homework 15 !
(4/23/21)
- Sketchbook prompts assignment check 🙂
homework 14 !
(4/8/21)
The Secret of Drawing 2 – Storylines and Caitlin McGurk’s talk
Caitlin McGurk Presentation:
- Before this presentation I had little knowledge regarding the history of cartoons, it was interesting to hear that the museum has over 300,000 original cartoons because I had not realized that many different cartoons were out there.
- When Caitlin was going through all the different artists and all the different styles of cartoons that are in the museum’s collection I was astonished at how different they each were.
- This presentation also made me realize how the style of drawing affected the story of the cartoons and how it added to the mood of the storyline, like lighting or sound effects in a movie.
- Not only does the museum have collections of different cartoons but also manuscripts and many underground cartoons and newspaper comic strips.
- The museum also has cartoons from different parts of the world, including manga from Japan.
- It is so cool that OSU is home to the largest cartoon library in the world, if it wasn’t for the pandemic I would definitely want to bring all my friends the check it out!
The Secret of Drawing 2
This episode of The Secret of Drawing revolved around cartoons. I had no idea that cartoons played such a big role in the world, and that cartoons are not only used in comic books and newspapers but also in animated movies, making political statements, and creating storyboards for Hollywood movies. William Hogarth is known as the grandfather of the modern political cartoon, however, Charles Gillray is the father. Gillray created what is considered to be the guild lines as to what a political cartoon should be, “The Plum-pudding in danger” cartoon from 1805 is his most famous work, in which Napoleon and Prime Minister Pitt are cutting the world as if it is Plum Pudding. This cartoon is so notable because it is easily understood and recognizable by the general public. The next cartoonist I found interesting would be J. Todd Anderson, who is a storyboard artist. A storyboard artist’s job is to block out scenes frame for frame just like in a comic book but instead of being published these sketches are used as guidelines for filming and editing movies. Some major motion pictures Anderson has worked on include, Fargo, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and The Naked Man. The last cartoonist is Sylvain Chomet who is an award-winning animator. His most famous piece being Belleville Rendez-vous, for which he won the César Award for Best Animated Film. His style was childlike with orange and brown tones and the movements of his characters were bouncy and matched the background music perfectly. Overall, from the scenes shown in the documentary, his movie seemed extraordinary and I am interested in trying to watch it. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have your drawings come to life on the movie screen. In conclusion, I feel as though I have gained a whole new perspective on cartoons and cartoon artists and I am looking forward to experimenting with this cartoon project because it is out of my comfort zone but also something I have always wanted to try.
WC: 338
homework 13 !
(3/30/21)
- Sketchbook prompts assignment check 🙂
homework 12 !
(3/24/21)
After watching the documentary, “The Secret of Drawing” Episode 3: “All In The Mind,” I have learned a new way of approaching drawing and how to incorporate one’s emotions and imagination when creating a work of art. The segment in which Sarah Simblet spoke about her class she taught at Oxford University stood out to me because she talks about having her students all use the same model but she gives no instructions or techniques for them to use so they are creating something entirely individual although they are all looking at the same subject. Later in her office, she also shows some of her own work, some of which is very realistic and anatomical why other works are abstract and she describes how she focused on her own feelings and drew/painted what she was feeling. This documentary talked a lot about artists creating art in a childlike manner, meaning that when kids are little they draw in a very carefree way but as they become older this carefree nature fades away. Artists like Nadia Chomyn, Pablo Picasso, Andre Masson wanted to try to rediscover their childlike nature of drawing and unlearn the traditional, trained way of creating art in society. Cave paintings and drawings made by young children have been found to have many similarities, Picasso recognized this and decided to dismiss academic art to return to the basic roots of creating images. In conclusion, this documentary gave me a whole new appreciation for modern and abstract art and the process of creating it.
WC: 256
homework 11 !
(3/22/21)
Response/reflection
Write a 150-word response to the work you have done in Module 4 and 5.
Does the work fulfill the criteria of the modules?
What are the strengths of this body of work?
What could be improved upon?
What did you have difficulty with?
This writing will help with starting the critique and your reflection on these two modules.
I have found the gesture and collage units to be a very interesting learning experience for me. I have always been very drawn to abstract art and typically when I create abstract art in my free time it comes from an accident or from not thinking about what I’m creating. It was difficult for me to try to intentionally create an abstract scene. I probably played it too safe with my gesture project but I experimented with mixing different media together and I liked how it came out in the end. The collage project was much easier for me. I love collage and I was able to think of a scene very quickly from my life to recreate. If I would of has more time I would have liked to add more detail. Overall I am satisfied with all my projects I completed.
homework 10 !
(3/14/21)
- GE writing and drawing draft
homework 9 !
(3/3/21)
- Sketchbook prompts assignment check 🙂
homework 8 !
(3/3/21)
Response/reflection
Write a 100-word response to the work you have done. Does the work fulfill the criteria of the assignment in terms of using perspective? Is there a sense of depth? How does the composition activate the page? What are the strengths of this work? What could be improved upon? Please have this written for the critique as it will help with starting the discussion and submit to Carmen for grading.
I have found the perspective unit to be very educational for me. I have attended art classes for as long as I can remember but it was nice to finally take the time to learn the correct way of creating perspective. I used a horizon line at eye level for all of the projects so I believe they all fulfilled the criteria. In a discussion, I received a lot of positive feedback for my interior perspective piece in regards to my detail and scale. I think I can improve upon finding a more accurate eye level, often I would make the horizon line on my composition and realize halfway through that it was a little bit off. Overall I am satisfied with all my projects I completed.
homework 7 !
(2/19/21)
Complete GE Assignment writing – first draft
Artemisa Gentileschi is the most celebrated female artist of the 17th century and one of the earliest feminists in history. During this time, the only way for a woman to pursue an artistic career is when her father is also a professional artist. In Gentileschi’s case, her father was a professional artist, Orazio Gentileschi, and Gentileschi was producing professional works by the age of fifteen. Initially, she was working in the style of Caravaggio, who was one of the most influential artists of the time and a close friend of Gentileschi’s father. Her earliest signed and dated painting, ‘Susanna and the Elders’, is from 1610.
A year later, Gentileschi was raped by painter Agostino Tassi who was training her in painting and an acquaintance of her father. The resulting trial lasted seven months and shocked Rome. Tassi was banished from Rome but his punishment was never enforced, so he walked away free because he was protected by the Pope and because his art was rated at the time. “Tassi is the only one of these artists who has never disappointed me,” said Pope Innocent X. Although this was an awful and traumatizing experience for Gentileschi, it inspired many of her most famous pieces and with her words and images, she fought back against the male violence that dominated the world she lived in.
Arguably her most famous painting, ‘Judith Slaying Holofernes,’ shows two women pinning down a man, one of the women drives a dagger into the neck of the man, to sever his head from the rest of his body. The dying man is Holofernes, an enemy of the Israelites in the Old Testament, and the young woman beheading him is Judith, his divinely appointed assassin. However, art historians interpret this piece as being a self-portrait. The dying man is also Tassi and the woman with the sword is Gentileschi getting her revenge.
The other notable piece of hers mentioned in the introduction, ‘Susanna and the Elders’ can also be interpreted as a self-portrait. In the painting, she uses a biblical story to dramatize what it was to be a woman in the 17th century. Two old men are spying on a young woman bathing, but Gentileschi makes the scene all the more creepy by having the men come up close and openly stare at Susanna, while other artists tend to show them hiding at a distance. This biblical story is strangely reminiscent of her own persecution. In her trial against Tassi, it emerged that Tassi and his accomplice would constantly hang around, annoy her, and watch her, just like the voyeurs troubling Susannah.
The trauma of Gentileschi’s rape and the trial that gave her no justice is haunting in her art. Yet her suffering did not stop her from pursuing her passion and the visceral power of her paintings made her one of the most famous artists in Europe. In 1638, Charles I personally invited her to London to work for him. There, Gentileschi painted ‘Portrait of the Artist,’ in which she depicts herself as a muscular, dynamic, forceful character. From 1630, she settled in Naples, where she ran a successful studio until her death, however, the precise date of her death is not known.
Works Cited:
“Artemisia Gentileschi.” The National Gallery, 2016. www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/artemisia- gentileschi. Accessed February 19, 2021.
“More savage than Caravaggio: the woman who took revenge in oil.” The Guardian, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/oct/05/artemisia-gentileshi-painter- beyond-caravaggio. Accessed February 19, 2021.
“Artemisia Gentileschi.” Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Artemisia-Gentileschi. Accessed February 19, 2021.
homework 6 !
(2/12/21)
Perspective reading and videos with 7 bullet points:
- It is important to locate the horizon line to place the vanishing point. When locating the horizon line, one needs to consider the point of view of the observer and their eye level.
- When using angular perspective, one must use two vanishing points. The vanishing points reside on the horizon line but do not coincide with the point of view which is between them.
- In both parallel and angular perspectives, the vanishing point(s) lie on the horizon line but there can also be vertical vanishing lines, this angles the vertical lines towards the vanishing point(s) above the horizon.
- It is important to keep lines parallel between the edges, this is a common error among those practicing perspective.
- Another common error is not staying true to the vanishing points. It is helpful to use a ruler as opposed to free-hand drawing to avoid this mistake.
- To draw a perfect circle, use a square in perspective and draw diagonal lines intersecting the center of the square to then draw an even free-hand circle.
- To divide a vertical space into equal parts, measure the line of the space and then the intervals can be divided as often as necessary.
homework 5 !
(2/5/21)
GE Research List:
- Mary Cassatt
- Eva Hesse
- Lee Krasner
- Romare Bearden
- Jacob Lawrence
- Edgar Degas
- Artemisia Gentileschi
Last semester I took Art History 2001 and 2002, so I am familiar with many of the artists on the suggested list. One of my favorite of these artists, Romare Bearden, was known for his collage work and lived through the Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance. His work spoke to Black Americans during this time who were trying to earn a living for their families while combating the hardships of racism that were still prevalent during this time. I admire his work because Bearden used an abstract style and yet was still able to tell a clear story.
Another artist I learned about and fell in love with was Artemesia Gentileschi. She was an artist from the Italian Renaissance. She was initially working in the style of Caravaggio and was producing professional work by the age of fifteen. During her time period, women had very few rights and were seen as property. Her work spoke for all women of her time, she displayed realistic images of the female body and challenged the idea of the male gaze and how women were perceived.
Lee Krasner is one of my favorite contemporary artists. Her husband, Jackson Pollock, is much better known in the art world, however, Krasner outlived him and had just the same amount if not more art experience and accomplishments as he did. Her style is extremely abstract and she experimented with different text and figures in her work, and she also did many collages.
homework 4 !
(2/3/21)
- Sketchbook prompts assignment check 🙂
homework 3 !
(1/29/21)
- Artists utilize the nine-step value scale to create harmonious value drawings. However, sometimes they will limit themselves and only use three or five to simplify their pieces.
- Values next to each other have low contrast, while values that are far from one another have high contrast. This allows objects to be seen.
- Strong contrast captures the viewer’s eye, while values that are similar seem to fade away.
- It can be helpful to plan a value scheme to reference before starting a drawing can help the cohesiveness of the work.
- Artists with less experience should utilize value schemes because they often struggle to complete the full range of values and a value scheme may remind them of values they are missing.
homework 2 !
(1/17/21)
After watching the documentary, “The Secret of Drawing” Episode 1: “The Line of Enquiry,” I have gained a whole new perspective and appreciation for drawing. Being able to create architecture, anatomy, and natural observations onto the flat surface of a sheet of paper is a skill more impressive than a computer generating 3D images. I had not realized how many people in different careers utilized drawing to do their job, such as the heart surgeon in the documentary. Francis Wells’ technique is much like Leonardo Da Vinci’s, and the surgeon even studies Da Vinci’s work and applies it to modern science and practice. I was surprised to learn that people had not discovered human anatomy until the Renaissance, many sciences we study and practice today are so new and without being able to keep records of their discoveries, we would not be as advanced as we are today. George Stubbs’ horse anatomy drawings is another example of people thinking that animal and human anatomies were completely different but after Stubbs’ studies and drawings, people were able to better understand animal and human bodily functions. Not only were artists curious about the inner workings of humans, animals and plants, they were also interested in studying subjects a little further away. John Russell’s detailed Moon drawings gave humans the first look of all the craters and textured surface of the Moon. During this time, telescopes were a fairly new invention and the Moon’s surface had never been documented before because there were no cameras. The most fascinating part of Russell’s drawings is the detail and precision. Scientists today are able to locate every crater on Russell’s drawings and confirm the accuracy of them. Although today’s technology, such as computers and tablets, is very useful and helps humans achieve more than we could have ever imagined, it is still important to appreciate the arts and how we might not even have these technologies without the artists of the past. Their skill and patience gave us essential information about ourselves and the world around us.
WC: 341
homework 1 !
(1/17/21)
submit blog link! welcome:)