So yesterday I was scrolling through some art history stuff online, totally by accident, right? Just killing time before dinner. That’s when this name popped up - Franz Stuck. Never really paid much attention to him before, but man, the few pictures I saw? Super dramatic, kinda dark, but like… hypnotic. Made me wonder why he’s not as famous as some others. Decided I wanted to try messing around with his kind of vibe myself.
Starting From Scratch (And Feeling Clueless)
Alright, first things first. Had to figure out what made this guy tick. Dived deeper online, found more pics. Big paintings, lots of mythological figures looking really intense. Faces? Super expressive. Colors were mostly deep - think burgundy, black, gold - but with these crazy bright pops sometimes. The way he drew? Very solid, almost sculpted, like those old Greek statues I saw in a book once. Definitely not a messy painter! His whole look screamed power and feeling, kinda theatrical.
Needed to actually get my hands dirty. Grabbed this cheap canvas panel from the stack under my desk, a few basic paints (blacks, browns, deep green, a tube of gold acrylic I bought for christmas decorations last year and forgot), and a couple of stiff brushes. Knew I couldn’t do anything fancy like myth stuff. So… maybe just focus on making a face that had that Stuck feeling. Started sketching rough shapes with a pencil, trying to block out a strong profile with a serious, almost scowling expression.
Getting Down to the Brushwork
Picking colors was way harder than I thought. Mixed black and brown for a deep base. Tried adding a bit of green to make it shadowy. For the highlights? Used that gold paint carefully, like accents around the cheekbone and shoulder – wanted it to look strong, almost metallic, not glittery. Had to wipe it off twice. Messy! Layered the paint thickly in some places, especially where light would catch, to try and mimic that sculpted feel. Used a small, stiff brush for details, making sharp, definite lines around the eyes and jaw. Blending was risky - too much and you lose the solidity.
Got totally absorbed, forgot the pasta on the stove nearly burned. Whoops! Had to stop briefly to rescue dinner, came back and stared at what I had. Looked muddy in spots. Needed more contrast. Scraped off a bit of the excess dark paint near the chin with a palette knife, added a thinner layer of the gold mixed with white for a brighter highlight. Forced myself to stop fidgeting.
Left it leaning against the wall overnight to dry. Woke up this morning, saw it in natural light. Definitely rough around the edges, and not exactly a masterpiece. But looking at it first thing? It did have this definite weight and mood. Kinda solemn and heavy. Felt like I got a tiny glimpse into how Stuck built that world – focusing on strong shapes, deliberate contrasts, and that intense emotion. His whole approach really makes you feel the subject.
Why He Matters (What I Figured Out)
Doing this little experiment helped it click. Franz Stuck wasn't just making pretty pictures. He was doing stuff differently:
- Modern Drama: He took traditional, classic subjects like myths and portraits and cranked up the emotion and theatrical vibe, making them feel intense and immediate for people back then. Less formal, more feeling.
- Symbolist Power: Everything in his work – the poses, the looks, the dark and light – seemed loaded with meaning. Way more than just a surface picture.
- Art Nouveau Muscle: He used bold outlines and flat areas of color like the Art Nouveau folks did with posters, but for serious paintings.
- Inspiring the Next Wave: Found out later some of the big Expressionist guys like Kandinsky and Klee were actually his students! Seems like Stuck showed them you could bend reality and go hard on raw feeling.
Might try another one next weekend. Feeling kinda hooked. Gotta buy more decent black paint though; mine looked washed out.
