Luther Haag

Ian Roberts on editing your composition

Ian Roberts is one of those painters who talks about restraint in a way that actually holds up when you're standing in front of your own work. This one focuses on the decision of what to leave out, wh…

The detail you almost added is usually the strongest move

Most of the time the piece got worse, it wasn't because I chose the wrong color or the wrong composition. It was because I kept going. One more pass, one more texture, one more element to "complete" i…

The subject never mattered. Light was doing all the work.

A scene you walked past a dozen times looks like nothing. Then the sun drops low, shadows cut across it, and suddenly there's a composition. We credit ourselves for "finding" it, but the light found i…

Does building from abstract foundations change the result?

I keep circling back to a question about process order. When I work on something, my instinct is to chase the resemblance first, to make the thing look like the thing. But every piece I've been satisf…

When do you stop adding detail to a texture?

I keep running into the same fork. Working on something with organic texture, leaves or weathered surfaces, and there's a point where the piece almost reads. One more mark might lock it in or might ki…

Does naming the thing before you place it lock you in?

I caught myself doing something the other day. Before I even started thinking about where to put a shape, I had already called it a wall. And once it was a wall, it had to behave like one. Straight ed…

Ian Roberts on seeing past labels

Ian Roberts lands on something here that I keep circling back to: the moment you stop naming what's in front of you, you actually start seeing it. Worth sitting with, especially if you've ever caught…

When does restraint start doing the work for you?

Adding light to a piece is where I tend to lose the thread. Not the decision to brighten something, but the moment right after, when the question shifts from "does this need a highlight" to "can I sto…

Building an email list from people you already know

I have a small circle of neighbors and local contacts here in France who've seen my work in person, some who've even asked about it. I'd like to start sending occasional emails, maybe when I finish a…

Phone photos of paintings and print resolution

Last week I photographed my one listed piece with my phone to test a print. The file looked fine on screen but I have no real sense of whether the resolution holds up at larger sizes. I know DPI matte…