Tonal Visions: The Ethereal Works of Artist, Jon Hingston
Quiet Path
Originally from England and now based in New York, Jon Hingston has been creating compelling works of art for less than 10 years. Though he began painting and drawing in his early youth, he admits he didn't really begin to apply himself to his craft, in earnest, until adulthood. “I didn't go to art school or college (though I wish I had), but in the past six years I’ve taken occasional workshops and attended life drawing groups in order to re-start my work.” We first discovered Jon last year via his Instagram account @jonhingston, where his burgeoning talents were richly displayed and earned a place on the Journal’s Vanguard Watchlist. Capturing impressions made in a fleeting moment, Jon’s works seem to glimpse the ephemeral, sensory effect of a scene suspended in time, unveiling and revealing truths to the viewer. “I'm inspired by the rich patina of nature, and that can be a landscape, building, object or person. I aim to capture an intimate, quiet moment between myself and nature, as honestly and truthfully as I possibly can. The closer I get to the absolute, fragile truth of the moment, the more beauty I find.”
In the short space of a year since first encountering Jon’s works, the mastery of his artistic talents (and confidence to share it more widely) has been exponential. Favoring and deftly executing the technique of tonalism, Jon’s artworks are at once ethereal, yet grounded in a sense of space and time, where one might experience extasis—from the Latin, to stand outside of oneself, adjourned in a place filled with emotion. They are redolent of seminal works by masters of the genre as diverse as George Inness and Mark Rothko, among others. “I've always been drawn to a certain aesthetic, one of subtle color shifts, a delicate, fragile atmosphere. Where you feel the painting as much as view it. Where the subject is the mood and the emotion of the piece, and not so much a tree or a person. I had no idea it was a genre or movement until I showed some of the pieces I liked to an art colleague who then pointed me toward it. That opened the door to discovering incredible artists and gave me confidence in my taste for a certain aesthetic.”
We caught up with Jon recently to learn more about his artistic growth, what inspires his process, and projects in development to which we can look forward. All photos courtesy of Jon Hingston.
Winter Thaw
In the past year you’ve started selling your work, what made you decided it was time?
I didn't think my work was good enough to sell. However, when I did something that I thought could sell, I didn't want to in case I couldn't reproduce that again. I thought somehow it was just luck or a fluke. I feel I'm very much at the start of my art journey even though I started late, so my approach and process is and probably will always be different and changing as I am constantly looking to get better and grow. When I moved from Tokyo back to New York, where I produced about 10 nice paintings, I thought maybe it’s time to give selling a try. Why not? I currently work from home, but I'm looking for a studio space now, its time.
What’s your process, how do you approach a subject?
My inspiration comes from expressing what’s not visible, the delicate and fragile, fleeting moment. It could be the wind or a musical sound which stirs up an emotion which then inspires me to paint. Sometimes I can paint, and the painting evolves or emphasizes a new emotion, so it’s always good to keep the door open, viewing a painting as a journey with no particular mid or end point.
Are there times when you’ve found rendering a work particularly challenging?
All the time. I remember a portrait I worked on for probably 30 sessions. I wasn't happy with it, but each session something revealed itself and then slightly disappeared, so I just kept going to see what would happen. It finally came together and was a great lesson in perseverance. I now know that if I keep going it will come, and that’s the great thing about oils, you can just keep going. I've had drawings and paintings which arrived in 1-2 sessions (though that’s rare!) so there are no rules. I just resolve it by keeping working. Sometimes you can chase after a particular feeling in a piece, and during that journey something much more rich and rewarding arrives. I also know that if you keep painting a good piece will eventually arrive, it might take time, like waiting for a bus, but it will arrive. So, when I experience a bad work or series of failures, I feel good in a way, knowing that a good piece is now on its way, as if the bad pieces have unblocked the arrival of the good works.
In that regard, how do you know or decide when a work is finished?
Well, if only I could have a definitive answer for this one! Isn't there a phrase about "anyone can start a painting but only an artist knows when to stop painting" or something like that? Taking regular breaks definitely helps to arrive back at the piece a little fresher. I think the only sign I've noticed recently of knowing when to stop is a feeling I get sometimes, that the painting is at a fragile point–in balance–it’s a very delicate place. Then I know it’s definitely time to stop. Or pause at least!
Windy
Are there any themes or subjects you’d like to explore but haven’t?
I love it all. I love portraits, figures, landscapes, still life, so I'm exploring it all. I feel one feeds off another, so I love to start a landscape after a portrait and visa a versa etc. Everything feeds everything.
What are you hoping people feel or experience when viewing your works?
Well, I'm painting to get closer to an accurate expression or emotion of what I feel about a subject. I don't think about someone understanding it or liking it. If I'm happy with a work, then that’s all I need, whether it’s popular or sells or not.
Any particular artist(s) from whom you take inspiration?
It changes all the time. I love the honesty and brutal accuracy of Russian artists—Ivan Kramskoi, Issac Levitan—their perfect values, the brutally thick yet powerfully beautiful paintings. A few others I love include: Luigi Lior, Sargent, Whistler, Rothko, Kline, Valesquez, Degas, Charles Harold Davis, Emil Carlsen, George Inness, Euan Uglow...sorry, this could be a very long list. Oh, and Denis Gorodniciy, a modern great I find amazing, and I was lucky enough to get him to interview for Tonalism.com
Yes, you recently launched tonalism.com, in addition to your own website. What was the impetus behind that?
After I realized I gravitated towards the genre of tonalism, I started a Facebook group just to put the works I've collected in one place. It started as a collection of historic greats. Then people joined the group and shared their own works, so it grew organically and is now going very strong. I still wanted a place post purely for historical and contemporary inspiration so I started the @tonalism Instagram feed. Then I thought, there are so many sites scattered around that mention Tonalism, why not create one just for the genre. The goal of the site is to educate and inform about the genre, and hopefully to provide inspiration and advice from great modern artists, which I've achieved with some excellent interviews with David Sharpe and Denis Gorodniciy, among others on the site. I get lots of emails thanking me for creating the platforms, so it’s worthwhile.
Any plans to exhibit you own works in a gallery or art fairs (when things return to some degree of normalcy)?
I'm building up more work, and am considering exhibiting or showing, and I’ve had interest. For now I want to get my studio up and running and dive very deeply into the next phase of my work. I hope to paint larger and even more personal work. I'm very excited about it.
In the meantime, where can folks follow what you’re up to?
My related platforms are: www.jonhingston.com, instagram/jonhingston; www.tonalism.com, instagram/tonalism, and Facebook group: Tonalism.
Visit Jon’s website to see more compelling works available for sale.
— Christina Spearman