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Why Noir? Begin the béguin

8/31/2022

A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #2

Begin the béguin
bé·guin|\ bā-gaⁿ \ noun \ bi-ˈgēn\

Definition of béguin
1. a :infatuation
2. a :a vigorous popular dance of the islands of Saint Lucia and Martinique that somewhat resembles the rumba

Etymology: American French béguine, from French béguin flirtation

How did I start my film noir obsession?

©lesliepetersonsapp

I was in a state of transition with my art. Unsatisfied with the work I had been doing at that time, I went back to basics and started experimenting, and taking classes from Mark Andres. I was engaging in an exercise to copy a film still in the style of a painter of my choice. My choice was to do a still from The Bad and the Beautiful, in the style of the German Expressionist, Max Beckmann. I entitled it “Lana Turner Lost in the Land of Beckmann” The drama of the subject, matched with the freedom of Expressionist painting was a revelation.

I was hooked.

©lesliepetersonsapp Fatale 30x36 Collage on panel

At first, I created my art directly from screenshots of films. They were very altered, but from specific scenes. Gradually, the images kept getting more and more altered, until I started to create my own scenes.

Anticipate was the bridge. This was based on a scene from The Killers, but it was so altered, there would be no way to identify it as coming from that movie.

©lesliepetersonsapp Anticipate 16x20 Collage on panel

Blue Room was the first absolute original. I dressed myself up in costumes and took pictures of myself. From those pictures, I stitched together a scene with multiple figures, creating my own movie, as it were.

©lesliepetersonsapp Blue Room 40x40 Collage on panel

Now ideas emerge from multiple sources. I may be inspired from a film scene or photograph, or I may want to express something from my own imagination. The people I paint are slivers of my own soul, maybe even archetypes of our collective soul.

The scenes in my artwork are presented without irony and are imbued with an immediacy which invites the viewer to step into the scene as a contemporary moment. If we could walk through the picture frame and become part of the action. If this could be possible, what would you see, and who would be there?

©lesliepetersonsapp Miss Darger II 24x30 Acrylic on panel

Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.

Entry #1: Why Noir?

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Why Noir? A Series on How Film Noir Inspires My Art

8/29/2022

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A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #1

I am an artist who is inspired by the past. As a narrative painter, I feel compelled to tell a story with my art. For a number of years now, my subject matter has been primarily based on classic film noir imagery.

©lesliepetersonsapp Passion in the Suburbs

Since I started with this genre, I have engaged with authors, bloggers and social media groups devoted to the subject. I have found enthusiasts out there who seem to know every detail of every film noir; classic American noir, foreign noir, neo-noir- all the noir.

This level of detail and focus eludes me. My mind just doesn’t work that way.

I am an artist. Artists take input and use it as grist to generate unique output.

So, I feel I must ask myself, why noir? Why do I feel myself drawn to this imagery?

I seem compelled to tell a story with my art and create a narrative. For me, the act of telling a story is more important than the trappings of time, place and characters.

It is the essence of film noir that I am after, rather than the specific details. During the jazz age, a composer would write a song, then singers and musicians would perform their own version of it. But the structure of the song remained the same. I seek to take the elements of film noir and create my own, unique rendition.

Peer 48x24 ©lesliepetersonsapp

Film Noir? Qu'est-ce que c'est?

The hey-day of this film genre is roughly the 1940’s and 50’s. But, the term "Film Noir" was coined by French film critics later, in the 1960’s. At the time, they were simply known as “crime pictures” inspired by American hardboiled crime fiction. They were largely “B” movies with a tight budget.

Many of them were made by European émigrés escaping the Nazis. They brought with them a grounding in what is called “German Expressionism”.

The unique and sophisticated aesthetic was not fully appreciated at the time; crime movies ran under the radar and attracted no critical praise. But the superior film making techniques have made them gain popularity over the decades.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, 1920

The techniques used include deep focus cinematography, extreme camera angles, dramatic lighting shone from raked angles, and chiaroscuro (which is a painterly technique developed during the Renaissance where use of deep variations of light and dark is used to enhance mood and create dramatic effect).

The term “noir” has since expanded to not just describe a moment in movie history, but to describe a sensibility, that can be infused into any form of expression.

To read more about film noir, you can read my posts:

A Brief Primer on Film Noir Part One: The Formal Visual Elements

A Brief Primer on Film Noir Part Two: Oh, the Drama!

Or better yet!

Check out The Film Noir Foundation, which restores films noir and shows them at their film festivals.

It's founder, the Czar of Noir, Eddie Muller, is also a host on TCM's Noir Alley, which shows films noir every Saturday night and Sunday mornings.

Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.

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What is a Blog?

8/15/2022

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Okay. If you are reading this, you may think I'm mad, because, obviously, this is a blog.

But, it recently came to my attention that not everyone really understands what a blog is. Since I am about to release a blog series, I thought it would be a good idea to just spell it all out.

The word "blog" is a truncation of the term "weblog".

It emerged with the internet, and predates social media (Facebook, etc.) All of a sudden, anyone could write just about anything and just throw it up on the web. There was no need to seek a publisher, or a magazine or anything. You could just go for it.

I think of my blog entries as short articles, like I am a contributing editor in my own, personal magazine. In contrast to social media posts, my blog entries are often slightly longer and more in depth, always with links to outside sources, to facilitate readers' research if they become curious.

Typically, blogs are arranged in reverse chronological order, newest going down to oldest. It is as if you collected a daily newspaper, and stacked them all up on the floor: the newest would be on top. The oldest at the bottom.

A few more details:

On the side bar, there are ways to find specific entries or subjects under "categories" and "archives". There is even a search bar, where you can do a mini-google-type search on the blog.

There is also a way to make comments on my blog, just below each entry. The comment gets kicked over to my email box, where I can decide whether I want my readers to see the comment or not. If I do want that, I "publish" it, and it will be seen just below.

A bit of history...

I started my blog at blogspot.com in 2008, even before I had a website. In May, 2022, I switched away from Blogspot to to this blog, which is hosted by Weebly, the company that hosts my website.

This means that I essentially have two blogs. I was able to switch some of my entries from the old blog to the new, but the original Blogspot version has many, many more entries, and if you ever become obsessed and want to know about my artistic history, that is where you'd go. But all new posts will be hosted right here.

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Why Noir? Begin the béguin

A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #2

Why Noir? A Series on How Film Noir Inspires My Art

A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #1

Film Noir? Qu'est-ce que c'est?

What is a Blog?

A few more details:

A bit of history...

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