Danwei Wu

I started drawing when I was little. At that time, I wanted to become an artist. However my parents were adament that I pursue a different career. As I became older, I allowed art to become a hobby and fall in its importantce. My passion was rekindled in high school when I had an opportunity to take lessons from a local artist Yoko Nogami. She really inspired me to try new techniques and observe objects in a new way. For a year I took oil painting with her. Because of this, I am more comfortable with describing values while painting rather than with pencil and charcoal. This course has allowed me to reevaluate techniques that I took for granted, such as shading and contours.

Another important lesson that I have learned through this course is the importance of planning. My teacher Yoko always said I was too hasty to put brush to canvas. Many times I am too eager to get to the meat of the artwork and neglect careful analysis. By doing study drawings, my artwork has become more unified. Areas of weakness (usually in proportions) are discovered before I committ to it on the final drawing.

I would like to take more art course at Duke. I hope to take either Intoduction to Visual Studies or Painting next semester. I would like to work with different mediums, including printmaking and photography. I believe that the ability to manipulate different types of mediums enhances the artist's ability for expression. I am also interested in art history and would love to take a course on modern art. In high school I worked at the Dali Musem in St.Petersburg and had the opportunity to be exposed to 2oth and 21th century art. I am interested in how contermporary artists use modern technology to create different installments.

My current artist of inspiration is Robert Longo. I enjoy looking at art with high contrast and clean contours. I have admiration for artists that have photo-like precision. During this course, I looked towards Longo's high contrast charaterisic in his art as an example for mine.

Websites:

Yoko Nogami- www.nogamiyoko.com

Robert Longo- www.robertlongo.com