A New Reason to Improve

As of Thursday morning, I have an entirely new reason to do the things I do, to be come a better person- Thursday morning, after ten long months of trying, I found out that I am finally pregnant! It is just barely sort of starting to sink in that I am going to be somebody's mother. I feel prepared and inadequate all at once. Anyway, in order to prevent this blog from becoming a "Johnny threw up today" kind of blog, I will stay brief and just say that I am excited beyond what words can express. So in the spirit of my announcement, the artist I will feature today is Anne Geddes ;) (No analysis needed).

Bosch and Scale

The next artist I'd like to feature is a fascinating sixteenth-century Dutch painter named Hieronymus Bosch. There are so many reasons why I love Bosch's work. Let's take a look at the painting that is cosidered his masterpiece: The Garden of Earthly Delights



I apologize for the somewhat poor quality of the picture, its the best I could find online. This is oil paint on wood. There is an INCREDIBLE amount of detail in this painting that you just can't see in small scale. I encourage all of you to go to the library and look up a book with a larger image of this painting- its amazing. Here are some close-ups of the right side panel:









Now- why do I like these jumbled, slightly disturbing paintings so much? Firstly, consider the period in history in which they were painted. The Garden of Earthly Delights was completed in 1510! Martin Luther wouldn't post his Ninety-Five Theses for another seven years! This was a time in which portaits and religious paintings were the norm. To my (very limited) knowledge, although they contained religious content, nothing like these paintings had ever been done before. Look at the surreal creatures and objects in the close-ups. Its plain to see that later surrealist artists like Salvador Dali were heavily influenced by Bosch's work which was so entirely ahead of its time.

So how did Bosch create such a surreal, even nightmarish mood? It wasn't just his use of strange creatures- look at how he messes with the scale of everyday objects. All of the human figures are propotional to one another, but the flute, the bagpipes, and the animal skull, for example, are all gigantic in proportion to the humans. It gives the viewer an feeling of vague uneasiness which the theme of the painting only enhances.

Scale is an interesting tool that artists use to inspire certain feelings in the viewer. Consider the Sistine Chapel, for example. A viewer's breath is simply taken away by the massive scale of the work. Then after the feeling of overwhelming awe subsides, the viewer can look at the individual frescoes. As you're out and about looking at various advertisements, buildings, landscape designs, etc., consider how the creator used scale to convey his point. In advertisements, a product is often portrayed as being much larger than it actually is. Like this ad, for example:




If the bottle were actually this big, it would take an NFL player to lift it. But the proportionally large scale of the bottle draws your attention to it.

On a somewhat unrelated note: Donovan McNabb, I hope you enjoy the death of your career with the Washington Redskins.

Art Lesson

Going back to school in a creative field has made me realize just how important the creative process is in my life. Being in an art class again has made me feel like a big part of me that was asleep for a long time is alive and engaged again. Since art is once again a big part of my life, I'd like to start featuring an artist each week (or, let's be honest here, as often as I get to it). For the most part I will not be featuring artists like DaVinci and Van Gogh whose work everyone is fairly familiar with- I want to talk about some lesser-known artists. Not obscure, necessarily, but not uber-famous either. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to the work of a Collage artist named Dick Allowatt. (I'm starting with him because I'm currently doing a project based on his work.) Dick started his art career as a Graphic Designer but now works in collage and assemblage. I like his work because not only is the composition great, but his work is also quite thought-provoking. Take this collage for example:




This collage is called "Golden Girl". It is an interesting take on our obsession with beauty and body image. Note the asymmetrical balance of the angels and the fabric and the unity brought to the whole piece by the repetition of the blue shade in the angels' tunics, the girl's swimming suit and the saints' outfits and by the gold in the background, the arches, and the girl's hair. This is a really well put together piece. Let's look at another one:




This piece, entitled "Miss Fortune" is a really neat mixed-media collage. I love the combination of the renaissance-style painting with the Bookie's log. A lot of collage is purely aesthetic, but Dick Allowatt really says something with each piece. The project I am currently composing is based on "Golden Girl" and I will post a picture of my piece when it is complete.


Here is more of Dick Allowatt's work:


So there's your art lesson for the day. Or week. Or however long it takes me to post again.