I had to meet with Coach Hall so he could help me figure out the perspective for the windows and door because I was struggling a lot. But, he helped immensely, and I was finally able to start actually adding the colors. Now, I'm working the details of the windows and door, and then I'll have color in the areas around them to make sure the integration isn't choppy. I'm happy with progress so far, and I'm excited to be almost done.
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I'm still working on blending the colors on the heart to make them smooth and vibrant before I move on to the windows and door. I still have details on the middle to left part of the heart, but I'm making steady progress.
Jim Warren began painting and selling his art in high school over 50 years ago. Now considered a “Living Legend of the Art World” much of Warren’s oeuvre is steeped in surrealism, portraying dreamlike, illogical and fantastical scenes with realistic details.
www.parkwestgallery.com/the-wonderfully-surreal-art-of-jim-warren/ www.parkwestgallery.com/artist/jim-warren/ **Artworks from: Jim Warren - Grammy Award Winning and Disney Fine Artist Some of My Favorite Artworks from his Website:**Note: These artworks are made to be reproduced, so they are not labeled with sizes because they can be reprinted as "high quality, limited edition Giclée on canvas prints. They are available in three sizes: 18×24″ (small), 24×30″ (medium) and 30×40″ (large)." I stumbled upon Jim Morrison's work by doing a Google search of "surrealist painters." One of his vibrant, eye-catching pieces popped up, and I proceeded to spend the next hour looking at all 16 pages of Fine Arts work he had posted on his website. 16 pages of pieces under only 1 of 4 categories of types of art in his portfolio (the other categories being portraits, Disney fine arts, and and illustrations). Many of his works are reiterations of the same ideas: the beach, animals (especially horses, dogs, and cats), vibrant colors which create high contrast.
Why I like each of the above images: 1. Heavenly Skies
The West has been influenced by Eastern aesthetics since 1853 opening of Japan Right: Mary Cassatt's The Letter (1891) Left: Yoshitoshi's Cooling off at Shijō, from the series One hundred aspects of the moon (1885) Wabi: connected to Shinto religion, original religion of Japan, 3rd century
The Grand shrine of Ise is considered the most important Shinto shrine. It is surrounded by 127 smaller shrines and continues to be built every 20 years using same materials and traditional methods as a way to continue that legacy. Sabi: mono no aware
Yugen: linked to Buddhist teachings
Junichiro Tanizaki 1933 In Praise of Shadows - wildly read in Japan, a pop culture figure
ReflectionI remembered a lot of the details of this lecture from a similar one from 2018 on Japanese aesthetics. I specifically recalled the information about the principles of wabi and sabi because I think these ideas really resonated with me. As someone who identifies closely with perfectionism and the desire for a polished, finished artwork, I highly respect people who can look at a piece of art that is frustratingly crooked or incomplete and appreciate it as it stands. I found this notion -- that artworks which are not complete could be even more valuable than artwork which has been crafted with painstaking attention to detail -- especially frustrating; it feels like an insult to people who put time and effort into making their craft flawless. I guess that's the whole point, though; as yugen means, life is better spent appreciating the moment as it comes, rather than always thinking about the moment that has yet to come. When you really care about being present for the process of creating an artwork, I guess the finished product doesn't seem like the end-all be-all anymore. I think that's a valuable lesson; but, honestly, I don't know if I'd ever be able to fully ascribe to this way of thinking. I am goal-oriented, motivated by a vision I have of myself -- whether that be in art, school, or any other aspect of my life. While I understand there are drawbacks to this mentality, I also feel it has helped me succeed and maintain a good work ethic because of my internal drive. I would fear that if I were to try to incorporate wabi, sabi, and yugen into my work, I would lose that drive that keeps me on top of things. I guess, though, the whole point is balance: balance in being present in the moment and having a clear vision to work towards; balance in appreciating imperfections but also having a sense of pride in my work; balance in appreciating life as it comes and goes. I understand why individuals within Western art culture were inspired by Japanese aesthetics; their values are simple and humble, but the end result is a sense of contentment and satisfaction you are unlikely to achieve elsewhere. Plus, just the style itself with the flat shapes and the cherry blossoms is peaceful.
Overall, I enjoyed the lecture. I think I will apply it to my current works, using the principles of wabi, sabi, and yugen to center my mind when I feel I am too hyper-focused on perfectionism or not appreciating the process of art-making itself. The images of the planning pages I've included from my sketchbook (above) pretty much sum up my next steps for this project. I still need to finish shading the heart itself and making sure the colors are as bold as I want them to be. I struggled with the textures of the upper left quadrant a lot, especially since there is a pretty large area of highlight in the photo that I wasn't sure how to capture. I explained my concerns about the areas with highlight to Coach, and he suggested I take a bit of artistic license. So, I am just sort of pretending like those highlights don't really exist because they are incredibly difficult to render using colored pencil. Once I finish coloring the heart, I'll begin on the windows and door. As depicted in my planning pages, I've been thinking about how to best portray the angles of the windows and door because I want it to be clear the heart has dimension and depth. It is tricky because it is not an even globe shape, so the angles are a bit different for each part. I think what I will probably do is begin with a horizon line and adjust the lines I use as markers according to the irregular curves. I think I'm going to follow Coach's suggestion of making the door inset so that there's an entryway and the door itself is set back into the heart. I think this would give a really awesome sense of depth to the piece and be more visually interesting than a regular door. Plus, as he pointed out, it would be very difficult to draw the door distorted on the surface of the heart.
I'm both nervous and excited for these next steps in my progress... but mostly excited! |
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