This is my art blog for 2019 Art.
I will be posting updates regularly and you will be able to find it all on this post.
1/2/19
Planning - Themes/Ideas:
This year we are focusing on the art styles/themes of trompe l' oeil which is forced perspective, guerilla art and feminism. I will incorporate ideas and art styles from artist models within these themes into my overarching theme. My main theme is the journey of life through growing up and questioning life, experiencing and enduring your darkest days and isolating yourself from the outside world and then redemption through learning how to live with your demons and gaining a new perspective on life. I also want to explore social commentary on my board based around how we watch each others fate unfold. No matter good or bad it seems as though we stand back and watch and some people just want to watch the world burn. In class we also explored why we want to do our boards. My why was to explore and express my perception of life and the world around me. I will do this by using artists models that link up with my major themes and I will also use images inspired by lyrics from the band Tool as well as my own paintings.
Lyrical Imagery:
The theme for the board was inspired by lyrics from the band Tool. Because of this I have chosen to use lyrics from the band and use them as images. I compiled the lyrics for each board over the holidays so I can create a layout of the story for each piece on my board. As the year progresses I may not use all the lyrics I have compiled but for the most part whatever image is inspired by these lyrics will be used as pieces for my board.
Lyrics for First board:
- "Black then white are all I see in my infancy, red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me, let's me see"
- "Spark becomes a flame, flame becomes a fire, light the way or warm this home we occupy"
- "Wide eyed and hopeful"
- "Overthinking, overanalyzing separates the body from the mind."
- "I want to watch the ground give way, I want to watch it all go down."
- "I know the pieces fit 'cause I watched them tumble down."
- "Doomed to crumble unless we strengthen our communication"
- "To point the finger, blame the other, watch the temple topple over."
- "Standing above the crowd, he had a voice that was strong and loud we'll miss him."
- "Angels on the sideline, baffled and confused."
Lyrics for Second Board:
- "The face of your own stability looking away."
- "There's a shadow just behind me, shrowding every step I take."
- "Staring down the hole again, hands upon my back again."
- "So I'm treading water, your hands are bound."`
- "Some say we'll see armageddon soon, I certainly hope we will."
- "Cause I need to watch things die from a distance."
- "Desensitized to everything."
- "On my back and tumbling, down that hole and back again."
- "Vicariously I live while the whole world dies."
- "What am I to say to these ghouls tonight?"
Lyrics for Third Board:
- "I have come curiously close to the end."
- "And in my darkest moment feeble and weeping, the moon tells me a secret."
- "I pray the light lifts me out."
- "Reaching out to embrace whatever may come."
- "What have I done to be the son of an Angel."
- "Recognise this as a holy gift, and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing."
- "We ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no ones been."
- "Ten thousand days in the fire is long enough, you're going home."
- "I may find peace with the emptiness."
- "Spiral out, keep going."
- "This body makes me feel eternal, all this pain is an illusion."
Artist Models:
5/2/19
Rene Miville:
There is no information online regarding anything to do with Rene Miville. All I could find was images of their work. I found Rene Miville through their work on one of my favourite bands album covers. The Band is death and Rene worked on the album covers of Human, Individual Thought Patterns and Symbolic. Rene uses alot of symbolism in their work most notably in the album cover for Symbolic. We see an eye with hands holding figures of people which we can assume is like a big brother type figure watching over us and manipulating the way we live our lives. I also like the symbolism used in Individual Thought Patterns. In this artwork we see a human like figure on top of an image that looks similar to earth. This is showing us that we are all joined together by the fact that we reside on the same planet, but the way we think is completely different from one another. The main inspiration I draw from Rene is their use of backgrounds. The backgrounds in these paintings are very textured and layered with lots going on, but the background also highlights the important parts of the image and draws the eye to these areas.
7/2/19
Alex Grey:
Alex Grey was born in Columbus, Ohio on November 29, 1953. He studied at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts where he developed his visionary art style. He applied this art style to a series of life size paintings depicting stages of life. In these paintings he used repeating patterns and a multitude of colours which he also uses throughout alot of his artworks. He also did alot of charcoal and ink paintings. Tool also used his talents for their albums covers of Lateralus and 10,000 days.
10/2/19
Concept Development/Art History:
Using the art concepts of Trompe L'oiel, Guerilla art and Feminist Art I had to come up with a definition for each of these concepts to gain a better understanding of art works and artists in these styles to implement it into my own work better.
Trompe L’oeil:
Michelangelo, Rainer Maria Latzke
Trompe L’oeil is French for deceive the eye. Paintings within this art style force the perspective of something being real, crossing over from the painting into reality. These paintings are often done from a first person perspective which gives a sense of false reality to the paintings. Often the environment is twisted rather than the objects within the artwork itself, creating a contrast between the real world objects and the manipulated environment.
Guerilla Art:
Blek Le Rat, John Fekner
Guerilla art is often done anonymously to separate the opinions held within the artwork from the artist. Often commenting on political and societal issues with the town, cities, countries that the artists a situated in. Guerilla art started in the early 1980s in the U.K acting as a protest against the lack of opportunities for artists to have public displays. Guerilla art is usually done without authorization which makes the message of the artwork even more powerful. The rebellion of the artists producing their art unauthorized makes the message very powerful and these pieces are usually done where a large audience of people will be able to see it. This makes these art pieces have an even bigger impact because of this.
Feminist Art:
Nancy Spero, Frida Kahlo
The Feminist art movement is said to have started in the 1960s after centuries of male dominated art. During the 1960s women started becoming more frequently portrayed as objects of desire with a good example being pin up girls becoming popular in mainstream media and art. Artists within this art style used the medium of painting to express their feelings about the societies they lived in being dominated by men. Feminist art is about expressing the political and societal differences of men and women through meaningful artworks that force the viewer to question their views on these issues.
15/2/19
Using one of Picasso's pieces, -- Still Life By Chair Caning -- I started to develop some pieces using his style of Trompe L'oeil. I like how he's purposely sporadic with where he places his shapes and the way he manipulates the objects withing the painting. I took these things and applied them to a few rough sketches. As I am using lyrics as Images I chose a few to start developing pieces around. I used the lyrics of "Over thinking, over analyzing, separates the body from the mind", 'Wide eyed and hopeful" and also "I know the pieces fit cause I watched it tumble down." The next thing I need to do is develop the idea a bit more so I actually have a good idea of what it will look like on my board.
16/2/19
First solid concept around one of the three pieces I started doing using Picasso as a reference. The lyric I used was, "Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind." The multiple colours represent many overlapping thoughts, the skeleton outlines show the loss of humanity due to overthinking. I incorporated some question marks to represent the over thinking and over analyzing. One is hooked around the skull to show the separation from the body and the mind and one is incorporated into the brain on top of the skeleton body to directly represent over thinking.
17/2/19
Second piece in the series of three inspired by Picasso. I decided on using objects from the real world and using them for something else like how Picasso uses a rope as a table/serving tray in the artwork Still Life By Chair Caning. I used the lyric of "I know the pieces fit 'cause I watched it tumble down." Because of this I decided to use puzzle pieces to build up columns which I want to use as a motif. I used eyes within the column to represent the watching of a structure falling apart. The pillars can represent our life, humanity or sanity, we know what we need to do to keep this things balanced but sometimes it still falls apart. Which is what the puzzle pieces represent.
18/2/19
Third Piece in my Series inspired by Picasso. I used the lyric "wide eyed and hopeful" for this one. I took an eye and then used the pupil and the coloured to create an image of the galaxy and planet earth. This represents the hopefulness and ambition to take on the world. on the left and right of this is an ocean with clouds over top to represent rocky waters closing in on the galaxy, showing that your hopefulness and ambition can collapse at any time. I used houses as eyelashes to further emphasis ambition as it shows the willingness to move around and experience different parts of the world to gain experience and get where you want to go in life. I am also planning to use different types of houses from around the world to portray this.
18/2/19
I started and finished planning another piece that was the original starting idea for my whole board. The lyrics I used was "Black then white are, all I see, red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me, let's me see." I want to use this as the first piece on my first board as it encapsulates the entire theme of the first board which is growing up, gaining knowledge and questioning the world around you. The progression from baby to man with the different colours shows the growth and gaining of knowledge, as we grow we learn more and more until eventually we see the world through our own eyes and that's what the hand holding the eye represents. It is the giving of our own view on the world from ourselves. There is also a moon in the left corner which will be used as a motif to represent the coming of dark days.
25/2/19
I painted my first piece in the series of three inspired by picasso. This is the image inspired by the lyric "wide eyed and hopeful" and it shows the ambition to take on the world. However in the corner of the eyes there are storms which are supposed to represent the dark times that can overshadow your ambitions. I still need to fill in the background so I'll probably use that space to make it look more like an eye.
26/2/19
Finished the first piece in my series inspired by picasso. Now I need to do it properly so it can be a piece on my board, alongside the 3 other pieces I have planned out.
4/3/19
I finished drawing out the three pieces I'm doing for the series of three inspired by picasso on my board. I am using a sun and a moon to show a balance between light and dark which is representative of the theme on my first board. I'll start to remove the sun as it transitions into my second board which deals with the theme of our darkest days. I also started painting one of the pieces in the series and I am planning to do a fourth one once these are finished as it will be the first piece on the board.
10/3/19
Nearly finished one piece and finished painting the backgrounds of the other two in the first series for my board.
23/3/19
Finished two pieces and the other two are close. This will be the first series on my board. Once I finish this I will start a series focused around Guerilla art. I want to use Blek le Rat as a starting point and use his work as inspiration for my next series.
25/3/19
Finished the first series on my board. This will make up the second row on my board. I have nearly finished one of the top pieces for my board and have planned the other one. Once I finish those I will start planing another series around Guerilla art, focusing on Banksy and Blek le Rat.
31/3/19
I have completed the first stage of planning for my first series around guerrilla art. After analyzing artworks from Blek le Rat and Banksy I wanted to incorporate simplicity and social commentary into this series of works. I used the lyrics of "Standing above the crowd, he had a voice that was strong and loud, We'll miss him" and also I want to watch the ground give way, I want to watch it all go down." I didn't use a lyric for the middle piece as none of the ones I chose fit well enough. What I did instead was develop a piece around one of the ideas of my board. The balance between light and dark that comes from accepting the world the way it is and also questioning it. I've tipped the scales in favour of the dark side as when I move onto my second board the themes will be darker so I'm slowly incorporating darker themes and colour schemes in my first board.
2/4/19
Before I start creating my next series I want to focus on finishing the first series on my board which will use this piece and another one that has been roughly planned. These paintings focus on the simplistic, surrealist and visionary art of Alex Grey and Rainer Maria Latzke.
I am also working on completing my second series. I need to make the eye more realistic by adding more texture, shape and shading. Once I have done this I will look into the artist models of Palladino, De Chirico, Kitaj, and Richard Hamilton so I can include some of their ideas/techniques into my next series. Also so I can draw inspiration from them that I can use later on for my board.
5/4/19
I have started and finished my fifth piece which will be part of my first series. The idea of this piece came from the lyric
"Spark becomes a flame, flame becomes a fire, light the way or warm this home we occupy."I also took ideas from the first piece that didn't quite and incorporated them here. I wanted to portray one of the major themes of my board of questioning the world or accepting it. The pillars/house with the bonfire in between represent accepting the world and remaining in your comfort zone. The hand with the eye represents the enlightenment that comes from questioning everything around us. The man on the left on his knees shows a struggle, and he can choose either option, one will come easy, and one will take more effort but be more beneficial which is something that we go through everyday.
22/4/19
Finished the first piece in my third series around the lyric "I want to watch the ground give way, I want to watch it all give way." I used windows to represent the watching of the pillars crumbling. This painting is a continuation of the piece with the pillars and the puzzle pieces, as it shows what would happen if you were to choose a negative path in life. The moon is a representation of dark times to come as I move onto my second board, and it also represents the idea that our darkest thoughts come at night. This correlates to the lyric I used as it shows that sometimes we just have to watch something go wrong before we can make it right. I started the piece using phones as a social commentary of overusing social media. But I realised it would not fit into the rest of my board so I used the windows instead since there I am focusing on Ranier Maria Latzke and how he uses architecture in his work.
28/4/19
Nearly finished my third series around guerilla art. I need to finish off the scales piece with gold paint, and an eye in the scale on the right side and a question mark in the scale on the left. This will represent overthinking possibly leading to dark thoughts and hardship and seeing the world the way it is can sometimes be better for you. This leads into my second board very well as I start to explore darker themes which I have slowly introduced. I also need to finish the graveyard piece by adding some more details that I have not decided on yet. I wanted to put a focus on one of the headstones to show that they were of importance. I did this to tie in with the lyric "he had a voice that was strong and loud, we'll miss him." The Piece with the scales was inspired by Frida Kahlo and her artwork Tree of Hope, Remain strong. I liked her use of colour splitting the painting into two with light and dark shades. She is seen lying presumably dead on one side of the artwork and is seen alive on the other side. I wanted to use this concept but focusing on the imbalance between seeing the world the way it is and question it which is why I incorporated the scales.
28/4/19
I had an idea for a piece around the lyric "angels on the sideline, baffled and confused. I want this to be my last piece on my first board as it will transition perfectly into my second board. The masks in the middle represent the thought that we sometimes cover up what we are truly feeling in our darkest times. There will be angels on each side of the piece and these angels are watching the person in the middle choose whether they show their true emotion, although dark or try to cover it up. Going into the second board I will start using the happy mask as a symbol of covering up emotions in our darkest times. I want to use angels more as one of my Artist Models is Michelangelo and I like the way he uses the heavens in the Sistine chapel. The angels are there to represent the hope of redemption and when I move onto my third board they will be used more, mainly as a saviour.
30/4/19
Planned a couple of pieces around Nancy Spero and Frida Kahlo. I used the simplicity and repetition of Nancy Speros work and also a split in the middle using different colours in the same vein as Frida Kahlos piece "The Tree of Hope." The piece on the right deals with the idea of feeling trapped from the outside world which some artists in the feminist movement deal with. It is an extremely relevant theme which I will be exploring more in my second board. For my second piece I will use the pillars with a house incorporated in them again. This is so I can continue the influence of Rainer Maria Latzke and also portray the idea that our darkest thoughts often come at night, in the comfort of our own homes. It also when we question the world the most which is another theme I will be exploring more in my second board.
6/5/19
I have finished off the last piece in my third series and also the first piece for my fourth series. The piece with the scales is from my third series and it deals with the idea that overthinking can lead to darker thoughts and in turn send you into a deep sadness. Whereas the lighter side deals with the idea that ignorance is bliss and seeing the world the way it is could be better for you. Realistically we need a balance of both of these which is the one of my main ideas of my board and this piece specifically. The other piece I have finished is from my series around feminist art. This piece deals with the idea of isolation from the outside world and the feeling of oppression that comes from this artistic movement. I wanted to focus on the simplicity and repetitiveness of Nancy Spero's works so I incorporated the pillars as I have in every other series to create a sense of space and separation. The house and the moon once again portray the idea that our darkest thoughts come at night. Also the question marks reinforce this idea, while being placed in the same place as the eyes were in a similar piece I have done previously in order to create a sense of continuity.
I have also finished planning my last piece in my feminist art series. I took the idea of repetition from Nancy Spero and incorporated it here. I also used friday kahlo split of colour and night and day again, as it creates a separation within the piece but also connects with the piece opposite it in the series. I used the skeleton frame again to show that you need a balance between light and dark or happiness and sadness in order to have a fulfilling life. The background will be the same colours as the other split piece in the series in order to connect all three pieces.
21/5/19
I have finished my final piece in my feminist art series focusing on Frida Kahlo and Nancy Spero. I used the split between light and dark from Frida Kahlos Tree Of Hope piece and also incorporated the idea of repeating figures from this pattern. This piece and the overall series represents balance. Without dark we cannot appreciate light so it's all about finding the balance between the two. This is represented by having both happy and sad masks on both sides of the piece. Later on I plan to use just the sad masks in my last piece to represent the dark taking over then I will probably slowly reintroduce the happy mask along with all of the other motifs that represent balance.
29/5/19
I have started painting my final piece around trompe l'oeil and Michelangelo. I wanted to start incorporating the heavens so I will be painting two angels, either side of the faceless person in the middle to represent a lack of faith, and their hope fading away. I will start using the idea of the heavens more in my second board as I deal with themes of hopelessness and desperation. I still need to plan my second to last piece for my first board, which I hope will be inspired by the piece I am doing at the moment.
16/6/19
Finished the final piece on my first board around the lyric of "angels on the sideline sitting baffled and confused." this represents the final transition into the second board which will deal with darker themes such as inner struggle and feeling lost or trapped. each of the angels is missing apart of them which represents them not knowing who they truly are, and not being able to guide someone. The person in the middle is faceless with a mask beside them. This represents that they will need to experience sadness to appreciate happiness and find themselves along the way and come out of the experience stronger. I still need to plan the second to last piece but I will do that after completing a few pieces of my second board which I have already started doing rough sketches for.
18/6/19
Finished planning the first two pieces for my second board. I planned these around the lyrics of "so I'm treading water, your hands are bound" and "there's a shadow just behind me shrouding every step I take." In the first piece there is a question mark hanging over the person, which is meant to be the shadow. This represents an eternal questioning that the person can't get rid of. It is blocking the clear sky which represents a clear train of thought. The brick wall represents the person world falling apart and the eye on the wall represents how we all watch each others fates unfolding, often doing nothing about it and simply standing by and observing from a distance while the person falls apart. In the second piece there is a hand coming up from the water which is reaching out to a pair of bound hands. The bound hands represent an offer of help that cannot be received at this time and the person can do nothing but accept their fate.
25/6/19
Finished one of the first two pieces on my second board. It was inspired by the Alex Grey piece "The Gift" and the lyrics of "so I'm treading water, your hands are bound." I wanted to portray an image of someone that is in desperate need of help but cannot receive it because of someone elses detriment. This piece also inspired an image for my second to last piece on my first board which I will plan once this first series on my second board is finish. It will show a skeleton reaching out to an overseeing eye, which will represent a physical body fading away, but the mental and emotional body desperately trying to hold on.
9/7/19
I have finished the first piece to go on my second board which also completes my first series. I focused on the visionary art of Alex Grey and also the simplicity found on guerrilla art to develop this series. For this piece I wanted to show a separation between dark and light to show that the character has plunged into their darkest days. The eye also represents an acceptance of the world which the figure does not notice because of the shadow in the form of a question mark lingering over their head. The lyrical inspiration for this piece was, "there's a shadow just behind me, shrouding every step I take."
15/7/19
I have finished planning the last piece for my first piece and one piece for the second series on my second board. The bottom two pieces still need a bit more development but the bottom left piece is inspired by the overarching figures that Louise Bourgeois creates to create a sense of being overpowered, and the bottom right will incorporate the seemingly random patterns of Kiki Smith to create a sense of chaos and disorder. The last piece on my first board has a skeleton to represent death or defeat, but a raised hand shows that they have not fully given up. Their physical body has deteriorated but they still search for enlightenment and redemption in the form of the eye which is guarded by two pillars. The background will be a transition from light to dark to show the dark descending on the skeleton. The piece I planned for my second board was designed around the lyric "the dace of your own stability looking away" and I incorporated Miriam Shapiro's use of coloured shapes and patterns to create a sense of uncertainty.
17/7/19
I finished the first piece in my second series for my second board. I used the lyric of "the face of your own stability looking away." I also drew inspiration from Miriam Shapiro and her use of coloured shapes to frame parts of her work. This piece depicts the masked figure looking into a mirror not being able to see their true reflection. The mirror being coloured shows that it is supposed to restore hope and bring enlightenment but for this figure it does not do so. This represents the feeling of being lost and not being able to find yourself because you are looking on the outside rather than the inside.
20/7/19
This piece finishes off my second series in my second board. It depicts a man sitting on a broken pillar staring at the moon. There is no sign of light and the spiral background represents the chaotic nature of this persons life. There are three headstones that have been defiled. This shows a lack of care that the world has because even an object put in place for the remembrance of the dead has been tarnished.
My next series will be based around Kiki Smith and her use of patterns and also possibly Michelangelo and louise bourgeois. I plan to do two angels either side of two other pieces two create a centre piece for my board. These angels will be "watching" events unfolding for this character, without intervening. As I move into the third board later on I will use these angels as a symbol of hope.
29/7/19
I have finished my final piece for my first board and have also finished piecing together my first board. There a still a few parts I need to fix up and add to. I need to add more texture to a few pieces to make their impact stronger, and I also need to make a few parts more realistic such as the eyes. For the textures I will add scratching and more layers in order to create a greater sense of disorder which I will also use in my next series for my second board which I have planned 3/4 of.
For the next series on my second board I will focus on Kiki Smiths use of textures, Louise Bourgeois' use of overarching figures and Michelangelo's representation of the heavens through angels. The angels will be over watching events unfolding in the characters life without intervening because even they have their own problems at this time. I will use textured backgrounds full of symbols that I hve used throughout my board to show the chaotic nature of the angels lives and the world around them and the character they are overlooking.
7/8/19
I have finished the first piece in the series inspired by Kiki Smith. I wanted to focus on a textured background as Kiki Smith does this often. The unfinished look represents disorder and a lack of control. The mask falling into the well is a representation of the split between light and dark and happiness and sadness. The happy mask has now been hidden which mean sadness has taken over. Later on in my folio I will bring back both masks to create a sense of balance and also to represent that you need sadness to appreciate happiness. The hands are a representation of social pressures that can often lead to dark days and anxiety. They are also driving away the happiness by disposing of the happy mask.
28/9/19
I have finished both of the angel pieces for my third series on my second board. These angels are meant to be overlooking the "character" in this story going through their hardships. They should intervene but they choose not to because they are lost themselves and the character is too far gone. The unfinished background once again represents the unbalance and disorder that comes from dark thoughts. I was aiming to make them the same colour and size etc but since they're not I can use that as a metaphor for because not everything is perfect, which fits the theme of my board perfectly. In my next piece I will focus on adding more texture to the background. I will layer colours, scratch up the background and do some more blending to represent a distorted sense of reality. I plan to reintroduce the puzzle pieces to represent a fabricated reality and I will also do an outlined figure to represent their dark thoughts and lack of perception fully consuming them.
