Dreamer Drawing

So for my drawing class we had to draw a classmate's head using hatching with compressed charcoal, white nupastel, and a red-brown/sienna nupastel. For the first half of class I was actually a model (there's a picture of my favorite drawing down below) which was pretty fun. My classmates had to draw 2 heads, and I only had to draw one, and I got to sit and do a crossword puzzle for an hour and a half. I found that my head would slowly start drooping the longer I sat, so I wasn't the perfect model, but I think  people got pretty good drawings out of it. It's weird being on the other end of the drawing, but I learned to block out all the people staring at me.

Anyway, for the second half of class, I drew a girl named Leah. Then, the following week we had to add a background, or "dream," to the drawing, including a place, an object and a person.

In the critique of this drawing it was mentioned that I needed to eliminate the line around Leah's face, and then add value overall. The drawing gets lost in the paper.

The drawing above is of myself and was done by a student named Raquel (and the one in the background is by Jacob). I think she did a really great job! It's kind of funny looking at 7 or 8 different drawings of yourself, because they all look so different. People have such a variety of perception.

Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono is one radical artist. Watch this.

I'd never really thought of Yoko Ono as anything but John Lennon's widow. I'd never even asked the question, "What does Yoko Ono do?" Answer is....anything to promote peace, pretty much. Okay, that's cutting her work short. She's done a lot of things in the past 50-60 years. She's kind of cool and she's kind of crazy which equals some interesting art. Not all of it I like, for example the Voice Piece (from above), although it does send a loud message (pun intended). She's been doing exhibitions since the 1960's. She does paintings, drawings, sculptural work, sound work, video work, performance pieces...you name it, she's probably dabbled in it. I find it funny that I've never looked into this before. I wouldn't say I'm a crazy Beatles fan, but I'm definitely a fan, and I know thing or two about them, their members, and more specifically about Lennon's relationship to Ono. It comes up in crossword puzzles all the time. 


Yoko Ono on being an artist:
"I didn't label myself. I didn't think I was avant-garde, I thought I was me, just doing my thing." (quote from http://www.a-i-u.net/stampart.html)


The woman definitely does, and always has, marched to the beat of her own drum. She creates art to evoke strong responses.

Desk Chair

Desk Chair
1/28/11

For this assignment we had to create a technical drawing of a desk chair. We were supposed to add areas of interest in the background, but I ran out of time. It is 18"x24" and is drawn with sharpened yellow chalk on black Strathmore. To create accurate proportions, I used sighting methods with a ruler. As irritating as sighting can be at times, it really helps to create realistic looking drawings. Sighting has helped with my Head of David and Erased Head drawings. I'm sure we'll use this concept all semester.

Valentine

I drew this for my boyfriend for Valentine's Day. Obviously it's a drawing of us, and he loved it. I listed reasons why I love him beneath it. He keeps it on his nightstand. Anyway, in terms of the drawing, it's definitely in our likeness. More-so him than me, but it's us for sure. It's fairly small, about 10"x6", mostly hatching, and in graphite. I had to do a head handout for my drawing class, and it helped me with facial features a lot. It's drawn from pictures I had on my cellphone. I think there's a bit too much concern in my expression, namely my eyebrow, but he insisted that I leave it that way. I wish I had a better quality picture of this!

Kitsch

Upon Googling kitsch I came across this essay written by Whitney Rugg, a student at the University of Chicago that summed up the idea of kitsch quite nicely. To quote her opening paragraph:

'"If works of art were judged democratically--that is, according to how many people like them--kitsch would easily defeat all its competitors," observed Thomas Kulka. Yet, despite its status as a source of pleasure for a mass audience, kitsch is typically considered a negative product and used as a pejorative statement. It is seen as a type of creation that reaffirms rather than challenges the collective norm, a source of sheer entertainment in opposition to the elevated perception generated by high art.' (excerpt from http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/kitsch.htm)


What I've found in my research is that kitsch is....tacky. Also, the word "kitsch" is said to be a derivative of the German word for "trash." However, there are artists who make their whole career around making these trashy, tacky objects because they evoke such a strong response in people. Jeff Koons is a master of kitsch.

(from www.jeffkoons.com)

An inflatable bunny and an inflatable flower. Kitsch reminds me of things you'd find at the dollar store....or the Salvation Army. Things covered in sequins, or salt and pepper shakers shaped like children, or a plate with a rooster on it....etc....I could go on forever.

What's also interesting about kitsch is the it's-so-ugly-it's-fabulous factor. It has collection value for a lot of people. Personally, I question the taste of those overly into kitsch, but it's definitely a different angle of looking at what makes art and I can respect that.

Heads

This is an assignment I did for my Art 212 (Drawing I) class. I have it every Friday from 10-3. It's a really long class, but we get a lot of work done. For this assignment, the Erased Head portrait, we had to create a monochromatic portrait of a classmate using nupastels. The drawing focuses on subjective drawing with mass, perception of light and shadow shapes, and light logic. The paper is Strathmore, and is 18"x24".

Here is what I accomplished after the first portion of class:

blue format & outlines of Charity's face

Then after lunch, I came back, added to the drawing with my darker nupastel, and erased into the drawing to create the highlights.

Completed Erased Head - Charity
2/11/11

I wish the quality of the pictures was better.

Last week we did a drawing of the head of David. The aim of the assignment is similar to that of the Erased Head portrait. We concentrated on light and shadow shapes. This drawing is also on Strathmore and the format is 9"x11". The medium is graphite.

Head of David
2/4/11

With the head of David, I definitely feel I need to go back and eliminate lines, but it is on its way. The proportions look correct, but the overall drawing just needs a bit of touching up. I'm quickly learning about drawing faces and I'm loving it. After finishing the Erased Head drawing I wanted to go home and draw huge portraits of my friends. I just love the zone I get into when I'm drawing. It's a total shift to the artsy side of my brain.

transformation

In light of artists like Jeff Koons and Tom Friedman - we're doing a transformation project. Take an everyday object and change it. Make it art. Change the meaning. Make a comment.

The first idea that came to me involved tooth brushes (I have a thing with dental care...). I didn't know what kind of message I wanted to send with it though. I started by making these lists:

Formal Qualities:
Long
Skinny
Varied colors/designs
Plastic (able to melt and bend)
Bristles (grouped together at one end)

Function/Meaning/Associations:
Cleaning
Teeth/Mouths
Hygiene
Toothpaste, floss, mouthwash
Bathrooms
Dentists/Orthodontist

Then I scrapped this idea. Because I don't have a desirable number of toothbrushes lying around, and I really don't want to unnecessarily spend money when I know I can find something that I already have.
So what do I have a lot of? I asked myself. Crossword puzzles. Books. Glass bottles. 2 shoeboxes of Pez dispensers. Aha! Pez. Perfect.

Formal Qualities:
Reclining character head
Dispenser mechanism
About 5 in. long
Thin
Base (foot)
Varied colors
Hard plastic

Function/Meaning/Association:
Dispenses candy
Childhood
Uniformity
      - alternately, unique in the variety of dispensers
Playfulness
Collection
Sweet
Reward
Satisfaction (instant)
Proportion

The first thing that comes to people's minds when I tell them about my idea is pills. Dispensing pills. And that's what I thought of, too, at first, and that may be the path I end up taking. However, it just seems too easy. I was thinking of playing with the idea of collection a little bit. Since I have so many (and I don't mind sacrificing most of them), I was thinking I could put them all together and spray paint them - so they lose their value as collectible.

I haven't made any solid choices yet. I'm still playing.

Janine Antoni

Janine Antoni's Loving Care:

(image from artnet.com)

For this performance, she dipped her hair into a bucket of "Loving Care" hair dye, and systematically painted the floor with it, while viewers observed. There are 3 things I really want to address about this piece: her performance, the end product, and hair dye.

First of all, seeing a woman dressed in all black quietly painting the floor in hair dye would not only raise an eyebrow, but the scent of the stuff was probably overwhelming. I like that her art has an inclusive element to it. She wants the viewer to be part of the creation. How it's made is more important than what is made - which is an interesting aspect of art to think about. When an artist can get a viewer to ask questions, the piece is more successful. And questions like, "How was that made?" or "How did they do that?" or "What did they use for this?" attribute to the artist's creativity, and makes a stronger statement.

The end product: a floor covered in black lines going back and forth. It makes you think of Antoni like a human paint brush. This concept was especially funny to me, because I've pondered if one could make paintbrushes out of human hair, and if you could, just how many paintbrushes you could make. This woman just went for it and made her whole head the brush.

Now, using hair dye as the medium was a calculated choice. Having dyed my hair countless times, I can tell you that it would not be fun painting with the stuff, especially with your own hair. It would get all over your face, and the scent of the developer makes your eyes sting. The consistency of it changes the longer it oxidizes. It just wouldn't be fun. However, kudos to her. It adds a whole new layer to her piece, completely changing the meaning had she just used acrylic paint.

Lesson learned: get people to ask questions.

Jason deCaires Taylor

Jason deCaires Taylor does awesome underwater sculptures! He makes artificial reefs. His latest installation, Silent Evolution, is really beautiful. An excerpt from inhabitat.com describes it best: "In all its beauty there’s something a bit eerie about The Silent Evolution. Is it the closed eyes, the surrounding blue hue of the sea, or perhaps the emotions the lifeless sculptures still seem to express? There’s a strong feeling of hope in the work, even though the physical structure of the sculptures look as though the people have been tied together. Taylor’s message can be read in many different ways and voices, but what he does succinctly is to remind us of our close relation to – and not to mention dependency on – nature."

Read more: Artist Builds Incredible Coral Reef from Sunken Statues The Silent Evolution – Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World 

I love the unique nature of his work. You don't often see people working underwater, and at such a scale! It's really beautiful.

Tom Friedman

9 cereal boxes cut into small squares, fashioned into one box.

(detail) Styrofoam cups. Painted.

Hole-punched text.

(all images from designboom.com)

Tom Friedman is meticulous. He is obsessive. He pays close attention to detail. Like Koons, he invites the viewer to question what makes art. What I like about Tom Friedman is that the value in his work comes not from the material it was made with, but by the obvious time, care and attention given to each piece. He pays close attention to craft and always has specific content behind his work.

Also, another thing to be said about Tom Friedman is that he definitely makes comments about today's world. He lives in the now. Hole punches, foam cups, toothpicks, bars of soap - all modern human products.

Some may say that he is taking the value away from art by using things that are readily available to the average man, but to say that is unfair. By seeing art in things that normally have no connections to the subject, I think, shows intelligence.

Jeff Koons

After clicking through Jeff Koons website for 20 minutes, I have only vague notions as to what this guy is all about. Take a look for yourself here. He has an entire glass sculpture collection of Kama Sutra positions.

Here's "The Kiss" a less dirty example...

(all images taken from www.jeffkoons.com)

The colors in this piece are beautiful and subtle, and it catches light nicely. However...I'm aware he not only makes these glass Kama Sutra renderings, but also plastic sculptures and oil ink on canvas of sexual escapades, for mere shock factor. To ask the question: "What is art?" And although I myself will probably never make borderline pornographic art, I get the point.

Moving on. He also does a lot of work with "found objects" which we focus on a lot in Art Foundations. He makes bronze casts of snorkels, basketballs, etc. 

He makes art from Hoover vacuums in glass boxes.

Art can be anything. It's just the way it's presented. It's just if it makes you think something different than what you would in your everyday life.

skeleton & skin project and critique

We were given a skeleton and skin project and for mine I created two cubes, one smaller and one larger, with the smaller cube suspended inside the the other. On each side of the cubes, wires were fashioned into grids. Acrylic medium covered squares at random. It hangs from the ceiling and catches light in interesting ways, and casts intriguing shadow shapes.

During our critique I studied a fellow student's piece. These are the formal qualities of her work:

Organic shapes - resembles a flower, or butterfly

Hangs on wall

Solid red tissue paper - skin

Gold sequins on one "petal"

Gold wire lines

3 skin-less "petals"

1 "petal" with criss-crossed wired

1 large "petal" with translucent red fabric

Some pen lines are visible on red tissue paper

And these are the more informal qualities:

Moves well on a wall, like it is growing, coming at you, and/or taking flight

Normally sequins = crafty, but it's limited & not the main focus so works well

Would work hung in any direction

Feminine

Color scheme - unity with red materials and gold materials

Negative and positive shapes contrast

Although the critique process takes some time, it's a great learning experience. I like that we refrain from letting the artist speak much during their critique because it provides a more bare-bone and fresh look at things that viewers may not have seen had they heard the artist talk about their work first.