Emotions!

Hello!

Sometimes it's easy to forget that emotions don't all need to be heavy or extremely sad! There are tons of emotions and tons of ways to show them!

Jason Seiler

Jason Seiler is originally a caricature artist, this can be seen in the exaggerated poses and physical features his figures have. The exaggeration and emphasis is used to emphasize whatever particular characteristic or emotion the person is showing.

Notice that here a more "tough" expression is emphasized...

While a goofier expression is emphasized here.

For a caricature, this is one of the more emotional paintings I've seen. This was a caricature of Saddam Hussein as he was on trial for multiple war crimes. The expression locked on his face is one of fear but of defiance, and the exaggerated features help emphasize this.

Francis Bacon

I love BACON! Seriously, I do. Francis Bacon, that is. (but i do love the food)

Francis Bacon has a fantastic, unique, way of bending and distorting figures so that what he eventually is portraying is pure emotion. The painting of the pope on the left here was a done by Velazquez around 1650, Francis Bacon completed his "study" of it in 1953.

One great way to show the same figure several times, focusing on distortion and emotion is to use a Triptych!

Bacon, Triptych!

Steven Assael

Steven Assael is a much more subtle, realist, figurative painter. He's able to depict figures' stories through the use of costumes and not much facial expression.



What he actually does is depict these characters in a very straightforward manner and lets you add any sort of emotional qualities to them. For example, when we look at the fire fighter we associate him with being heroic and possibly remember specific events such as September 11th.

What emotions or qualities do you associate with the second picture?

-Bustamante!

Emotions Several Artists to Look at...

 

Emotion - Marc Chagall  "The Birthday"

http://www.artsology.com/artemotion.php

Several artists are discussed here.  Perhaps you will be inpsired by one or more of them.
D. Exner

Emotions Jump for Joy

Jump for Joy

( source AJs Art Journal)

http://ajsartjournal.wordpress.com/tag/jump-for-joy/

I came across this more or less " stream-of-consciousness" type of artwork by an artist referred to simply as AJ.  You may read more about this piece and others on the above site.  Text doesn't always have to be used simply to explain something such as a label, poem or quotation.  Here the artist is using text as a visual/design element as well as for its literal interpretation.  I find this piece has a lot of energy, and communicates "joy" very effectively.  I also think the artist could have made this piece without any text and still be able to communicate "joy".

D. Exner

Emotions - Rassouli

Rassouli " Joy Vibrations"

I've included the link to Rassouli's webpage.  He definitely wants to communicate the brighter side of emotionally charged artwork.  I hope you look at more of his paintings.

D. Exner
http://www.rassouli.com/artist.htm

RASSOULI is a visionary artist, known for his unique style of Fusionart. He was born in Isfahan, Iran and migrated to the United States as a young man. He is currently residing in Southern California.

Guided by his Sufi uncle, Rassouli grew up hearing and reading mystical poetry while studying under painting masters, and eagerly searching volumes of artistic works of varied traditions and styles. He roamed the art museums, won awards for his paintings, and traveled in classical Europe as a teenager. He came to the United States in 1963 to have the freedom to explore his artistic drive. Here, he studied fine arts and architecture at the University of New Mexico and environmental psychology at the University of Southern California.

Although he practiced architecture for a time, painting ultimately became his overpowering passion and his profession. Through the years, Rassouli has created hundreds of canvases, in his unique style of Fusionart, which invite the viewer into the creative power of the heart and the wonder and beauty of the soul. His artistic expressions are radiant with a life-giving and captivating energy that arouse the imagination.

The conceptual approach of Fusionart has been developing in Rassouli since early childhood, which is evident in the expansive scope and variety of his creative work. He continues to cultivate new approaches to bring fresh insight to his creations and to develop new ways to share the creative process with others.

Rassouli paints with rags, with his fingers, and uses his favorite brushes when he feels moved to enhance what is happening on the canvas. He begins with a canvas primed with black paint and brings the light of vision to it developing a relationship with the appearing images as he creates.

Within the past thirty years, He has exhibited widely in Europe, North America and Asia and has created several major murals.

Rassouli has written several books, and he shares his excitement for the creative process wherever he is. He guides others in retreats, shares his approach to creativity through public talks, in radio interviews, in videos and films, but nowhere does he witness to his creativity more magically than through his paintings.

Emotions - Theodore Gericault's "The Raft of the Medusa"

I agree with Miss Dulkinys, that not all emotionally charged artwork has to be heavy, serious or depressing, but I included Theodore Gericault's "The Raft of the Medusa" to illustrate my point that many pieces of artwork draw their inspiration from actual events, whether they be on an intimate personal level or on the international level as is the case with "The Raft of the Medusa".

Do you have a strong emotional reaction to current events in the news?  Is there a particular situation you have faced or are facing right now that you would care to use for this month's theme: "Emotions"?

Mr. Exner

By: Phillip Burghgraef

Gericault's The Raft of the Medusa

To those familiar with Art History the paintings of The Death of Socrates (1787) and the Death of Marat(1793) are classic examples of Neo-Classicism, which was the painting of "classical" subject matter, which often consisted of people from Greek history or noble leaders. The lesser known style of Neo-Baroque art contains some lesser known but still dramatic pieces of art in their own right. One such painting is The Raft of the "Medusa" (1818-19) by Theodore Gericault.

Neo-classical vs. Neo-Baroque Art
Like Neoclassical paintings The Raft of the "Medusa" has a fascinating story to tell. Similarly its subject is dramatic and the subject matter is posed for maximum effect. Unlike a neoclassical painting the subject of this painting are just ordinary people put into extraordinary events.

Gericault and His Influences
Gericault was born in Rouen, France and was educated in the tradition of English sporting art and classical figure composition. He soon left the classroom however, choosing to study at the Louvre where he was influenced by the works of Michelangelo and the Baroque painters Reubens, Valasquez, and Titian. Gericault was of the opinion that art could and should show a more human side, with all its weaknesses and imperfections (color and bold typeface my emphasis).

The Raft of the Medusa
The Raft of the "Medusa" was inspired by the true account of a raft adrift at sea for 13 days. The story goes that a French ship had foundered off the West African coast. There were not enough lifeboats so a makeshift raft was made for the passengers and crew members who where left. The officers in their haste to reach shore abandoned the raft and it drifted further out to sea. The men onboard the raft fought for food and space and pretty soon mutinies broke out and the survivors were forced to cannibalism. When a rescue ship was sighted only fifteen of the original crew members were alive.
The painting itself shows the moment when the crew of the raft are desperately waiving to the rescue ship. The raft itself is as tumultuous as the sea around it. The bodies that lay dead or dying in the foreground are built up in the composition to support the black man waving the flag. There is a strong contrast between the outstretched movement of the survivors to the movement of the raft itself.
Gericault went to great lengths to make the painting authentic, from building a model of the raft to sketching the dead at the morgue, to interviewing survivors. He even went to the Paris Asylum to draw the insane. All this is subservient to the underlying themes of human suffering and tragedy but also of hope and perseverance. It is these themes that are found throughout Gericault's work and in the works of other Neo-Baroque painters.

Copyright Phillip Burghgraef

Hello Studio Art Students!!  Your first full theme for second semester is Emotions.  Take a look at these images to get your creative juices flowing.

Pablo Picasso, The Old Guitarist, 1903 

Pablo Picasso, The Tragedy, 1903 

The Spanish painter, Pablo Picasso, is someone I assume you all know.  Both of these pieces are from Picasso's Blue Period, which was pre-Cubism, and they are so named because of the abundant use of that hue.  The blue color palette alone begins to create associations to sad, calm or somber emotions.  Color should certainly be an important consideration in all of your projects.  The composition also adds to the emotional effect.  Notice the poses of the figures, how the bodies are folding in on themselves and no one is looking out at the viewer.  This also works to create that somber, withdrawn mood.

Next we have August Rodin's Sorrow from the 1880's.  He was a French sculptor from the 19th century.  You may know him for one of his more famous works - The Thinker. Sorrow is roughly life size and all about the experssion and pose of the head.  We don't even need the rest of the body to understand what's going on here, so think about what is essential to your idea and focus there.

Finally, this is Elizabeth Catlett's The Torture of Mothers from 1970.  She was an African American printmaker and sculptor whose work dealt predominately with African American themes and individuals.  The placement of the child is within the mind of the mother and I think that composition is interesting because it raises a lot of questions in me.  Is the child dead or badly hurt?  Is this a memory for the mother or something that she fears could happen in future?  All of those key parts, along with the title create a very unified emotional impact.

OK, now I realize that all of these pieces are rather heavy, but you needn't restrict yourselves to this.  If you find yourself struggling a bit, here's a list of emotions to help get you going...
Love
Joy
Hope
Peaceful
Calm
Exuberance
Sadness/Sorrow
Fear
Depression
Anger
Hate
Jelousy
and......whatever else you may come up with. :)
Ms. D.

So my art-style as a whole optimizes precision and detail. i like my art pieces to to look sharp, clean, and accurate as opposed to figurative and sketchy. I tried this alternative art style when I created my robot sculpture, and I had a very hard time with it. I found that this style is not as much my thing. The old broken circuit boards and floppy discs are pasted on very randomly, giving it a rough, abstract look. I am proud that I even finished this piece, and I have learned how to use a lot of power tools in the process, but I don't think I will be doing many more projects of this style very often.

I think I am most proud of my tree because it has an abstract essence and idea, while still maintaining a sharp, organized style that allowed me to have more control over how it looked. That is another reason I used acrylic paints instead of glaze and underglaze, because it gives me more control and a more plastic shine. 

My painting is less abstract but more of the sharp, organized style. I like the social issue this addresses. Its style is similar to the pooh bear I made. Though I really respect the artists that can create cool, abstract and sketchy pieces, I realize that is my specific style.  

Final Artist Statement - Marie Santoro

There are a wide variety of different styles, artists, and techniques that I really appreciate as an artist and want to use in my work. As I've explored the world of art, there are people, artistic styles, and specific pieces that have stuck with me and served as a great inspiration to me over the years.

 One such thing that inspires me are landscapes. I love a captivating image of a place that makes me think “I want to go there.” From expansive and elegant Victorian mansions, to quiet nature scenes, to gritty city skylines, I really enjoy a good landscape. From this stems my love for concept art, a lot of which is setting design. While it's not the primary thing I draw now, I hope to do more location pieces in the future and progress to a point where I create places people want to visit themselves. 

Another type of art that I love are character designs. Artists like Glen Keane, M. Alice Legrow, and Don Bluth who create characters with so much personality and life really inspire me. Looking at character designs is so interesting to me because whether it be a hero or a villain, a good one must not only be visually interesting, but show personality and help drive story. I’ve always loved drawing people, and as I improve as an artist, I hope to create most interesting and complex character designs.

Several techniques really inspire me, as well. While I enjoy the simple, clean lines of disney characters designed by Glen Keane, I absolutely love the detailed, atmospheric look of a matte painting. Matte paintings, though digital, still look and feel very much like a painting. The surreal photo manipulations of Natalie Shau’s work is also very appealing to me, though. Her color choices also really add to her pieces, giving everything an eerie undertone, and everything has this look that could almost be real, but at the same time isn’t. The thing I appreciate the most about an artist, or a style, or a technique is it’s ability to look unique and have character.

My finished pieces: