Chapter six discusses drawing and the various drawing surfaces and mediums. Because most drawings are studies and non-serious work, this chapter offers an entirely different selection of artwork to pick from.
Drawings are wonderful because they often times are studies and can show how an artist begins the process of a thought or concept which is still identifiable in the finished product. A good example of this is Filippino Lippi’s “Figure studies: standing nude and seated man reading”. This particular drawing is done in metal point on pale pink paper. As titled, it is a study of the human figure and is realistically rendered with the metal point.
In contrast to this “Prince Among Thieves with Flowers” By Chris Ofili, is completed in Graphite rather than a study of figure, Ofili uses the pencils to draw attention to the portrait made up of small afro-haired heads. In the background he used harder pencils to create the lighter, sharper image of the flowers.
Ofili uses a newer technique and the resulting image is certainly cleaner and more modern. This is not just because of his choice of medium but also how he stylized the drawing.
Unlike Filippino Lippi’s figure study, where you might be able to identify a portion of the image without seeing the rest, in “Prince among Thieves with Flowers” if a small portion of the drawing was separated from the rest it is doubtful that the portion will remain recognizable and hint at the full image.
Also some-what coinciding with this is the fact that Lippi’s figure study is created to appear three-dimensional whereas Ofili’s drawing is flat and without the transitional use of value.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Lecture Analysis: Blind Contour Drawing
This evening we discussed drawing and how our brain often times interferes and makes the process of drawing infinitely harder by skewing what we truly see into what we think we see or how I brain processes what we see.
To get around this the whole class participated in a Blind Contour Drawing. This is a type of drawing done without looking at the paper. It is supposed to be completed without lifting your pencil from the paper or lifting it only the smallest amount of times possible.
Despite my dislike of this particular exercise, it is a useful thing to do. Much like a warm up before a work out, it can help ease the mind and sometimes can take a person to a complete other world. unfortunately, despite the benefits, most contour drawings do not exactly turn out pretty.
To get around this the whole class participated in a Blind Contour Drawing. This is a type of drawing done without looking at the paper. It is supposed to be completed without lifting your pencil from the paper or lifting it only the smallest amount of times possible.
Despite my dislike of this particular exercise, it is a useful thing to do. Much like a warm up before a work out, it can help ease the mind and sometimes can take a person to a complete other world. unfortunately, despite the benefits, most contour drawings do not exactly turn out pretty.
Chapter Five: Artist Contrast 2
Also found in chapter five, Principles of Design, are the two paintings “the three ages of woman and Death” painted by Hans Baldung Grien, and “Venus with a Mirror” by Titian.
Both paintings were completed at the same relative time, about fifty years apart. Both paintings also depict a woman admiring her reflection in a mirror. However, in “Three ages of woman and death” the woman is holding a small hand mirror and in “venus with a Mirror” it is a cherub holding the mirror in which the Goddess Venus admires herself in. Coincidentally there is also the form of a child in Hans Baldung Grien’s painting, only rather than a cherub it is the woman’s younger self playing amidst the scarf tied around her hair.
While both paintings are very similar their major difference is ironic. In “The three ages of woman and Death” the young woman is gazing into the hand miroor and admiring her current beauty. This painting draws attention to mortality and the aging process of humans. It depicts the woman’s child-self, more interested in playing than anything else, the woman in her “current state” admiring her youthful beauty, and then her older self fighting off death who is holding the ever significant hour glass over the young woman’s head, as though waiting for the last sand to fall so that her life might be claimed. What is ironic about this in comparison to “venus with a Mirror” is that the Goddess of Love is immortal and her beauty and life far surpasses the “mortality” of the woman in Hans Baldung Grien’s painting. Venus will be beautiful forever. She does not have to worry about aging or death which, I believe, gives Grien’s painting a more significant meaning behind it.
Both paintings were completed at the same relative time, about fifty years apart. Both paintings also depict a woman admiring her reflection in a mirror. However, in “Three ages of woman and death” the woman is holding a small hand mirror and in “venus with a Mirror” it is a cherub holding the mirror in which the Goddess Venus admires herself in. Coincidentally there is also the form of a child in Hans Baldung Grien’s painting, only rather than a cherub it is the woman’s younger self playing amidst the scarf tied around her hair.
While both paintings are very similar their major difference is ironic. In “The three ages of woman and Death” the young woman is gazing into the hand miroor and admiring her current beauty. This painting draws attention to mortality and the aging process of humans. It depicts the woman’s child-self, more interested in playing than anything else, the woman in her “current state” admiring her youthful beauty, and then her older self fighting off death who is holding the ever significant hour glass over the young woman’s head, as though waiting for the last sand to fall so that her life might be claimed. What is ironic about this in comparison to “venus with a Mirror” is that the Goddess of Love is immortal and her beauty and life far surpasses the “mortality” of the woman in Hans Baldung Grien’s painting. Venus will be beautiful forever. She does not have to worry about aging or death which, I believe, gives Grien’s painting a more significant meaning behind it.
Chapter Five: Artist Contrast 1
“Burning Houses of Parliament” is a painting created by Joseph Mallord William Turner. Physically it is thirty-six and one fourth by fouryy-eight and one half inches. However in the book it is tiny, tiny but beautiful.
Turner created the painting with asymmetrical balance. The brightness of the flames is balanced out by the whitneness of the bridge. In Addition to balance this painting also has movement. The white bridge leads to the crowd of onlookers and more specifically the single white lamp. In turn this lamp and crowds draws the eye across the canvas to the fire before leading off to the smoke and the stars.
Despite the fact that it is based on an event that actually happened, which Turner had the ability to whiteness from a boat on the Thames River in London, I cannot help but find the painting almost unreal. I enjoy the contrast of the yellow flames against the blue sky as well as how the white bridge seems so bright in comparison to the darkness of the crowd of people.
Whereas “burning House of Parliament” is a depiction of a real life event, Rene Magritte’s “Delusions of Grandeur II” is not. In fact, it does not show any event, real or fictitious. Instead, Magritte plays with the scale of his subject, a woman’s body, by separating it into three pieces that get smaller and smaller the higher they are stacked. The sky is also skewed. At the top of the painting it breaks off, proving to be blue boxes stacked up while clouds weave themselves around the boxes.
Altogether, Joseph Mallord William Turner, and Rene Magritte are two very different people and artists. They were from different times as well as different countries. Turner focuses on real, touchable events whereas Magritte played with scale and manipulation to create scenes that never existed and probably never will exist in real life.
Turner created the painting with asymmetrical balance. The brightness of the flames is balanced out by the whitneness of the bridge. In Addition to balance this painting also has movement. The white bridge leads to the crowd of onlookers and more specifically the single white lamp. In turn this lamp and crowds draws the eye across the canvas to the fire before leading off to the smoke and the stars.
Despite the fact that it is based on an event that actually happened, which Turner had the ability to whiteness from a boat on the Thames River in London, I cannot help but find the painting almost unreal. I enjoy the contrast of the yellow flames against the blue sky as well as how the white bridge seems so bright in comparison to the darkness of the crowd of people.
Whereas “burning House of Parliament” is a depiction of a real life event, Rene Magritte’s “Delusions of Grandeur II” is not. In fact, it does not show any event, real or fictitious. Instead, Magritte plays with the scale of his subject, a woman’s body, by separating it into three pieces that get smaller and smaller the higher they are stacked. The sky is also skewed. At the top of the painting it breaks off, proving to be blue boxes stacked up while clouds weave themselves around the boxes.
Altogether, Joseph Mallord William Turner, and Rene Magritte are two very different people and artists. They were from different times as well as different countries. Turner focuses on real, touchable events whereas Magritte played with scale and manipulation to create scenes that never existed and probably never will exist in real life.
Escape from Electricity
10/04/11 Art Project 1
I told my family about the assignment given to us in Art 100 C. My mother felt inclined to laugh. "No Electricity? No thank you." Unfortunately I was limited to my only my bedroom in this escape from the frustrating energy source. I occupied my time with drawing by candle light which offered a completely different sort of drawing experience. I had originally planned to read until I remembered that the book I wanted to read was a digital copy on my Kindle which (surprise!) you have to charge and use electricity for.
The drawing was interrupted by frequent visits from my little sister whom the room also belongs to. She found great enjoyment in flipping on the light, blinding me, before grabbing what she needed, turning the lights off, and plunging me into darkness once again.
In one of these excursions she let my cat in. He and candles do not mix. Twice he had nearly knocked the candle down and after deciding the candle was becoming more of a fire hazard than anything else, I blew it out and went to bed.
Overall I think it is ridiculously difficult to escape from electricity. It is everywhere nowadays. Just stepping outside will make the hum of a street light noticeable or the headlights of a car.
I told my family about the assignment given to us in Art 100 C. My mother felt inclined to laugh. "No Electricity? No thank you." Unfortunately I was limited to my only my bedroom in this escape from the frustrating energy source. I occupied my time with drawing by candle light which offered a completely different sort of drawing experience. I had originally planned to read until I remembered that the book I wanted to read was a digital copy on my Kindle which (surprise!) you have to charge and use electricity for.
The drawing was interrupted by frequent visits from my little sister whom the room also belongs to. She found great enjoyment in flipping on the light, blinding me, before grabbing what she needed, turning the lights off, and plunging me into darkness once again.
In one of these excursions she let my cat in. He and candles do not mix. Twice he had nearly knocked the candle down and after deciding the candle was becoming more of a fire hazard than anything else, I blew it out and went to bed.
Overall I think it is ridiculously difficult to escape from electricity. It is everywhere nowadays. Just stepping outside will make the hum of a street light noticeable or the headlights of a car.
Lecture Analysis: Graffiti
10/04/11 (Late blog post)
During this particular week in class we watched a video on Graffiti and voted yay or nay on whether or not we find it acceptable.
I am torn between the two sides. For me, it depends on where, when, and what. For instance, if its just a name written with nothing particularly "artsy" about it, then I don't want to see it and it becomes a nuisance, such as profanity scrawled over a bathroom stall. This kind of Graffiti I find pointless because it has no real expression in it. It does not peak my interest and I end up more annoyed with whoever wrote it than appreciative. Yet when larger, complex word types and imagery begins to appear it grabs my attention and I want to see more of it. Instead of a nusiance it creates interest.
During this particular week in class we watched a video on Graffiti and voted yay or nay on whether or not we find it acceptable.
I am torn between the two sides. For me, it depends on where, when, and what. For instance, if its just a name written with nothing particularly "artsy" about it, then I don't want to see it and it becomes a nuisance, such as profanity scrawled over a bathroom stall. This kind of Graffiti I find pointless because it has no real expression in it. It does not peak my interest and I end up more annoyed with whoever wrote it than appreciative. Yet when larger, complex word types and imagery begins to appear it grabs my attention and I want to see more of it. Instead of a nusiance it creates interest.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Chapter Four: Artist Contrast 2
Also featured in Chapter Four: Visual Elements, is the painting titled "Chanter" by Emmi Whitehorse. This painting is done in oil on paper and I would like to say that it is abstract. What draws me to this painting is that it is primarily monochromatic -blue- except for the splash of purplish red that defines the shape of a house. This painting despite being very different reminds me of another monochromatic painting depicted in this chapter. THat other painting is none other than "In Bed" By Inka Essanhigh and (Surprise!) it is all blue too.
As far as their similarities go... Despite being created in two entirely different styles (Emmi Whitehorse drawing her inspiration from Navajo art and Inka Essanhigh's more surreal style) both paintings make me get a very similar vibe. I believe this is primarily due tot he fact that both paintings are done in blue. Too me it lends both paintings a mystifying and dream-like quality.
Both artists used their choice of color well when composing their painting and the paintings themselves both seem to hint at something deeper than just on a level of “reality”. An example of this in “In Bed” Is the figures that are pulling at the sleeping woman, misshaping and distorting her image in the painting.
As far as I can tell, I cannot find so much of a narrative in “Chanter” But I still believe it is beautiful in its own right and the symbols and shapes in the painting are just as mysterious as the spirits in “In Bed”.
As far as their similarities go... Despite being created in two entirely different styles (Emmi Whitehorse drawing her inspiration from Navajo art and Inka Essanhigh's more surreal style) both paintings make me get a very similar vibe. I believe this is primarily due tot he fact that both paintings are done in blue. Too me it lends both paintings a mystifying and dream-like quality.
Both artists used their choice of color well when composing their painting and the paintings themselves both seem to hint at something deeper than just on a level of “reality”. An example of this in “In Bed” Is the figures that are pulling at the sleeping woman, misshaping and distorting her image in the painting.
As far as I can tell, I cannot find so much of a narrative in “Chanter” But I still believe it is beautiful in its own right and the symbols and shapes in the painting are just as mysterious as the spirits in “In Bed”.
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