Imitating the Masters part1

Today's postings are all self portraits done in the style of an influential artist or movement. When I first took on this assignment, I didn't have a beard, so the bearded pics are more recent than the shaven ones.

My first piece is inspired by Chuck Close, a highly respected artist in today's art world. His technique of making marks or little tiny abstract paintings that are combined to make a nearly photo-like representation is something I wouldn't have appreciated a few years ago. I might have dismissed the technique as being equivilent to one of those photo montages of Yoda they used to sell, or maybe still do- a novelty, but not worth thinking too much over.

Further study has taught me the errors of ignorance. If you look back at his early work, the faces are huge and confrontational, with almost photo realistic tones on a stark background. Over the years, his work evolved and he began experimenting with mark making, combining several individual elements to make unified compositions; still huge and usually of a face confronting the audience. He's brilliant. I encourage you to look him up.

The elements of this picture will come together more and more with increased viewing distance.
Please click any image to see the larger version.


The second piece goes back a few hundred years to the Renaissance; or, at least that was the idea. Try as I might to do DaVinci justice, I didn't fully succeed. Oh well, I can't draw as well as Leonardo DaVinci yet. At least I'm in good company with almost every artist alive today. I like the way the pic turned out, though. DaVinci was the master of a technique of modeling that involved using light and shadow gradations. My effort.... well, like I said, I like it so lets not ruin it by examining my modeling too much.


The last piece for today was inspired by an artist by the name of Francis Bacon, who passed away in the early 1990's. Bacon was fascinated with flesh and colors, using paint to make almost gross exagerations of the human anatomy. He was very much a painter, not even laying out his compositions beforehand because he wanted the purity of the picture to exist on the canvas. Bacon also maintained that he painted reality. Here's my piece:



Studying and mimicking these artists has taught me a lot; it has really affected the way I work in my personal pieces. If you look back at the piece I did about my Dad and his hearing loss, which can be viewed by clicking here, you can see the influence of Bacon's paintings and Picasso's drawings. The imitation, particularly in the case of Picasso, was unintentional, but we tend to absorb things we see.

That's all for this time. I'll do a part 2 of this installment and also post some other non-self portrait oriented stuff.

It's Robot Day! Hooray~!

Okay, let's get this awesome Monday going with a little robot action. Everybody loves robots, right? They're right up there with pirates, ninjas, and cake!

First off, is a conceptual sketch I did with a brush pen for my Thor Robot sculpture. This was done with no layouts or reference- just pure imagination, friends! It's the moment where I first conceived putting a beard on a robot. That's an achievement I pat myself on the back for, despite no encouragement from the outside world.

To be honest, I'm happy as heck with the way this turned out. I also think the sculpture captures the original feeling of this sketch nicely. Some elements are different in the wardrobe and the shield. About the only element completely missing in the final version is the helmet. I made a few versions, but they all made him look like a chef or a construction worker.

Please click any image to see a larger version.



Next on the list is a project for my Communicative Drawing class showing in visual terms, "The Fear of Freedom". I worked up a few really loose sketches that I won't show here before deciding to try to use a robot instead of a human. Here's the first "finalized" version:



After the critique, I knew a lot needed to change in this for it to be really successful. For one, there is no sense of place. What is that circular shape behind the robot? Could the composition be cropped differently to trap the figure more with his fear? These are all concerns I addressed with the final version. I liked the first version a lot before, but the final version is so much better.



By the way, Happy belated birthday to Trizzou!

Well, that wraps up robot day. I look forward to ninja day and pirate day, but I will have to draw some ninjas and pirates first. Take care!

The Fall of Icarus

My post today is for an assignment for my Drawing class that was inspired by Baroque art and mannerism, particularly Caravaggio and Velásquez (I hope I spelled those correctly). I used a candle light source to illuminate the figure while creating sharp areas of contrast. The drawing was done with oil pastels on black mat board.

Overall, I'm proud of this experiment. I haven't used this type of lighting before, nor have I ever worked with oil pastels. There are some anatomy flaws and hiccups as well as some location confusion, but I'm still keen on what worked in the piece. I'm particularly proud of some of the drappery areas.
Click the picture to see a larger version.

Deadlines~...Yikes!

I've got a lot to do this week and don't seem to have enough time. I need to organize a portfolio for a scholarship audition, turn in my Honor Society acceptance form, get my teacher's recommendation for a scholarship, complete five concept drawings for class, finish two major pieces, organize some submissions for a school publication, and all my other normal assignments and job related stuff. Did I mention I have strep throat?

I figure we're about due for another self portrait. This is one of my favorites because I really let loose with the materials. I was just trying to lay down form and space as quickly as I could. The whole piece, done with charcoal and erasor on 18" by 24" paper, took about twenty minutes.
Click to enlarge a pic



Not for the uber fuddy people with a hatred for nudity, or those on the opposite side with a bad case of grabby hands and mouth breather syndrome, is another nude piece. This one, done with Rembrant pastels on canson paper. I find this piece to be quite lovely and I think it might be my favorite nude yet. The nude I posted here before in an earlier entry was my favorite before this, but I think the soft pinks, draped half nudity of the upper torso, and the challenge of rendering the mirror make this one just edge the other out. If you are offended by even tasteful artistic nudity drawn in a classroom setting, please avoid clicking on this picture. It is not my intention to offend anyone.


Well, that about does it for today, I hope to get more up soon, but we'll see how that goes. As always, any comments or suggestions about the pieces are very much appreciated. Also, there might be rumors floating around that Patrick Stewart and I got drunk and dressed up like Robin Hood. Why... I would never allow myself... ~for shame!~



....please don't think less of me.

An update- now with fifty percent more goodness added!

The first picture is a still life- the first one I've done in years! It's drawn with Rembrant brand pastels (thanks Trizz for introducing me to those, I love working with them!) on Canson paper. I did a still life because we had the option to draw a figure or a still life. I chose the still-life because I had been itching to see if I could imbue the same energy into a still-life that I could a figure drawing. The picture here is a little washed out. The colors are better in person.
Please click any image to see a larger version.



My next update was and experimental surface still- life (my second in years! OMG!!~!)
There is a plastic dummy with a hat on. An old gas can and a film reel sit in front of him. I call this one, The Moonshine Still. It's mixed media with paint on the base layer with conte' and ink on top. Again a scan would work better, but these things are large! My scanner can only handle so much before it gets mad at me and refuses to work.



Heres a view of the surface texture from this same piece that I captured using my camera's flash. With this, you can see how thick the base layer of paint under the drawing is.

I'm tired today, but I must persist

I'll post a few pieces today. The first, I was a bit hesitant to post because of the nudity, but it is a tasteful image. It's fairly new- only a few weeks old and I'm proud of this piece not only because it is large (it's close to 3' by 5'), but also because I also completed it in just a two hour session. I had missed the class before, when we started the pieces, so I only had one session to finish it. By the end of class, my hand tingled like I was being zapped repeatedly with static electricity.

The piece is charcoal on cold pressed illustration board. Although this picture is not sexual, it does show nudity. Please do not click the picture if nudity offends your sensibilities.
Please click any picture to see a larger version.


The next piece is an oldy done in graphite on a piece of bristol of legal letter size. I did this one around 2003 when I lived in cold, unforgiving Ft. Wayne. I had just seen The Two Towers and wanted to do some fantasy work. I like the rendering and the detail, but feel like the pose is just blah and compositionally weak. I posted this one because I'm thinking about doing a more pleasing compositional update featuring this same character. Any suggestions on what he should be doing?

My next piece is purely digital and was done as a sarcastic t-shirt design for my sister to protest her treatment at work. Her silent protest caused giggles among the staff, but was not noticed by management. Theres not much to this one, I just think it's kind of fun.

Lastly, is a promised update of my Thor robot. I told you I'd get some better pictures and, well... here they are. I think this is a much better view of what it actually looks like. His eye lights are even turned on for the photoshoot.