Archive for June, 2012

Artist of the moment……David Tindle…

{ June 30, 2012 @ 1:57 am } · { Uncategorized }
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I enjoy this artist work for his quiet and dreamlike paintings. He was born in the United Kingdom in 1932.

Another great subject for the artist is windows. Over his career the viewer is given an inside look at someone’s home. The viewer is left to imagine who lives there, what time of day it is, or what time of season.

The artist works with egg tempera and also a variety of print media.

Attended the Coventry School of Art.  He then jumped into the field of commercial art and advertising. Made a big push in the fine art world in the 1950s by exhibiting his paintings at the Royal Gallery in London. He also had several one man shows. He was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 1979.

The artist taught at Hornsey College of Art from 1959 to 1974 and the Royal College of Art.

He is collected worldwide and is including in the Tate Museum’s Collection.

When I look at the still life paintings of the artist I am reminded of the Wyeth and Peale families of art. Where Andy Wyeth would detail every different texture, this artist tends to paint from memory and doesn’t paint it exactly as he sees, rather he paints as he “feels” the subject. Of course I am a huge fan of the window series, I prefer the paintings where a drape or curtain is obscuring the window. It leads the viewer to question what time of day it is and what the weather is. For me his paintings are great to think about over a morning cup of coffee.  The time of day is early in the morning as the sun rises and the early birds are up searching for their proverbial “worms.”

Also similar in style to Wyeth are his paintings of chairs.  Again I was brought back to my childhood days and “grandpa’s chair.”  The added touch of a coat or a tshirt makes the picture seem more like a portrait of person, their favorite shirt and chair, rather than a boring still life of a chair. His paintings of simple food subjects such as eggs remind me of some of the more colorful works of Wayne Thiebaud.

David Tindle now lives and works out of Italy.

low price range: $1,500

high price range: $15,000

The artist was skilled in a variety of mediums. He is proficient in oils, watercolor, pen and ink, acrylic, egg tempera, and gouache. Also a printmaker making lithographs and etchings. Has done commissioned works for the National Portrait Gallery.

on line and land based gallery: Brandler Gallery in Essex in the United States.

Artists working with the face and figure….Diego Rivera…

{ June 29, 2012 @ 4:51 am } · { Uncategorized }
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I am really impressed with the works of this artist known for his murals.  A wonderful expressionist painter that seem to capture the mood of his subjects perfectly.

A short clip showing a short portfolio of works by Diego Rivera.

A collection of murals painted by Diego Rivera.

An extremely rare clip showing both Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo having fun in their leisure time.

The artist worked in many mediums. Pencil, ink, watercolor, gouache, oils, and egg tempera.

Diego Rivera was born on December eighth of 1886 in Guanajuato, Guanajuato. His large mural works in Mexico helped him become the leader of the Mexican Renaissance Movement. The artist was born to a very wealthy family and Diego Rivera was descended from Spanish royalty.

The artist started professional art classes at the very young age of ten years old.  He attended the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City. After this he was sponsored by a governor to attend art academies in Europe.  He studied with artists Eduardo Chicharro and even had a portrait of himself painted by Modigliani.

At this time in Paris(1913- 1917), Cubism was making a big push led by Pablo Picasso. Rivera became interested in the new wave of Impressionism and started to exhibit and sell his works.

In 1920 the Mexican ambassador to France sent Rivera to Italy from France  to study the frescoes and different styles of art. At the urging of the Minister of Education Rivera returned to Mexico from Italy in 1921 and began his work for the Mexican Mural program. In 1922 he painted his first significant mural titled “Creation” in Mexico City, he even wore a revolver to guard himself from the right wing students.

In 1922 he joined the Communist Party and after that his work always had a heavy social aspect to it.

In 1927 he traveled to Russia to help celebrate Communism. He was commissioned by the Red Army Club but was thrown out of the country for taking part in some anti-Soviet political ideas. The artist returned to Mexico.

His second wife was Frida Kahlo, they are shown together in a clip above. They were married in 1929, she was his second wife.

Among his commissions were the San Francisco Stock Exchange, the American Ambassador to Mexico, the Rockefeller Center, and the Detroit Institute of the Arts.This series of works in Detroit was during the McCarthy period of the United States. You could be found guilty of being a communist sympathizer.

high price range: $1 million

low price range: lithographs for 2,000 and small watercolors 5,000 to 7,000

The artist died in 1956 due to heart failure.

Keep on learning!

D

Artists working with the face and the figure…..Nguyen Thanh Binh

{ June 27, 2012 @ 7:12 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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The artist was born in Hanoi, Vietnam in 1954.

Attended Vietnam fine art college. Also attended Ho Chih Minh Art University.

On line and land based galleries:   Souls of Asia    Phuket, Thailand. http://www.soulofasia.com/

A short video montage of works done by the artist.

A link to the artist’s homepage:  http://www.binhstudio.com/biography.aspx

I enjoy the artist for his portrayal of Vietnamese  women usually caught in a moment of bliss, excitement, or having fun.I think of the artist has having design patterns similar to those of Mary Cassatt. The moods of his works are easy to decipher.

Works with oils on canvas. Many paintings have one or more sides measuring around thirty inches.

One favorite subject of the artists’ collectors is his paintings of women and children dressed in white, purple, and sometimes red. He paints the figure against a soft earth tone that makes the figure stand out. Great negative shapes are formed in the shapes between characters.

low price range:  $2,000

high price range: $6,000

A link to the artist’s own webpage.    http://www.binhstudio.com/index.aspx

To try and create a similar type of image, next time you are at the grocery store ask for an extra paper bag. Cut a long rectangle shape out of it to use instead of canvas. Then use some acrylic paints to insert an image on top leaving the earth tones of the bag. The artist is well known for his paintings with an earth toned background with fun colors such as red, white, blue, and beige.

To inspire himself the artist reads Japanese poetry such as the “Haiku”. He also enjoys listening to classical music. He enjoys the Haiku as its so simple for everyone to understand and comprehend the ideas behind the story

A relatively slow painter taking from weeks to years to finish a certain piece.

I hope you at least try to do one piece of art in more an eastern way of thinking, concentrating on the negative spaces and keeping a flow in the picture.

Happy painting!

D

Artists working with the face and figure……French crayon artist Christian Faur….

{ June 25, 2012 @ 3:55 am } · { Uncategorized }
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In the digital age many new deals are happening on the internet to try and figure out how to market it correctly and monetize it properly. If you have facebook account please visit the page for the “ArtVoice” magazine. If you like them you can sign up to receive one years of their magazine for free.

Another free item worth checking out is the free downloadable booklet available for the IPhone from this website.

Some works of the artist use as many as 20,000 crayons that the artist made himself.

on line and land based galleries: Kim Foster Gallery in New York City. http://kimfostergallery.com/faur.html

Michelle Rosenfeld Gallery in New York City.   http://michellerosenfeldgallery.com/art#

Sorry! I was unable to find price quotes about the artist.

This artist was born in New York in 1968.   He is known for his work which represent three dimensional pointillism.  He first casts his own crayons, then cuts and glues them to a board. The artist now lives and works out of Ohio.

This clip from 2011 shows the artist giving a talk at the Sherrie  Gallery in Cleveland, Ohio.

Another clip this time from a Kim Foster Gallery in a New York City Gallery.

The artist in a time lapse video working on a crayon piece that took many days to finish, finished here in less than one minute’s time.

Another interesting note by the artist and part of his style is to include text in his works. He first wrote out the alphabet. He then assigned colors to each letter. As a result he cleverly inserts funny thoughts or observations on top of the work. The letters are made to stand out as they are bathing in color where as the background is more colorless and sepia toned. Similar to a photo from the mid 1800s.

In talking about what inspires the artist to work with crayons he gets excited to work just to use the sharp crayon and have fun with colors such as periwinkle or carnation pink. Colors you most likely wouldn’t be able to find in oils.  His style reminds me of when I was a kid and a great electronic artist toy was out to rival the etch-a-sketch called the light bright. I can’t recall having any sepia colors, but it came with pre planned drawings to add lights to and make the art really stand out.

He developed his own technique for casting crayons. I look forward to the day when I can view one Faur’s paintings in person. Up close very random and abstract. Maybe similar to a Chuck Close piece. The artist is gaining a world wife reputation from his artistic talents.

Create!

D

Artists working with the face and figure….Mural artist Art Mortimer…

{ June 22, 2012 @ 8:52 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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I enjoy mural artists and after honing their painting skills a large number move on to just being professional studio artists. This artist has painted more than 100 murals, mainly using acrylics, over the entire United States.

The artist was born in Long Beach, California.

Crescent City, California  is featured in this short clip. The artist loves to paint murals for the fact that it represents an old quality of life, a life that has disappeared in much of modern America. Gone are the malls that employed many locals. They have been replaced by companies that offer many advantages to the consumer. Lets take Best Buy and amazon.com for example.  I can go to best buy and look at any product I want to buy and check it out, touching it and trying various applications . I can then go home and make the purchase online and most of the time get free shipping, a warranty, and don’t have to pay sales tax in most cases. The artist is a throw back to an era when the U.S. was growing at a 4 to 5% annual rate.

Crescent City, California had a tsunami nearly fifty years ago.  Art Mortimer has done several mural projects where he and local artists work on  a project and try to finish it within a weekend. Its great to see how art can help revive and save a community. I hope you take the time to check out the entire clip!

His first mural was in 1971 on the side of a house he was living in. Also that year he worked with film maker Terry Gilliam in producing a series of animated cartoons for the viewing public. In 1988 he gave up his commercial art career to concentrate on plein air painting and painting his very large commissioned works. Some are as large as twelve feet by seventy feet.

The artist is adept at making compositions with several people. His work reminds me of the masters of yesteryear like Giotto.

The artist paints in acrylics but seals his work with many protective layers to keep it safe from wind and water.

The artist also paints wonderful landscapes that show the exciting coast line of the West.  The artist has a fantastic work ethic. He considers his work to be part of the community. In many locations his works are located in run down parts of town and he wants to bring them back to life. In many paintings he spends two to three months doing plein air sketches and researching the people of the towns making his work historically accurate.

I hope this artist inspires you to at least try designing a mural. If you enjoy this artist please check out Michelle Torrez and John Pugh. Torrez now works only in oils doing fine arts. Pugh paints in a “trompe” or fool the eye motif.

Happy painting!

D

Artists working with the face and figure…. Paris artist the Invader…

{ June 22, 2012 @ 4:46 am } · { Uncategorized }
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Sorry I haven’t been writing daily, been working a lot but I am anxious to make my 500th post! So look for a couple essay’s tomorrow!

This artist is from Paris, France and was born in 1969. He is known in Europe mainly, but also the United States, for his artwork concerning pixelated images of celebrities as well as video game images from the first home video games that were available in the 1970s and 1980s. Games for the first Atari console such as Pole Position or the 1978 video game for which the artist is named ” Space Invaders.”

A brief clip showing the artist and his work invading the Hollywood sign in California. Its very interesting to see in person what happens in a short period of time. The artist appears and starts destructing the area.  Someone off camera tells the artist to leave or the cops will be called.  Back and forth and then the artist leaves. Around 80% of the artist’s street art lives on. A very high amount compared to another street artist such as Swoon whose wheatpaste images disappear due to elements of nature.  The tiles are difficult to ruin and resistant to the water and winds of mother nature.  The “Hollywood” sign had only one character on the “D” placed  on December 31 of 1999. It took many trips to install all of the characters.

The artist in a short interview explaining his pixelated style and an exhibition.

The artist mainly works with ceramic tile or rubix cubes and glues them to panel. He also paints, works with glass, and forms sculptures.

low price range: $500 for original works

high price range: $25,000 for original works.

On line and land based galleries:  Lazarides Gallery in London, United Kingdom

The artist installed his first work in this style in 1990.  The artist takes a long time to decide on the location of his work, most are located above the ground from 10 to 15 feet off the ground. He builds half the work before he arrives and takes one week to install most of them.

The artist doing works and a show in Lazarides Gallery in London.

I enjoy this artist for the sense of nostalgia he brings to his work. I am transported instantly to video games such as Pitfall, Pole Position, and Space Invaders. Even more fascinating is that the works exist and for the most part live on public land or statues and for the most part remain untouched. His works with the figure leave a great deal to the viewers imagination as you only see the pixelated image. Having never seen fine art done with rubic’s cube, this artist is just beginning to blossom.

Happy painting!

D

 

Artists working with the face and the figure…….Jake and Dinos Chapman…

{ June 19, 2012 @ 7:49 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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These artists are brothers and hail from the Great Britain.  Dinos was born in 1962 in London.  Jake  was born in 1966 in Cheltenham, United Kingdom.

Dinos attended university at the University of Ravensbourne College of Art in London. Jake went to the North East London Polytechnic School.  After receiving bachelors degrees from these colleges both went on to earn master’s degree from the Royal College of Art in London.

A short work done by Helen Partridge on these artistic siblings.

Part one of a series done in 2003 with Jake Chapman talking about the contemporary art movement in Britain.

Part two of the series.

Part three of the series.

As you can imagine with two minds working on projects the artists are highly productive and work in many mediums. They work with oils on canvas as well as do silkscreens, posters, etchings, lithographs, watercolor, bronzes, pen and ink, and even fiberglass.

low price range: etchings can be found for around $500.

high price range: $172,000 for a mixed media work done in fiberglass, resin, paint, wigs titled “Fuckface”

Here is a look at the work as it appeared in exhibition as the Saatchi Gallery.

 

Although their works might be too vulgar to be seen in some print art magazines such as American Art Collector or the Artist magazine, I find their artwork to be a different take on an old genre, figure painting. I liken their works to three dimensional garbage pail kids paintings. The Garbage Pail kids were kids who were gross but well loved by their target audience, young elementary kids such as myself at the time. Diaper Dan, who always had a full diaper. Other characters had body parts missing or deformed faces or were covered in garbage. Figure art, but seen in a gruesome manner, I believe the Chapman brothers have done this in the fine art world.

 

In 2003 the duo were nominated for the Turner Art Prize, they lost to Grayson Perry. The award is Britain’s most prestigious art event and hosted by the Tate Gallery in London. The award is $40,000 in euros, so around $50,000 in U.S. dollars. It is given to the best artist under the age of fifty and named for the wonderful landscape painter JMW Turner.

On this art page I wanted to include all types of art. I am heavily inspired by those team artists. As an artist it is quite lonely sometimes and you might have to push hard to be motivated. These teams I consider to be highly productive because having an extra set of ideas and someone else to help execute should make you more creative. The Chapman brothers also were studio assistants to another great artist duo that I have written about in the past named Gilbert and George.

Here is the link to my article on Gilbert and George.

https://diattaart.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/artists-of-the-day-gilbert-and-george/

The two has worked as an artistic duo since 1991.

The two have worked in the commercial art industry designing labels for Beck’s beer.

Jake Chapman is married to a supermodel named Rosemari Ferguson. Supermodel Kate Moss was in attendance at the wedding.

on line and land based galleries: Phillip de Pury and Company of London.     White Cube Gallery of London.    http://whitecube.com/artists/jake_dinos_chapman/

For some art homework try working with the figure in different style or medium in which you usually work.

Be creative on this beautiful summer’s day!

D

 

Artists working with the face and the figure…..Annysa Ng

{ June 17, 2012 @ 3:55 am } · { Uncategorized }
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This clip is from a show featuring the artist. The verbal parts are in Chinese but the pictures start at 14 seconds. Its great to see the artwork as it might appear in person so as to appreciate the extremely large size of the art.

The artist was born in Hong Kong and spent her childhood growing up in the Eastern part of the world. She currently resides in New York City. If I had to  compare her to another artist who paints in a similar manner it would be Kara Walker. The African American woman who paints silhouettes that deal with the many feelings that existed between the races during slavery and the days of the Underground Railroad.  In the works of Annysa and Kara Walker the viewer only sees the outline of the subjects in the picture. With so many shadowed covered areas like the mouth or the eyes its impossible figure out exactly what the viewer the subject is feeling. Instead the viewer must place themselves in the work and feel the emotions for themselves.

Her characters seem very elegantly dressed. Perhaps a deck of Chinese playing card queens that has sprung to life. Its great when the subject has no color or expression, the viewer can do it for themselves and have more fun in the process.

Attended the College of Visual Arts in New York City. Also attended the Saatchi Academy of Art  in Germany. Took classes in computer arts in Hong Kong.

Has been a part of national art competitions that focus on contemporary young artists such as the Basel Fine Arts show.

The artist works in a variety of media including ink, ,acrylics, and oils.

Has painted a mural for a hotel in Germany.

Another idea that comes to mind when looking at this artist’s work is the sixty year  jubilee for the Queen of England the idea of colonialism. The mix of an Asian as royalty but dressed as European loyalty with their clothing, is another idea great contrast.  Coming from Communist China the artist also enjoys making narratives out of the male dominated aspects of life and the little say the working woman gets nowadays.

on line and land based galleries: Blindspot Galleries in Central Hong Kong.   http://www.blindspotgallery.com/assets/block/Annysa%20Ng_Press%20Release-ENG.pdf

The artist is very prolific and in addition to painting also enjoys creating sculptures and installations. The artist also heads her own atelier should you wish to improve your painting or drawing skills!

Happy Sunday!

D

Artists working with the face and figure….Su Zihan…

{ June 15, 2012 @ 3:37 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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This artist is fantastic for painting the mood of a person and their surroundings.

The artist was born in 1978.

The artist is a master at painting someone who doesn’t mind to be looked at, and most of the time the subject is a woman that is looking to be alluring and sexy.  Sometimes holding a cigarette and lingering in the shadows.

The artist mainly works with the female figure. His areas of interest are fashion, the lips, the tongue, and the waist. He seldom paints the nude figure and strives for the sexuality of his characters to remain somewhat hidden, that is what makes them alluring. The idea of wanting to see more!

The artist also likes to portray the change that has taken place in China in the twenty years following the incident in Tienemen Square. Sex is much more out in the open in this society.  Not only are the young people in his paintings trying to look alluring, they appear to be intoxicated.  Be the subjects smoking some cigarettes or having some cocktails, its important that the viewer sees the subjects are chasing eternal bliss, trying to remain in this happy and excited state of mind.

Su Zihan attended college at the Chu Zhou College of Art, an Hui Province.

 

He has even done a series titled “occupational lover,” that deals with women working in the sex industry.

mediums used: oils on canvas

low priced range: $2500

high priced range: $15000 for a large double figure work measuring nearly eighty inches for both height and width.

on line and land based galleries: Soemo Fine Arts in Beijing, China and the Netherlands       http://soemo-fine-arts.com/artist?id=798

The artist loves to push boundaries and the idea of a changing cultural China which old ideas and thoughts about sex have been forgotten and pushed by the wayside.

The artist, being born in 1978, grew up at an odd time in the culture. The Socialist market of China and the capitalist markets of the west were at odds against each other. The youth were forced to see the weakness of their political and structured society. Why try and be great all the time if you won’t see the benefits of your hard labor. The youth became angry at their political leaders.

I enjoy the artist for his focus on opposites. Complimentary colors for one, in the paintings which is use color. And also the many contrasting ideas in works.  A very beautiful young woman, who is also dangerous or might be in a dangerous situation to some. Very striking and beautiful on the outside, but how about the inside of the person.

This artist is surely one to watch in the next few years. It will be interesting to see the new direction he takes his work.

Try a black and white painting today!

Create!

D

Artists working with the face and figure….Andre Kohn…

{ June 13, 2012 @ 4:14 am } · { Uncategorized }
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A clip showing a portfolio of the artist’s figure paintings.

Another collection showing the artist’s figure works. Please notice the texture and thick appearance of the paint.

The artist was born into a family of artisans in 1972 in Stalingrad of the former Soviet Union. As a child he was exposed to every form of arts and crafts that you could imagine. He grew up living close to the Caspian Sea. Attended college at the University of Moscow where he was influenced by Russian Masters of Impressionism. He loved many different Impressionist painters such as Fechin, Serov, Degas, and Sargent.

The artist moved to the United States in 1993.It took very little time for the artist to establish himself in the U.S. His mother was a fantastic violin player playing in a professional symphony. His father was a linguist as well as a writer and sculptor. Both parents were educators and both were trained in psychology. As a  the family lived in a small one room flat. He was taught that art and being creative was all one needed to happy. A bohemian lifestyle of sorts. The artist was even allowed to draw on the wallpaper, in fact his parents encouraged this.

At the tender age of fifteen the artist was allowed to be an apprentice to a Russian Master Artist.

The artist’s father ended up to be a colonel in the Russian army.  He became the first person to receive asylum in the United States after defecting  from Russia in 1992. His dad came for a visit to the United States and ended up defecting to the U.S.

mediums used: oils on canvas, graphite pencil on paper.

on line and land based galleries:   Waterhouse Gallery in Santa Barbara, California.   http://www.waterhousegallery.com/Andre%20Kohn.html

Hward/Mandeville Gallery in Kirkland, Washington.    http://www.howardmandville.com/Pages/Artist%20pages/kohn.html

low price range: oil paintings  $1,200

high price range: oil paintings  $5,000

I enjoy the artist’s style for compositions. His works that have two people are well designed. The characters are lively and moving, the viewer has is able to read the emotion of the figure from the position of the body rather than looking at the face. He also makes fun designs with the umbrella shape and colors.  After watching tennis  in Paris it was easy to observe that Europeans use umbrellas not only to keep the rain away, but also as  fashion accessory.

The artist lives in Arizona but still travels frequently to Europe mainly to visit France.

 

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