Adeste Deguilmo When Neutral Color Functions as a Complementary

Adeste Deguilmo shares one method of painting a harmonious composition.

I was trained to do realism as a fine arts student, but our painting professor Martino Abellana was encouraging us to read more books on art because the length of time in the training that we were receiving was too short to have a proper education in painting. After school, I did exactly what he told us to do. I kept on painting and also read books on arts and philosophy, both Western and Oriental. Reading philosophy helped me understand not only art but also my life, particularly my role as an artist. I realized that ultimately the noble function of art is to nourish the soul. Thus, I have made it a point to be my goal.

Around 25,000 to 30,000 years ago, our ancestors carried torches to light their way from the mouth of the cave to get into an area inside where they could build a bonfire and started painting the walls and the ceilings of the cave. They were painting mostly animals that were meant to be used as food for them. Certainly, these pictures provided hope and strengthened their faith so the next day would somehow give them a better hunting adventure and provide them a well-nourished meal.

Looking back at movements in art, from the classical period to the modern era, I somehow observed there have always been tendencies among artists to use exaggeration and distortion, either in subtle or loud ways.