Monday, July 27, 2009
Lights in the Deluge
While interning I've been fortunate enough to have some time to work on some personal pieces at James' studio. I approached these pieces much differently than I would a normal assignment, mostly because I didn't do any preliminary sketches which left room for exploration. The work changed a lot when I was working on it as I would paint over parts completely, glaze areas back, and switch mediums. I got some great critiques and feel like I learned a lot about making an image thanks to the generous input of James. Here's the first piece and I'll be posting the others in installments to try and get back in the habit of posting regularly. I would love to hear some feedback!
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14 comments:
The piece looks great man, I like the dark reduced colors and the image itself. You can see a lot of Jean influence in it though. Mostly in the way the blues and blacks are works and its reminds of a one of the fables covers he did. Not sure if this is a bad thing or not. Never-the-less I dig it. Makes me think some demi-god just died and his head is pouring out energy
well i think it's pretty fuckin sweet. the juxtaposition of rendered parts to more graphic elements is done rather nicely. i do think you need to push the nose a little more towards the viewer just to create a little more space since it's really competing with the eye right now.
and by eye i mean the left section of the lips
where are the ponies? i want ponies.
i mean
this is really nice cam
lots of nice little moments here - the little mini faces and water dribbling from the lips especially.
it rules.
This is so strong and delicate. I'm sorry, I feel like I'm describing your works like a horrible wine catalog. Ummm.....also, the aftertaste of your drawing is slightly earthy with a hint of wet foxfeathers
what mediums did you use? this is quite a powerful image, is there any particular meaning behind it?
Hey David, its charcoal and acrylic on BFK though most of the charcoal is completely covered. Sometimes the drawing makes it through to the end. As far as the meaning goes, I don't want to give away too much, nor do I feel like it is a perfectly particular statement, but at a basic level it has to do with with a balance between order and chaos, finding patterns, and creating meaning. The individual objects within the painting are being used as symbols with specific and disparate themes and are placed together with the hope of creating a more overarching, though un-articulated, meaning.
wow thats quite a concept , the rendering and the lighting expecially are almost magical in a sense, when you say "glaze back" do you mean simply applying watered down transparent layers of acrylic or do u use some kind of a gloss medium?
oh david I forgot to mention, there is some aftertouching in photoshop. I did a little bit of color dodging (very slightly) in the highlights and in the source of the vapors/lights. my glazing technique consisted of rendering an area in full value then glazing (water diluted paint and matte medium) over to bring parts back to a mid tone, then adding darks and lights again. This help give a translucent feeling, though it works way better in oils than acrylics. hope that helps
Especially for acrylics, this is freaking awesome. my favorite part might be the glowing red of the skull behind the explosion of little thingies. I think it's overall really well balanced, despite being pretty chaotic. Great job on the lighting, too. Like Alex, i thought of the cover of fables with the dude in the water, so yeah it's a little jame-esque, but hell, you're interning with the guy! Glad to see a new post.
I agree with the lighting issue in the nose....having said that
dude....I'm feeling this piece.....I'm so ripping you off on my next experiment :P
bouught the matte medium and everything.
oh ya i forgot you were interning with him, how did you end up landing that internship anyways, were numbers drawn from a hat involved or something?
I like seeing this in contrast with your earlier work, especially the images that pull from Middle Age design and figure motif. Your doing the right thing by picking up exactly what you like -- it's defining your work. I think as far as working closely with James, you seem to be learning a lot about the technical handling of these materials, without appropriating his personal voice. That's whats exciting, seeing your voice come through this experience in your work. I'm pumped to see what you show next!
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