Random thoughts for my additional blog...

So far, I've drawn the CIEMAS bridge area looking down the stairs from Perkins and the Bryan Center, looking up at the ceiling by Reynolds Theater.

I wanted to do a chapel piece at some point, but I didn't feel like this week's drawing was the one for it. I want to leave the chapel maybe for the week we do surreal drawings because I think it would lend itself well to distortion, etc.

For this week's fiction drawing, I didn't really have a particular place in mind. Nothing was all that inspiring, and I hate drawing outside. Last time I drew outdoors, I was standing outside Perkins at dusk getting eaten by bugs. My skin reacts horribly to bug bites, so I still have the scars from the 11 bug bites I got in the space of 2.5 hours. People walking by also tend to stare at what you're doing on the sheet of paper. A common reaction is to look at my drawing first and then whip around to look at the real thing to see if they look alike.

I'm not a fan of people looking at my work when it's not yet finished, especially if they're standing over my shoulder giving me "corrections." A lot of people I know tend to do that, so at this point in the semester, I know to avoid them when I want to draw.

Back to the topic of my fiction drawing, I probably won't bother with the alligator. It takes a lot of time to get it right with the shape of the jaw and the texture of the skin, etc. If I'm going to lose points because it's not native to Durham, I'm obviously wasting my time.

-------------------

I have a running list of things to improve upon and/or Bill's previous comments:- Grid to make sure objects align the way they do in reality.- Keep your pencil point sharp.

- With still life, try not to set things right in the middle. Try going for more asymmetrical arrangements.

- Use your pencil to gauge relative sizes of objects in the scene you are drawing. Make sure the same ratios end up on your paper.

Some of Bill's more general comments toward the class:

- When you lay in value, make sure it's not descriptive unless you want it to be. We shouldn't see the direction of the pencil strokes within the value.

- If you want to crop a drawing, crop in such a way that it makes sense. Make it seem like a window.

- Always think about the foreground, midground, and background. Make sure there's something in each region. Don't end up with an empty midground, especially.

- Use your eraser as a drawing tool, not just as a corrective tool.

I'm excited for the surreal drawings we'll do during the last week. I really love seeing everyone's work. We all have such different styles and approaches to doing the same assignments. I learn a lot by looking at drawings other than my own. I think it would have been great if we had individual critiques every class period. We could just lay out the drawings we did for that week and just walk around the room looking at each drawing/critiquing as a class. The weekly feedback would have been really helpful.

Roy Lichtenstein in a Nutshell

If there were an artist that became famous for his style points, it would probably be Roy Lichtenstein.

Brief Biography

Roy Lichtenstein's artistic "birth" began with his graduate studies (1940 - 1949) under Hoyt Sherman, through whom he learned visual organization abilities (Bader 3). The term "visual organization abilities" is vague: it entailed giving the painting an inherent order by directing the viewer's perception through a focal point. Even in his later work, such as the image "Spray, 1962," Lichtenstein directs the viewer immediately to the aperture of the spray can (Source 1)
This idea dominated his art in the beginning, until around 1956, when he purposefully chose to break this pattern. This period of his consisted mostly of classic American subject matter (Bader 15). He gradually let the influence of abstract artists such as Pollock creep into his work (27), and before long instead of toying with American classical figures, he started using "pop" classical figures (Bader 31). Long story short, Lichtenstein's self-proclaimed first pop work was "Look Mickey," picture included (Bader 43)(image from Source 2). Lichtenstein appears to have started slipping into his garish color scheme and style that made him so famous. Eventually, Lichtenstein marries his abstraction and focus-centered pieces with his new-found pop style in pieces such as "Before the Mirror" (from Source 3)

Style Thoughts/Reasons for Selecting Lichtenstein

Lichtenstein's style is pretty much self explanatory: it is garrish, precise, and jarring. He uses primary colors that are almost visually assaulting, and his "comicky" style allows him the freedom to manipulate perception using traditional "comicky" princples. That is, some of his work uses melodramatic art characteristic of soap opera comics, but the thought put into his canvases causes the audience to get conflicting signals. It is this emotional manipulation that is so powerful and interesting to me; I love comic art, and he takes it to an unprecedented level.

(additional source: Hall of Mirrors, by Graham Bader)

Drawing digitalized

by Lauren Kottis

Until this semester, I hadn't really drawn much on paper for years. But I HAD dabbled a lot in graphic art, and I propose that there's a lot more similar about drawing and graphic design than there is different. Three years ago, when I was a freshman, I stumbled into the realm of graphic design and loved it. Most of what I know I've taught myself using online tutorials. I've read about and played around a lot with photo-editing, logo-design, publicity, t-shirt design, and typography - they are some of the most useful and enjoyable skills I've ever learned.

This weekend, I had to make a flyer for an event my living group is holding. It's a Harry Potter themed party (since the new movie is about to come out). It's actually one of the more complicated flyers I've done, so I thought I'd break it down and try to relate it to some of the concepts we've been discussing in class. Everything is done in Photoshop, and I start with the Duke Chapel. I love using (and distorting) this element because it is soooooo iconic for Duke. (I can't say that I've tackled drawing the chapel - it's on my to-do list...) This one was conducive to my overall composition needs because it had a good amount of negative space on the left side for the text.

I add a couple more layers to make the lights whiter and the darks blacker. It's meant to mimic this fancy photography technique called High Dynamic Range (HDR). My (limited) understanding of HDR is that you merge several photos of one object at different exposures so that all levels, from the darks to the lights, show up brightly. The effect is kind of fantasy/dream-like in it's intensity. Anyways, the drawing equivalent is shading only the darkest part black, and leaving only the whitest parts white. Most things should be in the mid tones so that they can be described in high detail. (I also added a full moon - I don't know why it looks messed up here- I must not have noticed when I did it because it doesn't show later).
The next step was to create a stormy looking background, in accordance with every Harry Potter promotion ever made. I created some dark layers with clouds, then drew in some lightning streaks. I think this would be really hard to do in a drawing - the subtractive method would probably work for the clouds, but the lightning has to be really white, so you'd probably have to know where you wanted them an not shade that area.
In the next few layers, I colorized the image and added a glow effect to the chapel. Then I added HP himself on a broomstick chasing a snitch. This required some thought about perspective - in order to create the sense of the snitch coming at you, it had to be sized very large in the foreground. HP was placed in the midground. The layout here is actually pretty critical - you have to consider both 3D perspective and how the elements fill the 2D space of the flyer.Finally, the text was added. It was made to appear 3D, basically by creating a shadow (like additive drawing) and a highlight (like subtractive drawing). The finishing touch was two lens flares, which show up as highlights on the "P" and the snitch.

Fernando Botero

The artist I chose to research is Fernando Botero because his work obscures reality in a unique way that at times is humorous while also making statements about society. I was first introduced to his work when I was in a high school Spanish class. I marveled over his almost carefree, pleasurable style which showed that art didn’t always have to be realistic. Fernando Botero is known for his voluptuous depictions of people in his paintings and sculptures. He was born in 1932 in Medellin, Columbia. When Botero was four his father, a salesmen, died of a heart attack and Botero, his mother, and two brothers struggled to survive poverty. At age 12, Botero trained to become a matador along with his education but soon turned to painting as his career. Many of his paintings created then were scenes from the ring. By the age of nineteen, Botero had his first solo exhibition in 1951 and shortly after had a monograph of his work was published. A year later, Botero graduated from Liceo de Antioquia in Medellin and began studying art at the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. During the late 1950s, Botero travelled to Florence, Mexico, and New York Studying different styles of painting before he was appointed professor of painting at the Bogota Academy of Arts where he held the position for 2 years. Also he married his first wife. Through his travels, Botero looked at the abstraction in art and turned to academic painting for guidance. By the early 1970s Botero decided to eliminate all brush strokes from his painting style in favor of the smooth surface. In a time where the dark almost coarse work of Francis Bacon was the new popular art of that time, Botero’s work reminded people of pleasure. Botero’s art is influenced by Piero della Francesca’s focus on expressiveness and large forms which drew Botero to manipulate scale in his works through proportional anomalies. Many of his paintings and drawings are characterized by round, full objects. He creates volume through his use of adjusting color intensities and the texture of all the objects in a given scene is consistently smooth throughout such as in this water color with pencil drawing:

Man/1975/pencil and watercolor
Also his work shows that his influence is not of the many places he has been but of his upbringing in a Hispanic household. In 1970, Botero had his first son from his second marriage and until 1974 when his son was killed in a car accident, Botero’s work was inspired by his son’s life. Later, Botero returned to New York where he began transitioning from painting and drawing to sculpture. His reasoning for switching artistic fields occurred because he had “the impression that it is necessary to do the same thing in very different ways, always searching for new effects; to produce a new vision, one never seen before, is one of the most important things for an artist.” His first sculptures were produced while he was in Paris. Fernando Botero has created a style of his own where he sees an abundant and overflowing reality. Botero has received many awards across the world for his renowned work and now lives in New York, still painting.
Here are some of his drawings I found in a recent book that was published. I was amazed at the many sketches he had as well as the many I know didn’t even make it into this book. I really like Botero because he has a wide range of materials which he uses while drawing. In both of these drawings, Botero uses pencil as his instrument on paper and canvas. But instead of the colorful, vibrant art in his paintings, these two pieces of art are very scaled down in terms of value. These are both two contour line drawings. Both depict Botero’s voluptuous outlook on all his subjects.

The Smoker/1980/pencil on paper (top)
A concert/1995/pencil (bottem)

Still life with lamp and coffee pot/1998/charcoal and white chalk on canvas

In this sketch, Botero actually uses blending and hatching techniques to create the value and shading on the pot and lamp if you look closely. I like this piece particularly because Botero carefully depicts the details in the wooden stand. He used charcoal and white chalk on canvas to make this image in 1998.

Woman with mink stole/1972/Charcoal on canvas
This piece titled “Woman with mink stole” was created in 1972 with charcoal on canvas. The piece has the traditional abundant woman as a trademark to Botero’s style. I like this drawing because Botero does a great job of creating texture in all of the different objects in the piece. For instance, the woman’s skin is very smooth and blended while the curtains have a rougher texture to depict the cloth. Also the woman’s mink stole actually has fur and careful detail. It looks very realistic. The overall piece has great dynamic value which allows the viewer’s eye to travel along the piece.

I like this piece entitled “Two Musicians” because it uses a lot of value and has many highlighted parts in the subjects. Botero goes uses the most value in this piece and still manages to create a narrative that doesn’t get lost in the value. Great work.

Two musicians/1990/white chalk

Botero’s “Hand” expresses his trademark style in which there is a simple line drawing and it is brought to life through his use of color. In this piece the brush strokes aren’t visible and Botero creates the hands texture through the use of the value in colors. As u can see the fingers are lightly painted using water color while the palm and wrist are a dark fleshy color.

Hand/1998/pencil, watercolor and pastel

Sources:

Congdon, Kristin G., and Kara Kelley Hallmark. Artists from Latin American Cultures: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, Ct: Greenwood Press, 2002. 40-44.
Fumaroli, Marc. Botero Drawings. Bogotá, D.C., Colombia : Villegas Editores, 1999. (All drawings were scanned from this book)
“Fernando Botero Bibliography.” Art Directory. 2010. 9 Nov 2010. http://www.fernando-botero.com/.

--Mariah Hukins

Tim Burton

I have been a big fan of Tim Burton for a while now and have gotten into many arguments over whether he is really an artist or not, since his role in his most recent works has been as director or producer. Last year I visited the MoMa’s exhibit of his work and was finally vindicated—Burton not only designs the characters for most of his films, but has a whole collection of previously unseen drawings, comics, and storyboards (mostly unrealized projects).

It was really inspiring for me to see his drawings, which combine several styles I admire. I have long been envious of the clean line-based style that has become increasingly pervasive through mediums such as manga, web design images, screen printed t-shirt culture, and tattoo-inspired art. However, I hate drawing in this style and find it extremely difficult. I find myself drawing in an expressive manner which is usually unrepresented in line drawings. The reason I was drawn to Burton’s drawings this semester was his ability to combine comic-style and line, while keeping it expressive and emotive.

Tim Burton was born August 25, 1958. He grew up in Burbank, CA, which he found to be a stifling environment. He was an avid fan of pop culture and collected greeting cards, comics from newspapers (many humorous editorials), and lists of horror films he enjoyed. He also kept sketchbooks, where he started to develop the aesthetic that is so iconic today. Burton also won various local contests for posters. When Burton was 18 he won a scholarship to attend CalArts, the fine arts school created by Disney. In 1979 Burton became an apprentice at Disney and worked in various aspects of animation. Many of his drawings for the projects he worked on were never used, often because they were too dark or strange. He found the studio contract life oppressive and the result was a prolific period in his private drawing. The ideas behind Nightmare Before Christmas were developed during this time.

Burton’s work is dark, surreal, often makes use of distortion, and has a wry humor similar to that of the editorial comics he collected as a teen. The term "pop surrealism" is often used when discussing his work. The child/parent relationship and isolation are both recurring themes. His work is very character focused, which is why it makes sense he went into animation rather than fine art.

These days Tim Burton has become a household name because of his involvement in such smash hits as Sleepy Hallow, Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, and Batman Returns. Despite his mainstream studio connections, his work is still very alternative and inspires a cult following.

Untitled (Cartoon Series)

c. 1980-86. Pencil on Paper.

This piece is a good example of Burton's humor manifested through distortion and cartoony style. I really like the hair, particularly the girl's hair. I think that the line value shows the curved shape of the head well.

Sorry for the crookedness of the above piece--I haven't yet mastered my scanner. I really like this piece because it shows how a somewhat messy (or expressive) style can still result in a clean image with defined shadows and highlights.

Untitled (Romeo and Juliet)

c. 1981-84. Ink, marker, and colored pencil on paper.

Obviously. this is in color and not done with materials we have been working with in class. However, I wanted to include this drawing because it is one of my favorites. The swirling water reminds me of the sky in Starry Night. You could just discount this swirly-ness to a cartoon style, lacking any real skill, but I think it can also be seen as a reference to great art from the past. This piece is also a great example of his character and story-driven work-- the series this piece is from is a Romeo and Juliet story about a romance between a land mass and an ocean mass.

References:

Magliozzi, Ron; and He, Jenny. Tim Burton. New York: the Museum of Modern Art, 2009.

http://tourdrobe.com/tag/tim-burton

http://www.artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2786

http://endofthespectrum.net/?p=141

-Hannah

Dave Gibbons

This is Danny's "Random Blog Post."
Hope you enjoy.
The "Real" one is to come.

Dave Gibbons, the illustrator of the hit comic - er, I mean, graphic novel - "Watchmen," has a particular knack for detail and symbolic imagery.

For instance, in this first image, the decrepit wall above the man's head (Night Owl, for the curious) echos the emotion of the figure below. His rich textures clearly organize the frame so that the reader can quickly process the parallels between the objects (additionally, the empty suit next to the empty man. Quite something, really). Finally, even his minutia lend themselves to profound communication, such as the man's frowning face in examining the smiling pin (the object in his hand).

This phenomenon would not be quite so notable if it didn't hold for virtually every page of the book Watchmen. But, as you may have guessed, it does.

Gibbons has been drawing for a living pretty much from the start, writing his first fan comic at the age of 15 (Source). Even though comics are traditionally marginalized as somewhat juvenile, he manages to make really deep visual connections with the story and the reader. For example, take this bizarre picture. Frankly, this is really odd, but there is a lot of interesting material here. The bizarre sheen of the doll's hair is made to greatly contrast the rough green of the pilot's copter. In the second frame, when it takes on the pilot's perspective, the foliage (not the blue sky) becomes the background, establishing contrasting colors and textures for the different entities: smooth and garish for the doll, intricate and natural for the pilot.

And so on. Long story short, Gibbons has given an art style that has been reserved traditionally for children a nuanced revitalization, and that is what makes him worthy of a blog post.

Edgar Degas

The paintings and drawings of the French artist, Edgar Degas (1834-1917), contribute a unique style to the world of art. Considered by many to be an Impressionist painter, Edgar Degas actually did not want to be categorized as an Impressionist. But Edgar Degas could not have gotten to this level of art without the classical training he went through as a young man. The sources of his main inspirations came from pieces of work in the Louvre and from Italy; the frescoes and paintings that he saw on his trips to Italy captivated Degas, and his earlier works of art somewhat reflect the classicItalian styles.

However, as he progressed with his art, he turned towards a more modern approach to his drawings and sketches. Steering away from landscape paintings, Degas decided to focus on study drawings and paintings of more simplicity which was influenced by Japanese art. He started to draw ballerinas and his passion for studying ballerinas increased in the 1870's. He was able to create a link from the traditional techniques with modern styles. While his technique stayed classic, he explored a new subject through ballerinas. Ballerinas, who are incredibly flexible are able to move in different ways compared to non-ballerinas. Their movements and elegance were captured by Degas in his drawings. He studied them in various poses and excellently captured their poses. One of the many reasons why I personally chose Degas is because he chose to study ballerinas. In one subject, he could draw many different sketches: one for each pose a ballerina could hold. The poses that were portrayed were not always finale poses that depict the ballerina in the best light. What I like about his work is that it was very realistic and relaxed. Ballerinas are not always poised and perfect; and Degas showed this. He caught poses of them during practice and showed the true nature of ballerinas.

For example:

Dancers Dancing at the Barre (1877)

Mixed Media on Canvas

Although this is a painting and not a drawing, the composition of this piece is really appealing. I like how the ballerinas are not completely centered on the canvas. It shows off the more modern approach to paintings.

Untitled Sketch

Charcoal Pencil

Although this is only a sketch, it is still a really appealing piece to me. The sketch has short strokes which shows that it is a sketch, it still captures a majority of the detail with such simple strokes!

Dancer Adjusting Her Slipper (1873)

Graphite heightened with white chalk on faded pink paper

This is not a typical ballerina pose that you will see in performances. Instead it is what the title suggests. Also, this type of drawing is one of my favorite styles. This drawing looks like a simple sketch and the simplicity of this draws me in. It's a simple figure drawing with no details on the background; the ballerina is the only focus.