesis, centered around the canvas. Of course I granted her permission. I was floating on a cloud. She interviewed me about my life as an artist, and asked a whole slew of questions surrounding the portrait, my inspiration to paint it,
and how exactly it came to be "born."
Well, I'm extremely proud to say that her thesis did indeed get her into a prestigious art college, and on a scholarship! She has been working as a graphic artist,
very successfully, ever since.
I am currently seeking out a serious collector of relatively unknown fine artists (although I do have my own coterie of collectors and admirers), with knowledge of modern art; an un-quenching thirst for collecting the esoteric, and, the wealth to purchase this meritorious work of fine art, regarding the human condition.
To contact me with questions or comments regarding
THE GREAT AMERICAN PAINTING, click on the tiny e-mail envelope
at the bottom of this page.
