Wednesday, August 22, 2007

more art viewing

& watched more art dvds. i did not get to netfliks in time to modify queue & consequently i have watched lots of art dvds. most dealt with current art & less about history

modern masters: in the studio with george perez:

comics illustrator (justice league, wonder woman, witchblade++++++).

he is a living god of this genre.

what i learned: liked watching him draw (& erase a lot). very insightful into the daily life/issues of this profession. he takes time to explain his mindset & forethought/troubleshooting. great nuts & bolts.

loved the fact that the under-drawings/roughs are done with blue pencil (does not show in print), >>>give the rest of us more hope. from there it is pencil & then ink. talked about issues with dif artists 9example inkers who do not know how to interpret your thinking “with a pencil.” the inker ‘clarifies” the picture.

what i learned: have always had a huge respect for artists/illustrators of this genre. miyazaki &frazetta are gods to me. this dvd made them more tangible/real world.

as it relates to my project: maybe cut myself some slack & know that groundwork, preliminary studies pay off. that it is in the experiments that ideas are honed. other than that>>> nothing literal. i am attracted to close cropped dynamic compositions & perhaps my penchant comes from this genre???

matthew barney: no restraint:

“exploration of artist/filmmaker & his creative process”

interesting, yet not inspiring for me. i have followed his work for some time & am always curious about what he will do next. this was an opportunity to see more of his stuff.

the run up (2 disc):

“26 of today’s hot/current/important street, photo, paint artists”

so far this has been the best representative of new art. the stuff you will not see in art forum or art news or in any museum. well, you might/should. a lot of it is street art & non-mainstream stuff. some relates to specific ethic or economic/education groups. some of the artists i was familiar with others were new & welcome.

as this relates to me? a greater awareness of what is out there >>> what people are doing. give me something to think about (where do i fit in?), the new knowledge will give me reference on the work of others as it appears (future students, aib peers). i recommended this dvd to my aib group message board site.

certain doubts of william kentridge:

“a south african/brazilian multimedia artist”

i do not know where to begin…

he and his work are sooooo appealing on so many levels that it seems pointless to try & comment here. he is deeply personal & global in word & image. free from pretension & a rare ability to communicate huge thoughts & feelings effectively without getting preachy.

he said sooooo many things worth citing >>> there is no point. i was deeply touched by his work, so enough said.

he did made one comment about selecting a landscape location:

in order to be fresh & abandon the traditional mode of selection >>> pick the perfect spot & then turn 30 or 90 degrees to pick your spot. the lighting & subject will be very ordinary & more true to the place.

his def of traditional landscape selection:

interesting foreground, great trees with access to distant mountains & great clouds & uncluttered (5 object rule???)

pulp fiction art:

“a guilty pleasure of the 20th century”

this dvd was basically an overview history of the genre. had some interviews with artists from the early days (depression era/between ww 1&2). i was more familiar with the sci fi/fantasy artists before. some good stories ,reflections.

i did not realize so much original work/paintings had been trashed by the publishers. the estimate is that “ 10% of 1% of all work created. not sure why it was stated that way… lots of interesting work & painterly skills. many of the illustrators ended up in the pinup genre because it brought fame & $$. saw some of the scratchboard stuff was awesome.

robert anderson is one current artist that references this genre. an example painting depicted during his interview was a large painting the was a montage of characters from numerous covers from the 1930-50’s. he stated that they were fun to do & fun for the viewer. that the viewer recognizes the reference & embraces the exploration & homage of this genre.

as this relates to me: think the compositions of this genre influenced everyone of my generation >>> tis inevitable. think they influence commercial photography, photojournalism, & graphic design as well. the dynamic movement ,simplicity, and use of space that evolved from the need to compete on the shelf for the consumer’s dollar in hard times was based on trial & error. the formula still works.

this project: not sure if it relates other than being conscious of artistic influences. a good thing when it comes to yapping about it later.

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