Cezanne

I probably should have blogged about this when it was fresher in my mind.
Lucky you (the reader) will probably be treated to a shorter blog post this way.

So it was called "Cezanne and Beyond". It was an exhibit at the Philadelphia Art Museum. I went with my ma (you can read her account of the event on her blog here). We both enjoy art and it was a nice day.
The drive over could have been a nightmare, we learned just before leaving there was some sort of Greek Parade going down the main street that takes you to the Museum. I had my little gps device with me, but I'm not 100% comfortable trusting that device, nor do I know the city well enough to go off the beaten paths. Luckily though, we missed any sort of traffic and got there in time. In fact, we got there about 40 minutes early... which as it turns out was a good thing, because it was super crowded!
Oh, and yes... the art...
I really enjoyed the exhibit. I learned that while I don't necessarily like everything Cezanne did, I did really enjoy a lot of his work. There was one that stood out above the others as one of my favorites. Unfortunately, In my rush to leave the house to avoid the parade, I forgot to bring a notpad and pencil to take any notes. Google to the rescue... it was called "The Bridge at Maincy". The above photo does not do the colors justice though. (I found the photo here on this website.)
Now... here's the thing that really surprised me... since there were other artists shown in this exhibit, I got to see some other "masters" works. To my surprise I ended up really impressed with another artists work other than Cezanne... Mondrian! Sure, like most of you, I've seen the white checkerboards with splashes of red, yellow and blue. I thought that was all that Mondrian did! Well, I was wrong. Some of the paintings I saw were also geometrical in nature, but the colors and designs really impressed me! As a result, after the exhibit, while perusing the gift shop, I picked up a small book about Mondrian and not Cezanne (no offense Paul).
Ok, I think I said something about keeping this short...
Nutshell, a great day, appreciating fine art and learning other ways to see my world.
And yes... I might just pick up my brush again and try a watercolor soon.

PS> I decided to join the museum for a one year membership. I HOPE I will be able to take advantage of this membership, and head over there on a regular basis, and explore what else the museum has to offer.

PS2> I also learned that there is an artist that I really did NOT like... Henri Matisse (wiki).
A few others that I DID enjoy: Georges Braque, Jasper Johns, Alberto Giacometti, Charles Demuth, Ellsworth Kelly (some of kelly's stuff I liked).

Maker Faire - knit drum

So, in hindsight, I guess I didn't blog much about my experience at the maker faire this year.
So today, in my google alerts, I found my way to this blog, and was glad to see one of the persons that I had forgotten about - and he was one of my favorite things there, for several reasons.
One, it was just a mental freeze when you first see what he's doing. Nothing fancy, just druming while knitting. But then your brain trys to comprehend this, and it just does not compute. Why? Then it hits you... it's art. It doesn't have to fit into a neat little box with the label "because..."
The other reason this particular maker amused me... He did NOT look like he was having fun. Not once did I see him smile, or even interact with the crowd. I passed him several times during the day, and at all times there was always a small crowd around him, with the same smiles on their faces, yet he was off in his own little word, just drummin' and knittin'.
lastly, as far as I could tell, he had not one iota of rhythm. Unless he was on some improvisational jazz level that was beyond me, I could detect no rhythm or beat. Again, this was my brain trying to figure it all out, and looking for some sort of "reason" for it.
So thank you Corey Fogel, for throwing that monkey wrench into my neuro pathways. I just had to smile again, when I saw the above video which reminded me of the above thoughts.

Why?

Ironman>
Cool to see the costumes, and how it was built and all, but overall the movie felt a bit forced for me. And really, to have a scene with a fist fight between two robots? cmon. Please, any hollywood directors out there... send me a copy of this rule in some handbook, that says the good guy and the bad guy have to have a fist fight?
Robert Downy was good, but I don't think it was his best work. I noticed too for the first time that he has a strange sort of limp. I don't know if he did this for his character or not.
moving on...

Why?
So the other day I'm flipping through the TV channels and I see a show about music (VH1), I see a show about interior design, I see a show about movies, I've seen shows about books, but I've never seen a show about art?! Sure, I've seen shows that might be about a particular artist (usually on PBS), but why are there not more shows that are about fine art? Doesn't everyone appreciate art? Don't most people have a painting hanging somewhere in their house?
It just hit me, and I thought it was weird.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!!!

FrankenBush

My First attempt at a Stencil. First person I showed it too, didn't recognize the mashup though. I thought it was pretty obvious. Thoughts?

You call this art?

Well, it's official... I really like my new brushes! (That I blogged about yesterday).
I actually only used one of them (didn't want to ruin that "new in a box" feel to the other one).
I'm thrilled that I got such a good bargain on these things. It's funny, if I had seen this brush in the store for $30 I probably would not have bought it, but because it was marked as 70% off I had to get it. If you've never painted before this will mean nothing (And if you've never painted before, you really should try!)... anyway, the brush does exactly what I had hoped it would do, it has a larger area up near the Hosel (do they use that word in painting or just golf?), this larger area lets you really load up the brush with water/paint. The ability of the brush to hold this amount of water/paint is good because it means you don't have to keep going back to the pallet to get more paint, thus allowing you to get a good long flow on the paper. The other benefit to this brush is that it tapers to a really fine point which allows you to get really detailed if needed. I like to paint these small paintings (5"x5") so the extra detail is needed for me.
In the interest of all the kiddies out there and those who may be at work I won't post the "live pose" which translates to nude. The model was funny, she was "braggin" about how her and this other artist worked on staging this pose about 15 years ago. I thought 'what pose? you're just laying there on your back' - but I get her point :) If you want to see this you'll have to go to my flickr site here.
As I noted on my flickr posts, I have a tendency to paint very lightly, so light, that the scanner that I used to scan these in had a difficult time picking up all the details. Not trying to make excuses for a bad painting, but they look better in person :)
These may be the 2 best paintings I've been most happy with so far.

Tech Tags: art watercolor model red+head fleischer

Renoir

Just a quick follow up... I got back from seeing the Renoir Landscape exhibit a little while ago. I really enjoyed his paintings. Not all of them of course, but most of them. I also enjoyed seeing the exhibit with my mom too :)
I have to admit, I no next to nothing about Renoir (wikipedia). I've never been into the "classics" (art and books included). I think it's the whole "authority" thing :) But I gotta say, his paintings are really great. I also feel strange in how I'm being introduced to Renoir... He's mostly known for his incredible portrait work, yet my first introduction to him was of his landscape paintings. I think that's pretty cool.
At one point in the gallery, I thought "I'm here viewing one of the "MASTERS" of painting! - How lucky am I!" I wish everyone could say the same thing.
There was one awkward moment too... I guess since we went on a Friday afternoon, I would say most of the crowd was in their retirement age. So that was the first thing I noticed about the people around us... then I noticed the second thing... ALL of the people in the room were white, and ALL of the guards they had standing at each corner of the rooms were black. I don't know why that made me feel awkward, but it did. I did see some black people upon us entering so I know they were there, but there was just this one moment where it was really obvious. I felt like going up to the guard and asking him why? (like he would know).
Back to the paintings...
It was really cool to see his paintings close up. His style was very "impressionistic" kinda like Monet (turns out Monet and Renoir painted together). Lots of little tiny brush strokes, and daubs of paint when you look at it close. But when you back away from the painting it takes on a whole other look.
I really liked Renoir's choice of colors too. He used a lot of blues to paint his shadows which struck me.
The photo I posted above is one I found online, and it was one of the paintings I saw in the show, so that's cool.
If you happen to be anywhere near Philadelphia, I would recommend seeing his paintings.


renoir philadelphia art paintings oil landscape master

are all cartoonists genius?

I vaguely remember posting about this guy before.
I've really got to make more of an effort to read his blog on a regular basis. I think part of the problem is that his posts are kinda long for my ADD internet span. But hey, I've been known to ramble on too.
I read his entry the other day when I saw it posted on reddit.
I must warn you, there is a lot of foul language.
I must warn you, it's dripping with sarcasm.
I'm not going to tell you who the writer is yet.
So read this post first. (I encourage you to read some of the comments too, but seeing as there are over 300, that can get old real quick).
When you're done, check out his follow up post that explains some of the sarcasm.

Here's what I don't understand though... I've never been a fan of this guy's comic. I think some of them are really funny, but overall I can't relate to the strip. Funny, how you can admire and respect a person, even, admire and respect his creation, but then just not like it. To each his own I guess.

Follow up to art class...

I'll try and squeeze in a quick post here.

So last night I went to my art class, and it was kind of a bust. Turns out, I think I signed up for the wrong class. I went back today to look at the course descriptions, and they are rather vague and over-lapping. So it's no wonder I picked the wrong course. So, I get to class early (almost 45 minutes) and I get the LAST parking spot in their parking lot. whew. Parking is a mess in that area of the city. I went in early, to get a good seat, and to buy a pad of newsprint from their school store. I go back to the classroom and people are starting to file in now. Turns out the class was totally packed! There were some people that came in, saw that there were no seats and turned around and left. A few "brave" souls actually came in and sat on the floor for 2 hours! I didn't think to count, but there had to be at least 50 people. So the teacher then proceeds to go over the supply list (which I had already bought), and tells us NOT to buy the pack of pastels, because we probably won't get to that. GRRR! Then she goes on to talk a little about the course, and says that we probably won't even have a live model until about 4-6 weeks! (I think there are only 13 classes so that's almost half). So, upon going back to the course descriptions today, I realized I probably should have signed up for the "figure drawing 1" class instead of the "drawing 2" class which covers the introduction to figure drawing.
So we spent all night (2 hours) drawing 3 vases. Not very exciting.
Don't get me wrong, I still actually enjoyed drawing the vases (actually 2 vases, and one bowl). But by the end of the class (again with no real instruction other than the "teacher" setting up the items and saying to draw them.
So, now, I'm faced with the decision... do I return to my watercolor class, or do I try to get into the "figure drawing 1" class. Which that's another debacle... On the website, it says the class if FULL and that they are taking names for a waiting list. So I tried to call the offices and I reach the receptionist. He tells me, I can still go to the class, and that there is no waiting list. Huh?! He said, that notice was put up to discourage people from registering for the class online.
So, now, I don't know if I too will be faced with another FULL class with no seating or what.
I'll have to decide what to do at a later time.
I'm still a little peeved at myself for buying all the supplies first.

Art Classes

Well, tonight I start up my art classes again. I'm both hesitant and excited to start up again. I'm hesitant because I signed up for a new class... Drawing II (introduction to figure drawing). I found myself last semester struggling with some of my figure watercolors. So I thought I might get a little refresher course, and hopefully pick up some new info. The way this school works is very unstructured. So if I get to the class tonight and find that they will be covering stuff I already know, then I can always switch over to the watercolor class again. That's my intent anyway, until last night! I went up to my local "arts and crafts" store (no such thing as an art supply store near me anymore - which is REALLY SAD!). But they have all the basics. Anyway, I had a materials list to go by. Little did I know, that most of of the supplies i DON'T have! Here, I was thinking it was figure drawing right? All I need is a pencil and a sketch pad (which I had). But no... I had to get a bunch of charcoal supplies and pastels. I had NO idea that charcoal is so expensive! A little pack of burnt twigs was about $7. Then with some pastels, some pencils of different kinds, and some colored paper made for pastels, I ended up dropping $50! So now I'm committed I guess. I better like this course now. I still need to buy a pad of newsprint, but perhaps I can get that at the school store. So, it's with a little trepidation I'll be going to class tonight. It will be nice to get back into the "art world". I've already started "seeing" again. When you take (or maybe I should say "when I take") an art class, I start to see things that jump out at me as being artistic. Certain colors, patterns, etc... It's nice to get my brain in that mode again.
If I feel I get something good, I'll try posting it to my blog here for the world to see. :)
I just found a watercolor I did last semester as a sort of doodle, but I really like it. It's of a bunny rabbit that one of the classes was using. I saw it in the parking lot, and when I got to class early, I did a quick sketch and painting. Maybe I'll scan and post that later.

Where am I going to class you ask? Here.

Tech Tags: art pastel figure+drawing art+school watercolor

Little People...

I find myself wanting to make/see art again. I find it interesting that it tends to come and go this urge for creativity. For the most part, I consider myself a creative person (If only I actually DID the ideas that are in my head only, then others might view me as a creative person more ;). So today's post is about a cool (although pointless) series of art (photographs) where this person hand paints little tiny human figures (They look like the little models you see on model train platforms). Then the person sets them outside and takes photos of them. Some are pretty clever, and some just like to mess with your brain in regards to perspective and questioning reality (always a good thing). So check 'em out. I found this link via the MAKE blog.

Oh and I am thinking of a new project to start soon... I want to build my own table(s). If/when I tackle this I'll try and take some photos.

I happened to see a show on PBS last night too on Rembrant. I have to be honest, the show made me loose interest about half-way through, but what I did enjoy was seeing the close up shots of some of his paintings. I never really looked at his paintings before, and they are magical. I think I'm getting ready to take a day trip over to the local art museum soon.

XKCD web comic

Ya know, I've never taken the time to actually look up what these letter mean... xkcd... All I know is that it's a very popular web-comic that has a lot of geeky/nerdy references. The last few in the series were really great dealing with some sort of rip in the time-space continum. This one day really sums up a great attitude to have in life. I admit... I don't live this attitude. I like to play things "safe". I'm going to have to work a little harder and expanding my future.

http://xkcd.com/c267.html

more about the comic on the wiki... interesting.

Dunny

It's Monday. Yuck. I think I'm catching a cold. Yuck. Had a bit of a scratchy throat last night so I took a cold-eze and woke up today just feeling sluggish. (well, I always wake up feeling that way, this was more like a slug in the antarctic). But as I was wondering what I wanted to blog about today, I realized I've been thinking a lot in anticipation of a new toy I bought online. I bought a dunny. What's a dunny? I'm not sure how to describe it. It's a (usually) small 3" tall vinyl toy that has quite a huge following now in the art community. What makes these toys popular is that they are painted by artists and designers. These are not really for kids (though they can be). I bought my first dunny when I visited San Francisco. I've been trying to resist the pull of becoming a collector of yet another "thing". I have too many things. But I broke last week. In a moment of weakness I bought a plain dunny. A small all white dunny, with the idea that you paint or decorate it anyway you want. Well, the pressure is killin me now. I hate that feeling of staring at a blank canvas. Whenever I get a new sketchbook, or watercolor tablet, I always skip the first page, because that's too much pressure. So now that I'm waiting for UPS to deliver my first generic dunny, I wish now that I bought a second one to relieve that pressure. Ugh. I also bought a second vinyl collectible called a "fat cap", I'll try to take a photo and post it. You can check out this awesome store online called KidRobot.

I'll post this thought too just because... I've been hearing a lot (on the interweb circles that I hang out on) about a new TV show on Showtime called "This American Life". Apparently it's a radio program, that's now a podcast, thats now a TV show. I'd never heard of it. Well, I was just over on one of my web haunts called drawn.ca and saw this link to a flash animation. It's a cute little video but with a slightly disturbing outcome. I'm going to have to look for the podcast now cause I'm not going to subscribe to Showtime to see what all the hoopla is about.

Tech Tags: dunny kidrobot urban+vinyl toy art drawn.ca this+american+life

Rats and art

First off an interesting post I read over on the make blog yesterday. Turns out some guy gets paid to study laughing rats. Which is more interesting... that rats laugh, or that this guy gets paid to tickle them? All in the name of science I suppose. Anyway, it's a pretty interesting discovery though. The article starts off with a quote from Aristotle that says humans are the only animals that laugh. Well, I think Jaak the rat tickler has proved him wrong. check out the link, then click on the movie to watch the video. Makes it a little harder to kill the little buggers now doesn't it? Speaking of rodents, I was awoken today by the return of the squirrels in my attic. They have made an appearance on and off throughout the winter, but never seemed to take up residence (thankfully), I hope this one is not looking for a place to make a spring nest. I've determined though... it's worse dealing with my apartment maintenance people than it is the squirrels. So I'm going to give it a shot of living with them.
Finally a quick post about my art class... things didn't seem to click the other night. I struggled to find that groove I had last week. I did finally sort of give up and tried to just have a little fun. The painting turned out pretty cool (if I do say so myself). Totally different than what I was doing before. Maybe I'll try to scan and post it here. We also hung some of our artwork in the student show, so this will be the second time I've had a piece of art hanging in an art gallery ;) I almost put a price tag of $1,000,000 but figured that a bit steep. The teacher chose which of my paintings to hang, which I thought kinda odd, but I went along with it.
A funny little art fopa (sp?) on my part too... the teacher came in and made an announcement that the library was selling some books to clear space for cheap. $1 - $10... $1 a book? I gotta check that out. Well, turns out many of them were not worth that much. They were like student art history books. Entire books about art with not one photo or picture. Something wrong with that. But I did find a small book with some renaissance type art that struck me and it was only a $1. So I bought it, and went back to class. The teacher then was making her rounds looking at our work, when she saw my book... "Ah, how did I miss that one", she said. Michael Angelo. I looked at her with a blank stare - what? Then I read the title which was in Italian or something, and the last words were Miguel Angel. So here I got a world famous art history book, and I didn't even recognize his name :) I just liked the pictures which is what counts in my book :)
Well, this rambled on a bit longer than I thought, sorry bout that. Enjoy your Thursday, only one more day until the weekend.
Hey! Go make some art yourself. Take a photo, or paint a picture, or doodle a character with a pen on a post it... it's all art.

reverse graffitti

I've been into "underground art" lately. I discovered a magazine called Juxtapoz and had no idea this "movement" was so large. One of the aspects of this art is graffitti art. I think I posted here once before, that I'm not so much in favor of defacing someone elses property. But a public piece I think is fair game to make a public statement (such as a bridge, or a highway overpass). So, grafitti tends to buck the system right? Well this post illustrates how you can reverse buck the system and play some good headgames while your at it... these guys are finding the dirtiest walls, tunnels, etc, and basically saying "wash me" on them. Read the full story on this guys blog.
(I'm not sure if the photo credit goes to Moose or Matt).

Tech Tags: art graffiti reverse+graffiti clean

cartoon genius

I know that the odds of someone finding this post are slim, but I would like to post my condolences for Joe Barbera today. He has entertained me in my life for countless hours and I want to thank him for that. But this morning I heard the sad news that he passed away at 95. Wow, 95 that is a full life there. In case you don't know who Joe Barbera is, he is famous for being the partner in "Hanna-Barbera" - who are the animation people that created such classic characters like: Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Sooby-Doo (my fav). and Tom and Jerry. I've "wasted" much of my youth in hours of watching these cartoons. I still enjoy cartoons. I know it sounds lame, but I actually appreciate and admire the art. Today I'm really enjoying and admiring the line work of Avatar.
Peace Joe and thanks.

You can read more on CNN

Tech Tags: Joe+Barbera hanna+barbera cartoons