So following midterm I feel like I've really come to enjoy painting as a whole a lot more that I did at the very beginning of the year. It all really changed when we began our abstract projects and I decided to make a few marks with the palette knife and found that I loved the way the marks looked/felt. I ended up really liking the majority of the abstract pieces i made. Not only was the final product likable but the process was easily the best part.

For my series paintings I really wanted to capture the dark and mysterious nature that surrounds the Seven Deadly Sins. Through the act of painting I ended up almost literally attacking my painting which resulted in what I though to be an interesting mix of colors and mark making. So I decided to do this all over the paintings and then go over the hectic mixture with the original silhouetted image. After all that I then attacked the painting again with paint mixed with liquin.

The results are admittedly a bit confusing if you didn't actually paint it and know ahead of time what is what but regardless I'm really happy with how the series as a whole ended up. There are a few that I feel stand above the rest but I'm still really happy with it no matter what.  

The artist that I've really been drawn to ever since I discovered his work is Adrian Ghenie. My work is obviously not on the same level as his work otherwise i wouldn't be here right now, however I find his mark making with the palette knife to be highly inspirational. Being someone who really likes to use the palette knife over using brushes he seems to be a solid role model. The way he paints almost makes it look like he just attacks the canvas which really what I tried to do with this series.

The quote I found the most meaningful was the one by Samuel Beckett saying, "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." This quote really makes me think back to my first two years at Towson. My art as a whole was on whole different level in comparison to where it is now. I came in thinking that I would be taught how to improve my drawing skills. That couldn't have been further from the truth. So i would try and fail on my own over and over again. As i kept making more and more work i began to see more and more progress to where even my failures put my old stuff to shame. 

The artist I want to explore in more depth is Mary Lou Zelasny. Her work was one of the most appealing in comparison to the other artists I chose to look at. Her work typically depicts humans that have seemed to blend in with their backgrounds. Her backgrounds range anywhere from spacious skies to a peaceful forest. One aspect of her work that stands out is her use of abstract color in all of her recent paintings. Her very best paintings in my own opinion are the ones where she uses thick layers of paint to really give her work a lot of texture.

In an interview with Mary, she talks about where her ideas for paintings arise from which is actually very interesting. She typically picks out things she either thinks about or things she sees directly. Her examples were food, dating, current events, etc. An example she brings up is her idea for her painting entitled, O Sol Mio. She says that she found a cigarette butt in the sand one day at the beach and was reminded that no matter where you go there's always evidence of human activity.

As a whole i find her work to be awesome, the only thing i wish would be for a little narrative that I could put to her paintings.

Mary Borgman is an extremely talented portrait artist. As somebody that really enjoys drawing faces, I simply had to include her in this. All of her portraits are in full back and white and are extremely realistic looking overall. She tends to draw a lot of African Americans. The part of her work that i really like is the brushy/messy look of the background. If I stole a part of her work it would be that. 

Mary Lou Zelasny has an extremely different style to her paintings which is what immediately caught my eye. Her abstract style has a seemingly random and extremely appealing look to it. In this picture I love the detail she put into the wallpaper and the way she painted the water makes it look almost poisonous. I would love to see this in person and get a look at the brush strokes in the wall.

Richard Hanson has an amazing hyper realistic style. The detail he gets into his work is astounding. What I really like about his paintings is his choice of subject matter. A lot of his paintings look like they were snapshots taken from scenes from a movie. If I could steal something from his work it would be the amount of detail put into the cloth.

Shana Kaplow has an extremely cool style. She paints a lot of strange shapes which really gives her overall paintings a really cool look and feel. If I was going to steal a part of her work it would have to be the really sharp edges of the shapes.

Laura Sanders is clearly known for her hyper realistic style so i can say right off the bat that i don't think that there is anything i'll be able to steal from her work. I did however find her work extremely interesting due to its super life like style. The example above contains some of the most life like water i have seen in a painting.

Laura Sanders, Jeff Mueller, Michael Kareken, Shana Kaplow, Richard Hanson, Mary Lon Zelasny, Friese Undine, Marc Jacobson, Mary Borgman

I realize that I am once again late with this blog post so instead of giving the two ideas i originally came up with I'm going to explain how my idea that i chose to pursue has since developed. So my original idea that I chose to go with was to take each of the seven deadly sins and make a painting that I thought would do well in expressing the consequences of each sin. I would make a silhouette of each idea to make the paintings have a dark and scary kind of feel to them. I would then apply a few colors in the background that I felt would fit well with the sin itself. A side idea that I was a bit iffy on was the idea to have a quote sitting in the background to add a bit of drama to the sin. 

I ended up keeping these ideas however I have since added some to the overall mix. One day i was really frustrated with something going on in my personal life and i attacked the painting I was using to depict pride. the resulting mix and tearing of colors ended up looking really cool and i think really expresses the pain and agony that each sin can cause to both the one acting on the sin and those around the person. Overall i'm hoping that I can  successfully display the sins. I guarantee that not everybody will know which sin is which.

Raoul Dufy really likes to paint scenes of people and boats. The figures themselves are fairly simple in their design however they still remain quite interesting. If I had to steal an aspect of his work it would be the way he paints people.

The simplicity in Hundertwassers use of color and choice of subject are what make his painting extremely unique. In a good few of his painting, such as the one above, you can see that he often places a human face into the scenery somewhere. I would love to steal the line work that is so prevelent in his artwork.

A lot of JMW Turners work is extremely interesting in the way it plays with the balance between abstract and real life concepts of landscape. His brush are vastly different when looking at the background and the foreground. If there was something i'd be interested in stealing it would be the brush strokes hands down.

J.M.W. Turner, Raoul Dufy, and Hundertwasser

So I realize it's a little late for a midterm evaluation of myself but I'm just going to go ahead and talk about how I feel i've progresses up until now.

So coming into the coarse I was absolutely under prepared for the class overall. My last painting coarse was with Trace Miller two semesters ago and prior to that I've have little to no experience with paint. The difference between drawing and painting is huge for me. You need almost a completely different mind set when painting. So it came as no surprise to me when my first work didn't come out the way I wanted it to. I felt like my second series of paintings didn't come out too wonderfully either.

After those two I felt like I needed to try something new, so when I found out that we wouldn't be graded on quality of work for our abstract projects I decided just to go crazy. It was through this that I found that the feel and mark of the pallet knife was something that i like more than using the brushes. So as of right now I feel like I can explore a whole new side of painting and I hope that from here on out I can a have good amount of success in it.

The man I chose to study for this rather delayed second essay is Adrian Ghenie. Adrian Grew up in Romania where he spent his entire early life. He owes most of his success in art to his childhood neighbor who saw his potential as an artist at an early age. He notes that she would more than often lend him art books and would sometime come draw with him.

His father was a bug figure in his life and remains so in his artwork to this day. His father was a member of the secret service in Romania until the political views of the country changed. After that his father entered a reclusive state of mind. Adrian often looks to this time in his life to spark ideas for pieces. He soon made the move to Berlin where he resides to this day.

The thing that really draws me to this guys as an artist is first and foremost, the look and feel of his paintings. They all have a very eerie feel to them that seems to make you forget your surroundings and become consumed by them. From far away the paintings seem to be very neat and tidy but upon taking a much closer look at the work you can see the beautiful untidiness of the work.

The second aspect that draws me to his work ties in with the untidiness of the it. All of his art is done with a pallet knife. An interviewer noted that they didn't see a single paintbrush in sight upon entering his studio.  Such mastery over that tool is inspirational to someone like me who is just beginning to get a feel for the medium.

Overall I see Adrian Ghenie as one my favorite artists I've encountered as far as painting goes. Assuming i ever consider a career in painting, I will remember to look back at this man for ideas and inspiration.

Alice Neel

Odd Nerdrum

Eric Fischl

Elizabeth Murray

Peter Doig

Adrian Ghenie

Barnaby Furnas

Inka Essenhigh

Paul Finniak

Christine Gray

British painter Lucian Frued is was well known for his large, graphic oil paintings of people animals and still life. Often times his subjects were painted in strange positions and would also have exaggerated features. His portrayal of clothing, although not often seen, is a real highlight for me personally. The flow and feel of the drapery is amazingly accurate and appealing.

            One thing I notice about his work that peaks my interest is the eerie and sometimes gross feeling that emits from the work. An example would be his painting named Benefits Supervisor Sleeping. Just looking at the work is hard enough. Not necessarily due to the overweight woman but more because of the extreme amount of detail he put into every fold of her body.

            Lucian has a whole ship full of insightful and intelligent quotes. The one I found most impactful was, “The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real.” He doesn’t elaborate any further upon the quote, which leaves the reader to interpret what he means. I personally believe that he is saying simply staring at a subject/object for a long period of time allows that thing to become stamped on the artists mind. From there it is his to change and mold to what he or she wants.

            Freud’s paintings as a whole are each dark and different in their own way. The shear amount of time and detail placed into perfecting the flesh is what makes his works stand out among the rest.

Catherine Murphy

John Currin

Jenny Saville

Frank Auerbach

Matthew Ritchie

Julie Mehretu

Lucian Freud

Antonio Lopez Garcia

Mark Tansey

James Rosenquist

So in the past my skill in painting has not been the best by any means. I find that most painters have a style that they are known for and are comfortable with. I on the other hand don't feel as though i have a style. When you've spent the majority of your career focusing on drawing its a bit difficult to transition into painting with a small amount of experience. The last time i took a painting course was last spring. This semester I hope to improve in my overall skill in painting and maybe find a style im comfortable with.

James Rosenquist, Mark Tansey, Antonio Lopez Garcia, Lucien Frued, Julie Mehretu, Matthew Ritchie, Frank Auerbach, Jenny Saville, John Currin, William Beckman, Laylah Ali, Catherine Murphy, Christine Grey, Paul Fenniak, Inka Essenhigh, Barnaby Furnas, Adrian Ghenie.

Not sure if this is breaking the rules or not bit the Alternative band known as Anberlin has played a huge part in both of my artistic and personal life. This band started out small and eventually made their way up to being somewhat known. Their songs have always been some of my favorites and i believe whole heatedly that their closing song on their record Cities is one of the greatest songs ever written, Its a huge shame that it didn't get the recognition i think it deserved. If you want to check it out the song is entitled "(*fin)."

Another artist I have taken alot of interest in over the year is Joe Mad. As the lead designer for the video game series known as darksiders as well as an artist for marvel Joe Mad astounds me and many others with the amount of detail he includes in all of his works.

One artist that i have found to be influential in my art would have to be Tite Kubo. As the writer and artist of the hit manga series known as bleach, Kubo has been illustrating pages and pages of manga for the past few years. As a long time follower i have had the ability to watch as his art style has evolved over the years.