drawing final

drawing final project -- face unfinished in this photo

3D final project

3D final project -- research based on sarah sze

more research!

Looked at some work by Frida Kahlo..

• The Broken Column
• b/c of her physical injuries -- fracturing of her spinal cord
• damage to her self confidence -- traumatic childhood and her husbands frequent affairs
• body -- outwardly proud in order to cover inside pain
• shows anguish, distress, torture, pain
• "I paint my own reality"
• highlights her unattractive qualities

• The Two Fridas
• around time of divorce from her husband
• her very separate entities
• somehow linked together -- connecting cords
• LEFT - woman Diego no longer loves, exposed heart damaged, shows feelings of desolation, white European dress
• RIGHT - traditional Mexican attire, openly displaying healthy heart, holds pic of Diego, cord attached because she is a lover to Diego and also serves as a mother
• background -- turbulent sky shows conflicting emotions

• Self-Portrait with Monkeys
• attention drawn to her thick dark eyebrows
• traditional Mexican necklace
• hair elegantly tied up
• jungle behind her shows her love for the garden
• animals show fondness for animals -- filled her loneliness

I really liked the idea that Frida used the backgrounds to convey her emotions and often used split scenes. Each aspect of her pieces carry a certain association with her emotions and what is occurring in her life both internally and externally.

also looked at work from Diego Rivera -- found the movement in the figures and the composition especially interesting in his piece "Apollo & Marsyas"

more books to research & look through for composition ideas...more to come!

final project - week uno

Really looking into the way Goya portrays his figures...

really like the surroundings of his pieces and they way that create movement around the figure

also how the figure creates a focus and diagonal across the page that is greatly contrasted from the detailed background

one of my favorite pieces of his -- space around the figure is really activated

like the composition and how the darks are pushed - something I really want to incorporate into my piece -- the movement from working on top of a dark instead of dark on light

love the line work even though its a print -- composition is really nice [upside down triangle]

will probably end up using a triangle-like composition in my final piece

MORE TO COME!

in class figure drawing

quote review

"The point if, that every piece of art changes your whole perception of the rest of the world for the rest of your life. And it's not a joke! And if it doesn't, then it's not art, it's a commodity."
--Lawrence Weiner 

After reading this quote I immediately came to the conclusion that I was in disagreement, every piece of art does not change your whole perception of the rest of the world for the rest of your life. I don’t know if this differs for other people, but in my opinion art can be life changing for someone but it isn’t every single piece of artwork. I don’t believe that a piece of artwork can appeal to a bunch of people, rather art is meant to focus on a single type or group of people, and it may not always be interesting to every viewer. What may be appealing to one person may also be repulsive to another.  A good example of this concept is observing art museums. Some people will stop and spend a great deal of time staring at a piece of artwork, while other glance and pass by. That one person that stops may see something in the piece that changes their perception of the world, but it may only be that one piece or pieces similar to that one that changes it, and every other piece of art doesn’t have the same effect on them. I also don’t think it can change your perception for the rest of your life, maybe while you are interested in that particular piece of artwork it may change your view on other things, but I don’t think your perception is completely changed. It could “boggle” your perception or add a new element to the way you think about the world and art. I also disagree with the last part of this quote, “if it doesn’t, then it’s not art, it’s a commodity”. A commodity can also be art. Every piece of art that I observe or take interest in may not be life changing however it can be a commodity -- something of use, advantage, or value. We value the way we see things and we value what we are able to take away based off of our own perceptions and the way the piece influences us. Everything the human eye can view is something of use, they can disagree with it, agree with it, be able to contradict it, relate to it, etc. If art was not a commodity what would we be able to take away from it? It is always something of use or value in my opinion. A piece has some amount of value put into it, even if the artist is not satisfied with it, they still have some attachment to the piece due to the amount of time they placed into it. Art always seems to have value too, to those that view it. People who enjoy the piece value the elements of design, the beauty of the piece, and the overall aesthetic qualities. To me, art is always something of use; we use past and current works to influence our own work. It is to other artists that we look, especially as young artists, for inspiration and reference. Just because art does these things however does not make it change an entire perception of the rest of the world. It could alter a perception in some way but I don’t believe there is any way that it can be that life changing, however though it doesn’t change your perception, it can be a commodity for the reasons I described above. Art and commodity are definitely not a dichotomy, I don’t think they contradict, rather they work with each other to provide an overall ability to influence others views and the way that they look at things both as pieces of art and as objects in the world. I think art has always been a commodity in earlier times; we spread our ideas by having other people try them out and practice them. We value the concepts we learn from each other then pass on to those we know, in hopes that these ideas grow and are added on to with the changing of time. We also use art as an advantage; it can help describe those things that some people cannot put into words and are able to express through powerful visual interest. It is those images that make a major influence upon out lives and become those ideas of value we continue to carry with us in conversation, interaction, and other observations.

remix!

figure drawings in class - moved around the room to another persons drawing every few minutes during class and changed/added things to better the drawing overall

perspective drawings

more mind-boggling perspective

3D project - grotesque

joint project -- theme = grotesque

focuses on the hybridity of objects

layered figure drawings

2nd attempt of assignment.

layered drawing - old book w/ observational drawings on 30 pages, charcoal figure drawing on top, masking tape on negative space

fail...1st attempt - figure needs work.

figure drawing exercises - volume

3D slotted project

began with orthographic drawing -- luan used to create figure -- incorporated the verb - grow & the adjective - new, represented by the transition from small to large & the painting on the bottle, the dirty small bottle contrasted with the newly painted large bottle

2D sketchbook

first two signatures -- [point, line, shape]

a review on persona

During our last class in drawing we viewed a very high-contrast black and white film called Persona. Right from the beginning, my mind was boggled, I had no idea what was going on, and I was questioning the sharp black and white images that crossed the screen. I was shocked and puzzled as I viewed one image in particular, the hand that was having a nail hammered into it. Immediately this reminded me of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. I was curious to know what the jamming of the nail into the hand was meant to symbolize, if anything. Along with this scene flashed images of a young boy in a bare room with sheets wrapped perfectly around his bed and small body. Did this boy and his plain room have any connection to the “crucifixion-like” scene? The scene was graphic, however it drew me in because of the intensity of the scene. It was interesting because the sound lacked the reaction of the person having the nail slammed into their hand, unless it was really silence, which I highly doubt. Each scene displayed images that didn’t seem to connect and became more graphic and detailed than the last. It switched between calm scenes not knowing where the person was or why they were there then to scenes that made no sense as far as the actions that were being performed.

            As the movie jumped away from these scenes it began to depict the relationship between two women, one being a young actress that has made the decision to go mute, for what reason we are unsure, and the other the nurse that is assigned to take care of the young woman. Sister Alma, the nurse takes Elisabet, the actress, to a cottage on the beach, which is away from home. Due to the fact that Elisabet remains mute the whole time, Sister Alma begins to feel the need to talk to someone and discuss her life, she does not see herself as a talker usually but rather a listener and is slightly thrilled with the idea that someone is there to listen even if she doesn’t respond. She shares with Elisabet erotic stories from her young age, and secrets about things she should or shouldn’t have done after her engagement. Sister Alma begins to admit her sins, revealing her secret life stories, never thinking about the fact that when Elisabet decides to talk, she could reveal any of these things to people. A kind of “secret trust” is instilled between them. The movie takes a somewhat shocking turn in my opinion when Elisabeth talks, insisting that Sister Alma goes to bed. Elisabeth speaks? Is she noticing her own issues in Sister Alma and is looking for someone to share with her so she can listen? This part of the movie brought up many questions in my head about Elisabeth’s intentions of being mute.

            Sister Alma becomes frustrated with Elisabeth however when she finds out that Elisabeth is writing letters to the doctor that is in charge of Alma about Alma’s own “mental problems” she becomes enraged. Elisabeth writes in the letter how she thinks Alma is pathetic in a way and how she commits unthinkable sins. When Alma discovers these letters she tries to inflict pain upon Elisabeth by leaving a broken part of her glass on the ground where Elisabeth is free to step on it and hurt herself. I see this part of the movie as Alma’s opportunity for revenge upon Elisabeth and her want to inflict the same pain she is emotionally inflicting on Alma. A scene then occurs where Sister Alma’s fiancé appears and mistakes Elisabeth for Sister Alma. I saw this as a play on the fact that because Sister Alma feels she was disloyal to her fiancé when she basically had intercourse with young boys on the beach, as she describes in one part to Elisabeth, and Elisabeth is the more suitable woman, because she may have no sins.

            Again at the end of the film, it returns to the beginning photographs. I felt as though the boy that was tucked tight in bed had something to do with the son that Elisabeth neglects to have interaction with, a possible part of her inability to speak, but what was a question in my mind was what did the other images have to do with the central part of the film. Was it the idea that the viewer was able to understand and view the suffering that was occurring in these images just as Elisabeth felt suffering from the lack of attachment from her family? These intense images throughout the film made me question so many aspects of the relationship between the two women. The angles and tonal ranges of the scenes make the film that much more eye-catching and interesting and kept me glued most of the film. The images were engraved into my head and helped me understand the turmoil between this distressed relationship. The scenes push each sense to the limit especially visual and scatter the thoughts of the viewer making them try to interpret the plot in their own way. The movie still confuses me to this day and I would definitely like to watch it again and see where my mind wanders, because I’m sure each time I watched I would understand something more because there is so much to take in. Bergman’s sense of contrast, shape, and even textures really push the images to a greater understanding and drive the viewers mind to wander in every direction.

review on fred tomaselli

Tomaseli’s paintings were both entrancing and enlightening the moment I saw them on the artinfo.com. His painting and layering style is much different from anything I have seen. The author of this article describes his paintings as a, “[window] to another reality,” that seems to be seen through a kaleidoscope. I found this interesting because as I studied his artwork more in depth I could observe elements much like a kaleidoscope just as Dailey states. When you look into a kaleidoscope you see shapes and interesting colors that distort an image. The real image gets broken up into small parts and colors in order to represent a whole. He does the same things in his artwork; he takes small elements and found objects, pieces them together and creates a form that is interesting to the eye. I loved the quote he stated in his interview, “my paintings are vehicles to take you to other places”. This is an exciting view on art, he wants his art to be seen differently by others and make them feel as though it can take them to a whole new world when they’re viewing it.

I have never heard of this artist until I started reading about him on this website, but I found it funny that he states that he usually resists change and refuses to move his studio after 20 years because he enjoys the comfort and the availability to surroundings that his environment provides him with. I felt a connection to him there due to the fact that I have lived in the same place all of my life and I feel a connection to the place in which I live. It makes me feel comforted because all for my resources are readily available to me, such as my family, which he also says is true. This is important to his artwork, because I feel as though the artists’ environment in which he or she works is very important to their process; it is where their ideas start and are formulated.

I was also glad to see that he had a connection to his work because it relates to his own history of substance abuse. Of course I do support the idea of how he handled his past, but I do like the fact that he actually has a connection to his work emotionally, which usually produces a stronger message to the viewer. I realize professors are always encouraging us to like what we’re doing and that we should evoke our own connection to the piece, otherwise viewers will be able to notice that we aren’t enjoying it by our end result.

As I read on, I found it very interesting that he keeps all of his materials, not only papers, but also found objects in organized folders and storage places so that he has them to incorporate into his projects when they are needed. I enjoy the fact that he finds his materials before he starts the works of art and then incorporates them into the works of art. His process of layering, especially in the piece, “The Woodpecker” is interesting in the sense that he does not only layer on top of a single layer, but also layers more on top of that layer, adding more depth to the piece. It is very neat how he not only incorporates the typical materials like paint but also brings in the natural more organic objects, to add a second layer to the piece.

The fact that he grew up “in the shadow of Disneyland” also made me feel a connection to the article and artist as I was reading. Just as he grew up next to an amusement park, so did I. I found it very interesting however that he fuels some of his ideas from the environment. The idea of taking the elements from an amusement park and involving them in his artwork is very inspiring. It made me think about the fact that I can transfer an environment from a separate place and incorporate the conditions into my own artwork. Overall I enjoyed the article discussing Fred Tomaseli’s artwork and I learned a great deal of information concerning a different kind of layering process that he implements and how his environments have influenced his pieces over his life span as an artist.

http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/34410/fred-tomaselli/ 

right-handed blind contour

contour body drawings

full body & head to torso contours

texture & pattern drawing

ink, graphite, and charcoal drawing

still life

my first memory

It’s usually the case that a child’s best friend at a young age is their favorite stuffed animal or in my case, my doll.  The small pink, bunny eared doll I naturally called “Dolly” was my prized possession and never ever left my arms, until the unforgettable trip to Giant with my mother. At the time I felt clever positioning her into the cart, fully strapped in with the safety seatbelt and all, a place where my mother would rather have me, opposed to running around the store aimlessly as she tried to keep track of me. Though the grocery store was not even two miles from my house, it felt like she was a million miles away the day I left her strapped into the front seat of mothers shopping cart. My mom called the grocery store as soon as I discovered she was not with me but the store closed before I could get my safeguard back. Separation brought on a whole new meaning to my life that night. Although I probably drove my family crazy whining about my doll from dusk until dawn it was completely worth it when an older, chubby man at the grocery store gently returned it to my arms the next morning, bright and early.