Figure Drawing-Model Amy

I think this was the best drawing of the female live model I've done yet. The trip to the MET Museum certainly inspired and pushed me to do this much better and at a higher level. Enjoy! :)

Yes, as Prof Rifka encouraged, the use of the block body figure helped IMMENSely to keep Amys body in proportion with the background. It made drawing her a lot easier and I was able to spend much more time on the details than whether or not her leg was too large compared to her body length! Thanks for the tip :)

Frida Kahlo

Autobio about Ms Kahlo

"I paint myself because I am so often along and I am the subject I know best." - Frida Kahlo

http://fridapaintings.com/fullarticle.html

http://www.hovied.com/entertainment/2010/frida-kahlo-biography-with-video-06076661.html

Some of her beautiful and yet painful surrealistic works describing the pain she battled :

The above painting is a self portrait of Kahlo describing the depression and pain she battled while bedridden after a horrid car accident from which any movement would cause her pain; While bedridden for so long she took up painting and would productively let out her grief and sadness onto the canvas.



Diego and I
Diego and I, 1949, Oil on masonite,
11 5/8" x 8 13/16", Collection of Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Arts, New York.

She was his chicuita ("little one") and he was her "frog prince," but the path of love was not a smooth one for Frida and Diego. Almost from the moment of their marriage in 1929, there were problems. But 1949 was a particularly low point in their relationship. Rumors circulated that Diego intended to marry the film star Maria Felix, with whom he was having an affair. Although nothing came of the affair and Diego remained with Frida, she was hurt. The self-portrait Diego and I came out of this experience. (http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/worksofart/diegoandi.html)

Iconography Assignment - Fig Drawing Class

Above is a painting entitled The Virgin and  Child between St. James and St. Dominic by artist Hans Memling done in the years around circa 1485 to 1490. There are many religious icons/ figures used in this painting; some of the obvious ones are, as mentioned in the title, the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, and her child, Jesus. Surrounding them are the two families/ followers of  St James on one side and St Dominic on the other. This iconography seems to depict the rivalry between the two saints and yet that their goal is the same--to spread the word of Christ.



The above painting is by Johannes Vermeer, entitled The Allegory of the Catholic Faith, 1670-1672.

The idealized figure is the Catholic Faith, who adores heaven in the form of a glass sphere and dominates the globe (its mundane nature seems suggested by realistic description). In the foreground, the cornerstone of the church (Christ) crushes a serpent (the Devil) near the apple of original sin, which required the Savior's sacrifice. On the table, a crucifix, a chalice, a long silk cloth (perhaps a priest's stole), a large book (presumably the Missale Romanum), and a crown of thorns refer to the sacrament of the Eucharist, which was especially denigrated by Protestant critics of the time. The setting resembles a small chapel set up in a private house, as Catholic "hidden churches" were in the Dutch Republic. This late work was surely commissioned, probably by a patron who was learned as well as devout.

More To Come!

The art of nature

Art Vocabulary

pentimento


Essentially an underlying image within a painting. An example in the Painting below Titled The Cardsharps by Caravaggio, 1594, oil on canvas.






chiaroscuro


In Italian, this literally translates to "light-dark;" In paintings contrasting colors are used together to illustrate this. The painting below titled Sacred and Profane Love by Giovanni Baglione (1602-1603) shows this very beautifully.




Contour Lines -

Contour lines, meaning "outlines" are used in art to show the three dimensionality of objects and present the exterior edges of objects. The darker the contour lines, the "deeper" into the page the part of the object is and vice versa. Lines are used in manner of cross-hatching and no shading is used to describe light and shadows in the drawing. An example is below:
 


Iconography - Literally translates to "image writing" and is the study of the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images. An example is below titled The Ambassadors By Hans Holbein in 1533.




Iconology
Is essentially the study of the meaning contained within symbols in a certain work of art. Source. The previous painting is an example.

Foreshortening - In art, this is a perspective technique utilized to show an illusion of a certain object going into or coming out of the background very deeply. An example is shown below: Entitled Monumental Glory by Dana Roache, 2003.




Cross Hatching -

Crosshatching is the drawing of two layers of hatching at right-angles to create a mesh-like pattern. Multiple layers in varying directions can be used to create textures. Crosshatching is often used to create tonal effects, by varying the spacing of lines or by adding additional layers of lines. Crosshatching is used in pencil drawing, but is particularly useful with pen and ink drawing, to create the impression of areas of tone, since the pen can only create a solid black line. (

http://drawsketch.about.com/od/drawingglossary/g/crosshatching.htm)

Modernism - 

Essentially a style of art that aims to break the classical and traditional forms of perspective.

An example below:

Head Study

Photograph

Here is a very creative photograph representing the beautiful shades of the Fall season. I've been meaning to take pix of the fall leaf color changes, and this picture has summed it all up for me :) Enjoy!