"At Semester's End"

I almost forgot to do my last post.

     It's that time again-- the end of the semester. For some reason, I don't really start "getting it" until around the end of semester; perhaps that is because I don't practice in my sketchbook the way I should. Oh well. I'm going to try to bring in a good haul this year; I'll try. Frankly, I keep digging that hole that traps me in low-budget time constraints. Not deliberately from laziness, more like from a mismanagement of time that causes priority battles and trepidation in the hours I should be working. For instance, that charcoal-- I can't stand it! It makes lovely drawings, but I never finished! At first, the prep took me too long, and then, I had to learn to dig with that eraser. Sadly, the first few weeks attacked my stamina as well. I kid not when I say that I need to work out. As a result of this, maybe one or two of my charcoal erasure drawings are actually finished, and they, as well as the others, need touch-ups. As far as charcoal practice in the sketchbook, that is actually something that I should have had a few two-page spreads of, but I spent too much time thinking about the best time and place to do it because I wanted to spray fix it and let it dry properly. You know how I am about charcoal dust. Alas, this conceptualization caged me, and I never actually did it. Unfortunate, I know. Drawing 2 has really made me appreciate line-only drawings.
     Which brings me to my next topic: the homework and portfolio. There are several homework assignments that it would have greatly benefited me to rework. But again, I waited too late to do it, so that won't happen either. I've got too much going on with 2D and 3D design for that now. On the bright side, seeing the drawings in their mediocre state at least serves as visual evidence of my process, pacing, and progress throughout the semester. As for the portfolio, I'm going to try to work at some of my in-class drawings a little before turning it in, as a lot of them are far from finished. I hope to come out of Drawing 2 with, heaven help me, a "C". At least I'll pass.
     Despite my disappointments, some good came out of the semester for my growth as an artist. I've slightly picked up my pacing, and I think that some of the experience has edified my confidence, so I hope to perform even better in my future classes. It takes two, baby-- two semesters. Also beneficial, of course, was the exposure to different drawing techniques. The ink wash was a lot of fun, but it was not exactly easy either, simply because of the drying process and the danger of over-inking. I killed the leaves in the center of that plant. Most of all though I'm going to miss our group; we became almost like a little family. I hope that every one has a relaxing and safe Christmas holiday.

The Collage as Fine Art

Max Ernst

This image doesn't relate exactly to what we are doing in class, but I think it's a good example of the way collage can be used to create artwork. One thing Ernst does here that I find successful is divide the space into five "frames": two large rectangles that take up most of the space, two smaller ones toward the bottom, and a single circle that is placed near the top of the picture plane, but is connected to the largest rectangle by a piece of something (cardboard?) and a bow. Although the piece is mostly collage, some drawing/painting is evident. The pattern on the two large rectangles and in the circle have some volume in themselves due to the slight change in value on the diagonal strips: a one-step gradation to darker blues. Another useful thing Ernst did with the space was to overlap some of the elements, creating a pseudo-layer of space. The precision of his cutouts is nicely counterbalanced by the places where Ernst chose to draw jagged lines.

   

Georges Braque

I had to choose the two pioneers of Cubism because I felt their work a perfect example for artists who use collage elements. Unfortunately, enlarging these kills the resolution, so to the analysis. The collage elements in Braque's piece are very simple yet the contrast in value is what makes it work so well. By carefully placing three pieces of yellow-brown paper and using light variations of black to define planes and objects Braque gives the illusion of shallow depth while integrating the collaged paper into the piece as a whole.

Pablo Picasso

What can I say, this one is exquisite. The compression of objects into an ovular frame emphasizes the composition, and the use of a burnt sienna border complements it further. Picasso uses a outline to define the separation between objects where the values become similar and to make the collaged pieces seem like part of the surface. Even though the space is flattened by the line work and pattern, the overlapping and use of warm and cool shades lends to this piece's elegance.

James Rosenquist

 This is a "thumbnail collage"; I like it most for its colors. The cool green and green-blues of the grass and treetop push back in space, especially since the paper collage object is complementary to the cool light-blue sky and the grass and treetop edge. The collage object is actually a pastel hue and has a pink-to-red-to-purple value range. Its edges are smooth and soft, contrasted by the projecting spikes of the collage paper from the right and left edges of the picture plane and the negative space they create. The icicle-edged "V" mask on top of the mid ground object creates another layer of space while emphasizing it. 

Kurt Schwitters

Last but not least, is a collage piece by Kurt Schwitters, a German artist. He was very famous for his collages and "mirtzpah" (I'm not sure about the spelling). Unfortunately, Hitler had all his mirtzpahs destroyed, but the photographs of them still exist. Anyway, here we have a piece that combines newspaper clippings and pieces of objects, for example a washer. Since this piece is nonrepresentational, the angular clippings and crisp edges give the piece a sense of unity, as does the presence of text in the top, bottom, left and right areas. The use of myriad objects contributes a sense of variety.


Finally, I have included a link to an article about another artist who uses collage in some of his work; Robert Rauschenberg.
http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/04/art/robert-rauschenberg-combines

Astounding!

Albert Bierstadt, I've just discovered, was a Hudson River School artist, so those beautiful images of his on our 2nd blog assignment were not done by photographs, but painted.

I love ink washes! (at least with the brush)

Brush and ink is fun to work with; I feel like I have more control. It's certainly better than repeatedly dipping a stick into an ink well. Working with ink washes is probably the most agreeable thing we've done all semester; once I get past the initial line drawing, the process is relatively easy.
     I was very selective about the location I chose to draw; I didn't want to have to set up in a place where I had to find a support for my drawing board or drag a chair. I finally decided to go behind the library, where there's a patio with tables and chairs.

Noon

Late afternoon

Early evening

I wish I had done a preliminary sketch. Oh well. With the season and daylight savings time, the evening was not the best time to work, since the sun went behind the clouds. It was a beautiful day today, though, especially during high noon. I felt a sense of tranquility and placidity while working on this drawing. I was a little surprised to find myself enjoying this at first, since I generally don't like working outside, but today was a good day, apparently in more ways than one.  For once, I wasn't running from bees or anything like that, and the only thing that startled me and broke my concentration, briefly, was the loud slamming of an upstairs door to the balcony, which happened a few times.

Mark making that creates Value

Naturally, the hardest part of this assignment (thus the most time-consuming) was finding decent images from reputable sources, that wouldn't have copyright issues. It's just so hard to look for worthwhile images in the public domain, or maybe I'm supposed to spend a couple of hours sifting through Internet search results. In any case, this is why I hate these types of assignments. The posting is easy; it's the finding that causes me trouble. I just wish I could snap my fingers (or wrinkle my nose or shake my ponytail) and it's done. Alas. Well, here we go:

Georges Seurat

This is one of Seurat's sketches, probably a study for one of his paintings or pure practice, I don't know.  Here he uses hatch-like mark making to create a buildup of value, rather than his famous Pointillist color techniques. Even though this image has a largely grayscale range, I think it's successful in creating planes of value. There aren't many dark values, but there are lighter areas where he barely touched the paper, to indicate depth and separation of planes. He also conveys a deep sense of space, with more clarity towards the foreground of the picture plane. Notable, is the fact that he used a toned paper with only a dark medium, probably charcoal or conte, contributing to the grayscale contrast of the sketch.

Georges Seurat

This is an image of one of Seurat's paintings, which I 'borrowed' from IgoUgo.com. (For whatever reason, it's copyrighted.) I chose this image to give a sense of the work that Seurat is most famous for. I think that this piece is also successful in creating planes of value through mark making. Seurat uses a multiplicity of dabs of color to imply an outdoor scene. The color values in the objects contain subtleties, reflected lights upon the water's surface and direction of light source upon the tree line particularly. He has even included the reflection of the vessel in the mid ground, which acts as an area of emphasis. The painting also includes depth-of-field.

Albrecht Durer

Albrecht Durer--master sketcher, painter, and etcher. Here is an etching of the Madonna and Child, with crosshatching techniques and great attention to detail. We see Durer paying attention to the separation of planes, modeling of the forms,  and subtle gradations within the planes. His treatment of the etching forms a smooth modulation between white and ?10% grey- well, really, really dark gray, since I'm not sure about the percentage. And there are touches of black her and there. The key with this being an etching, is the proximity of the hatch marks and quantity, since you can't really achieve mark variation by cutting into a plate, i.e. thickness, weight. Also important to mention, is that Durer does not neglect the planes in the faces; only the halos behind the Madonna's and Child's heads fall flat within the broad circle with no value.

Kathy Kollwitz

Whenever I think of Katy Kollwitz, I think of The Peasant's Revolt. Unfortunately,  it doesn't have enough variation for me to use for this assignment; most of her work seems to be fairly dark. This piece, which appears to be an ink drawing was the best mark making example I could find. Although there aren't many grays, she does create distinctions among the objects within space through her mark making. The more discernible marks at toward the foreground contribute to a sense of depth within the picture plane, as the things that are farther away are less demarcated. Without drawing contours, Kollwitz gives the drawing clarity with her carefully controlled hatching and crosshatching. Where the draped forms of the bedding are concerned, she uses lines that conform to the curves of the drapery and the contours of the bedridden figure, instead of using strictly directional lines. Some use of ink wash is also visible.

I close this post with this obvious, impolite remark: There is some disturbing, disgusting shit posted online. Pardon my use of an expletive, and have a nice day.

Just for Laughs

Recall that I warned about the terror of the ink smudges. Well speaking of horrifying, smear-prone fluids, here's a little clip that ought to jog the collective memories of several generations of Americans. I present to you, the famous horror music from Psycho: