Artist Spotlight: Adonna Khare

adonnakhare.com

Detroit

The Boston Panels (detail) by Ellsworth Kelly. Photo Credit: © 1998 Steve Rosenthal

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(ArtfixDaily.com) 

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) hosted the unveiling of the General Services Administration (GSA) Fine Arts Collection website on Oct. 15. The GSA owns of one of the United States’ oldest and largest public art collections with more than 26,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, and new media from the 1850s to the present. These civic artworks are displayed in federal buildings and courthouses across the country.

The Fine Arts Collection chronicles the rich and complex history of the United States, enhances the experiences of citizens interacting with their government, and constitutes an enduring and irreplaceable cultural legacy for the nation. The new interactive website will allow users to quickly find works by their favorite artists or discover works of art in their state or hometown. The collection can be viewed at

http://www.gsa.gov/fa/.

In addition, more than 23,000 easel paintings, prints, and small-scale sculptures created during the New Deal are on long-term loan to museums, universities, and other non-profit institutions across the United States. The DIA currently has 363 of these works, mostly prints that were recently part of an exhibition of WPA prints.

Sister Wendy, etc...

If you don't know Sister Wendy - check her out...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/sisterwendy/meet/index.html

Check out these really obscure sites for art:

http://www.pbs.org/art21/

http://www.ubuweb.com/

Also...Good article on listing and doodle..
http://elitedaily.com/life/motivation/doodle-actually-paying-attention/853119/

Robert Henri - The Art Spirit

Inspirational Appetizer: Robert Henri - The Art Spirit

A wonderful artist who also was gifted in writing!  Robert Henri wrote a couple of books but my favorite is The Art Spirit.  It was published in 1923.  There is no photo or picture/painting in it but such beautiful writing.  Robert Henri was born in Cincinnati in the early 1880's, attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, travelled to Paris to study, and came back to America to teach at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women.  He further taught at the New York School of art, and NY Students League.  He became an important artist and teacher - taught "heavies" of art as Edward Hopper, Joseph Stella, George Bellows, Stuart Davies.  The Art Spirt contains his ideas of art.

Some lovely extractions from The Art Spirt to share to you - it is truth - and this truth is beautiful like poetry...enjoy!

  

“Art when really understood is the province of every human being.

It is simply a question of doing things, anything, well.  It is not an outside, extra thing.

When the artist is alive in any person, whatever his kind of work may be, he becomes an inventive, searching, daring, self-expressing creature.  He becomes interesting to other people.  He disturbs, upsets, enlightens, and he opens ways for better understanding.  Where those who are not artist are tying to close the book, he opens it, shows there are still more pages possible.

The world would stagnate without him, and the world would be beautiful with him; for he is interesting to himself and he is interesting to others.  He does not have to be a painter or a sculptor to be an artist.  He can work in any medium. He simply has to find the gain in the work itself not outside it.

Museums of art will not make a county an art county.  But where there is the art spirit there will be precious works to fill museums.  Better still, there will be the happiness that is in the making.

The work of the art student is no light matter.  Few have the courage and stamina to see it through.  You have to make up your mind to be alone in many ways.  We like sympathy and we like to be in company.  It is easier then going it alone.  But alone one gets acquainted with himself, grows up and on, not stopping with the crowd.  It costs to do this.  If you succeed somewhat you maybe have to pay for it as well as enjoy it all your life.

Cherish your own emotions and never undervalue them.

We are not here to do what has already been done.

I have little interest in teaching you what I know.  I wish to stimulate you to tell me what you know.  In my office towards you I am simply trying to improve my own environment.

Know what the old masters did.  Know how they composed their pictures, but do not fall into the conventions they established.  These conventions were right for them, and they are wonderful.  They made their language.  You make yours.  They can help you.  All the past can help you.”

“Understand that in no work will you find the final word, nor will you find a receipt that will just fit you. The fun of living is that we have to make ourselves, after all.”

“Many a canvas carries on its face the artist’s thought of the cost of paint. And many a picture has fallen short of its original intention by the obtrusion of this idea.”

“It is harder to see than it is to express. The whole value of art rests in the artist’s ability to see well into what is before him.”

“The pictures which do not represent an intense interest cannot expect to create an intense interest.”

“A public which likes to hear something worth while when you talk would like to understand something worth while when it sees pictures.”

“You can learn more from yourself than you can from anyone else.”

“The greatness of art depends absolutely on the greatness of the artist’s individuality and on the same source depends the power to acquire a technique sufficient for expression.”

“There is nothing more entertaining than to have a frank talk with yourself. Few do it-frankly. Educating yourself is getting acquainted with yourself.”

“It is easier, I think, to paint a good picture than it is to paint a bad one. The difficulty is to have the will for it. A good picture is a fruit of all your great living.”

“Don’t take me an authority. I am simply expressing a very personal point of view. Nothing final about it. You have to settle all these matters for yourself.’

“The eye should not be led where there is nothing to see.”

“Out of it all, what is good will survive and will be known later; what is bad or negligible will pass and we shall have lived.”

“The pursuit of happiness is a great activity. One must be open and alive. It is the greatest feat man has to accomplish, and spirits must flow. There must be courage. There are no easy ruts to get into which lead to happiness. A man must become interesting to himself and must become actually expressive before he can be happy.”

    

Considerations

1. ALWAYS CONSIDER A TONED GROUND

There are many benefits to working on a ground. One of these is increased painting or drawing speed. A ground covers a drawing surface from the outset. It can act as mid-tone, with only black and white used to apply dark and light areas (as in the examples below) or be left partially visible in the final work. This results in an artwork that is much faster to complete 

2. INCORPORATE MIXED MEDIA /PATTERNED SURFACES / TEXTURAL ELEMENTS

As with using a ground, patterned, decorative or textural items can cover areas of an artwork quickly. Although this strategy should be used with care, selecting only materials which support or enhance your project (usually with reference to a relevant artist model) this can be a great way to speed up your project and introduce creative use of mixed media.

: note: scott waters uses a floral collage and insets it into his drawings - carefully matching color

3. WORK ON SEVERAL PIECES AT ONCE

Working in series – completing several drawings at one time – is a very helpful strategy for Art students. This speeds work up for a number of reasons:

• A single tone or object can be used throughout a number of works, without needing to stop 
• While one work is being considered, another one can be worked on
• Similar processes or techniques can be mastered quickly and repeated on subsequent works

In addition, when working on several pieces at once, ‘preciousness’ about the work tends to be lost, leading to more experimentation and greater work speed.

The studio of artist Willem de Kooning

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These photos of Willem de Kooning's studio show several works in progress pinned to the wall and scattered across the floor. 

4. THINGS IN THE RIGHT ORDER - BACKGROUND AREAS FIRST

Rendering things in an illogical order is surprisingly common amongst Art students. In almost all cases, the background should be completed first, followed by the middle-ground, ending with the foreground.AS what I say Start from the outside and go inwards - by initially blocking  your drawing, deciding where to place things then draw the basic contour, then structure.  The details always go last!!

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5. USE MASKING TAPE TO CREATE STRAIGHT EDGES

Some students are concerned that it might be necessary to ‘prove’ that a straight line can be painted by hand. This is not the case. Your control of a line can be ascertained immediately by looking at the remainder of your painting. Masking tape creates straight edges in seconds. Once mastered, this trick can save you hours – and make your lines - esp. thick ones sharper, cleaner and more professional in the process. If you haven’t used masking tape before, buy some now!

in these - straight lines were created using masking tape.

6. LEAVE ARTWORK PURPOSEFULLY INCOMPLETE

Artist work is sometimes purposefully ‘unfinished’. Art students shouldn't feel obliged to ‘complete’ every item. There are many occasions when a fully rendered drawing is not necessary. Drawings, especially those in sketchbooks, can be left with edges trailing away and tone only applied to some areas. Leaving work unfinished is particularly useful when conducting visual research, exploring ideas and experimenting with media. Depending on your artist influences, this may even be appropriate in final works – as a way to draw attention to focal points and direct attention within an artwork.

Note: This should not be used as justification for avoiding homework tasks set by your instructor!

Jim Dine

Jim Dine charcoal tool drawings combine precise, analytical outlines (which fade away and are incomplete in places) with perfectly rendered areas and gestural, and expressive mark-making in some of the negative spaces left around the tools.

*sometimes less is more!!

7. OMIT PARTS OF A SCENE

Deliberately picking out certain parts of a scene to draw has a strong impact on the final work and must be used with care to ensure that the resulting image supports the ideas explored in your project. As with the previous option, this allows you to demonstrate strong observational drawing skills, while saving time by omitting part of the scene.

A graphite pencil drawing by Langdon Graves

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Eliminating certain areas of a scene is a dramatic measure that brings immediate focus to an artwork.

9. FOCUS ON LINE

There are many occasions where it may be appropriate for a student to draw using only line (it is often the application of tone that is time-consuming for students, so working exclusively with line 

provide a welcome relief). Blind drawings, contour drawings, cross contour drawings and other hatched drawings 

 can form an important part of your project.

Note: It is usually necessary to demonstrate an ability to apply tone at some point to examiner, so it is not wise to exclude tone from your project altogether.

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These works by artist Federico Infante contain a focus on line (in this case used to create residual after-image effects) with tone applied in certain areas only. This helps to draw the viewer in to the world of the central figure, so we share the emotion of this captured moment in time.

10. INCLUDE PHOTOGRAPHS

While there is a certain quantity of drawing that must take place within  Fine Art portfolio, photography can provide an excellent mechanism for moving a project forward at a faster pace.

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Photography can be used as a tool to develop composition, as in the beautiful AS Sketchbook pages above. Rather than ordinary snapshots of source material, the photographs here are complex digital manipulations, which help refine ideas and compositions.

In addition to helping with composition planning, photography can be collaged into artworks or used as painting ground. If the photograph remains visible in the final work, less paint needs to be applied, thus speeding up the art-making process.

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These artworks by Charlotte Caron show animal faces painted on top of photographic portraits. Note the clever unity of the colours in each image.

11. PROGRESS TO ABSTRACT (OR SEMI-ABSTRACT)

Producing abstract work is often the first solution that comes to mind for those who work slowly; students can be fearful that this will not allow them the opportunity to demonstrate strong observational skills. The solution is to produce abstract work that is derived from earlier realistic works 

 

This project begins with precise, meticulous realistic drawing, moves towards impressionism and finally abstraction. This allows a student to benefit from speed in the later stages of the work, while still having the opportunity to flaunt superb observational drawing skill.

Another equally successful strategy is to incorporate realistic elements with abstract works, creating a work that is part realistic, part abstract

13. BE MORE GESTURAL

Instead of artwork being a laborious process that grinds away for days, images can be created quickly, using rich, expressive mark-making. Those who have only produced realist, tightly controlled drawings usually take some time to adapt to this approach and not all students find it easy; selection of the right drawing tools and mediums can help. Charcoal, chunky 5mm wide graphite leads, Indian ink, big brushes and paint applied with pieces of card all lend themselves to gestural mark-making 

if you are looking for more ideas). Even if this style of working is not your preference and not something you wish to pursue, it can be useful to practise, particularly when planning compositions and drawing from life.

These stunning paintings by Jason Shawn Alexander have tighter, more realist faces, with surrounding areas becoming gradually more gestural and abstract. This is a superb strategy for creating focal points and creating rich, gutsy images that command attention.

14.USE DIGITAL MANIPULATION

Scanning existing artworks and editing and combining these with other artworks holds exciting promise for Painting / Fine Art students. Once a student has practised using image manipulation software (such as Adobe Fireworks or Photoshop) creating images and then printing them can be a very fast way to create amazing artworks.

Gesture Drawing:

Anatomy Drawing: 

Proportions: 

Andrew Loomis Head and Hands

Hey cool folks.

So today I am downloading info for downloading 6 free books from Andrew Loomis - head and hands, plus others.  I tried to copy the hands and head one but could not from a pdf.  Please check it out because its free!!! whooooooohoooo AND BECAUSE THEY ARE AWESOME POSSUM!!

http://www.alexhays.com/loomis/