Friedrich Zettl Fine Arts

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Studies for Oil Paintings – Early Ideas on Paper

Small Preparatory Sketches and Brush Experiments

I did not paint much this week in March 2022. My day job, family matters and a stormy week on the stock markets kept me occupied.

As soon as the weather warms up enough to paint outside, I would like to explore some of my recent ideas in oils. The technique I have been developing relies mainly on inks, so I cannot simply transfer it to oil paint. I will have to find other ways, and I am curious to see what becomes possible.

Horizontal study with a tall dark form at right, turquoise and red passages and broad unpainted space above
elongated landscape

For now, I have made a few studies to clarify composition, colour and movement. Landscapes, the sea and organic forms offer possible starting points. Rough as these studies are, they have an appeal of their own, which is why I wanted to show them here.

Vertical study with sweeping turquoise, pink and brown strokes, dark arcs and scattered dots on a pale ground
Seashore study with reddish upright forms, turquoise washes, dark strokes and pale cellular textures
At the sea shore

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Comments

19 responses to “Studies for Oil Paintings – Early Ideas on Paper”

  1. aparna12 avatar
    aparna12

    They are lovely. Excellent work of art.

    Reply
    1. Zettl Friedrich avatar
      Zettl Friedrich

      Thank you so much! Very happy to hear you like them🙏

      Reply
  2. AT SUNNYSIDE - WHERE TRUTH AND BEAUTY MEET avatar
    AT SUNNYSIDE – WHERE TRUTH AND BEAUTY MEET

    Beautiful! I look forward to seeing more. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Zettl Friedrich avatar
      Zettl Friedrich

      Thank you! I’ve been painting a lot in the last 2 years and now I’m treading water a bit. Time for something new. Either I try again with oil or completely Chinese, ink on rice paper.

      Reply
    2. annieasksyou avatar
      annieasksyou

      Exciting blend of lines and colors!

      Reply
      1. Zettl Friedrich avatar
        Zettl Friedrich

        Thanks a lot! Your comment means much to me. Enjoy your day!

  3. Martha Kennedy avatar
    Martha Kennedy

    I’m in the same kind of place, “treading water” with my painting, too. Something happened to me as an artist through all that work and I need to grow into it or awaken to it or something. It’s a normal phase for me, probably explains my little going-nowhere-story about a medieval painter. I’ve been thinking more and more that we all function in ways that are largely inscrutable to us and it’s best to just lean into them as long as we aren’t hurting ourselves. Godnose the past few years have been challenging and, therefore, inevitably, transformational. Your projects are lovely and interesting and appear to me as questions, kind of “Is THIS it? Is this the right direction?” your paint might be asking the future. I don’t know if that makes sense at all. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Zettl Friedrich avatar
      Zettl Friedrich

      Thank you very much Martha? Again you got it right, there are question marks in many of my painting. I am questioning so much now. Not only the big politics and the fruits in the future. I question my way of seeing….. If i wrote that all down they would come to take me away 😄

      Reply
      1. Martha Kennedy avatar
        Martha Kennedy

        Ha ha ha ha! Why do you think I’m shredding my journals? :p

      2. Zettl Friedrich avatar
        Zettl Friedrich

        Is that those kinds of journals I would not dare to buy? I guess I know what you mean. The other day I stumbled upon a kind of journal from a time I thought I was quite smart. How embarrassing 🤣

      3. Martha Kennedy avatar
        Martha Kennedy

        Exactly. The kind of journal that embarrasses you years later. So far today, I’ve shredded the contents of five such monstrosities. 🤣

  4. Zettl Friedrich avatar
    Zettl Friedrich

    I donated my shredder to our government. They had tons of file to get rid of before they stepped down. So glad for my minor contribution. 👍

    Reply
  5. Ana Hernandez avatar
    Ana Hernandez

    Dear Friedrich Zettl,
    I very much liked the first and the third study. The first, as it feels rather new to me- a different vision. It is by far the most solid without losing the flow that I associate with your paintings. The third I like for its energy. The dynamism is compelling there. I wonder though, were you not being a little cautious in the second study? If each of us a humans, as artists, are gifted with a particular vision, a way of perceiving the world, it is a great challenge to try to step just a little way outside of that vision. At least I know for myself, that in writing I am always tempted to repeat what has been successful (at least to me). That’s when I become angry with myself for I feel then that I have been writing to please what Virginia Woolf called the internal censor.

    As always it is a pleasure to see your work!

    A Library Rat

    Reply
    1. Zettl Friedrich avatar
      Zettl Friedrich

      Dear Ana Hernández,

      thank you very much for your comments! There is so much in your words that we can talk about it for a long time. I would therefore like to take up one of your thoughts that affects writers as well as musicians and painters alike: internal censorship.

      We can all create something “that resonates well with the audience”. And that’s why it doesn’t have much significance and we shouldn’t orient ourselves too much on it. If we allow an inner censorship to influence our work because of possible reactions from the public, we have already killed a significant part of what art is.

      We live in a society in which censorship has become acceptable again: politically correct? gender neutral? Does my work fit the line that a particular gallery is following? Am I good if my stuff doesn’t go viral on social media? etc. I’m not even talking about paintings that were taken down under political pressure. The intellectuals have therefore often become very quiet these days, so there is a lack of innovative ideas or they are given in advance by the “doers”.

      I’m in the fortunate position of not having to make a living from my art, so thank God internal censorship isn’t an issue for me.

      Was I careful with picture #2? Maybe a little unsure. It’s more of a different aspect, though, which I’ll cover in one of my upcoming posts. Hopefully.

      Reply
  6. swabby429 avatar
    swabby429

    I see similarities to watercolors in the third and fourth images. The effect is quite pleasing. The boldness of the first and second paintings feels bold, assertive, and full of determination.

    Reply
    1. Zettl Friedrich avatar
      Zettl Friedrich

      Thank you very much for your comments. Those are very helpful for me.

      Reply
  7. sharmlakarrispaintings avatar
    sharmlakarrispaintings

    Brilliant colors….it’s just delightful to through your paintings, Friedrich!!!

    Reply
    1. Zettl Friedrich avatar
      Zettl Friedrich

      Thank you very much, you are very kind!

      Reply
      1. sharmlakarrispaintings avatar
        sharmlakarrispaintings

        My pleasure!!

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