Thursday, December 5, 2013

Kent Williams

Kent Williams is a contemporary figure painter whose work has been described as "bold realism with combined attributes of abstraction and neo-expressionistic sensibilities. His work is characterized by strong gestural forms combined with areas of arresting detail, rendered with rich dynamic brushwork."What initially drew me to his paintings was his use of figures and colors. He has beautifully realistic elements combined with striking colors, and transparent, ghostly sections. His work is also in a way very raw. Despite his level of detail, his paintings have a very raw nature in both application and the nature of the figures themselves. I find how he both captures and distorts his subjects to be so intriguing.


Erik Jones


Erik Jones is a contemporary figure painter from New York City. He works in a number of different scales but most of his work includes a mostly realistic figure, that is then covered partially in bright colors and bold shapes. I was mostly attracted to his depictions of these figures and his use of colors. His work involves a process that is quite remarkable. He often starts with a photoshoot, then edits images together to create the "perfect reference photo". Afterwards he creates shapes on top of the reference image and enlarges it to project. From the projection, he traces the images and then goes back using Prisma pencils, water-soluble oils, acrylics, and water-soluble pastels to create the final paintings.

-Samantha Johnson









Wednesday, December 4, 2013


Catherine Story is a contemporary artist that is using 2 forms of art in one, being sculpture and painting. Using these two forms gives her no hierarchy in my opinion. These objects, she has created by combining shapes, look 3-D in a sense. She arranges these objects in away that we see real life things such as bears and camcorders. She uses oil on wood and sand for her materials

Devin Caldwell 

David A. Leffel, painting of still-life's and portraits,recent article in International Artists.

I was benefited by the wealth of knowledge in the publications concerning Mr. Leffel's
Traditional oil paintings of still-lifes and portraits.

The 2014 article in International Artists on page 60 to 67 showed musical rhythmic quality
Of his work with movements in each painting. The work could be divided into segments which guided the viewer's eyes to move across the canvas in estimated duration of time.

The 1984 book contains innumerable pearls for painting still-life's and portraits.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Diane Simpson...

         Diane Simpson Is an abstract dimensional artist who uses different kinds of material to make her art. These pieces can have fabric, wood, various metals, and even laminate. I think her art calls to me especially since I am a 3d artist. Her art to me shapes the way we think about art. It allows the canvas to be the very space that we are apart of. This allows for more thought to go not only into the piece itself but also how it might relate to its surroundings. This I feel changes the thought process beyond the norm.
 
cultural_center_Simpson_Underskirt_1986.jpg
 

Diane Simpson...

Diane Simpson
 
Diane Simpson
 
 
 
 

Discussion 1 - Jonathan Jackson

Vincent Gootzen
What makes Gootzen's work so interesting is the way he composes his pieces through found objects, paint, collage, and performance. He will use sound to help craft a feeling for the piece while he creates in front of an audience. This process gives every piece its own sense of life, allowing the viewer to be a part of its birth. Gootzen's background as a professional skateboarder has heavily influenced his work. A lot of the forms he creates are reminiscent of urban architecture, such as rails and stair-sets.

Shaun Washington




 
I truly enjoyed how this piece above was designed. I have always wanted to bring my art beyond the canvas into the more 3-dimensional aspect of art. Taking a piece of wood and another canvas, modifying them, and then painting across them and even above has got to be one of the most brilliant ideas I have ever seen. Vincent Gootzen is brilliant and the color scheme he used to produce this piece is easy on the eyes and gives you a sense of adventure. The colors move with the piece to make it a real story.
 
- Jonathan Jackson

Vincent Gootzen

What makes Gootzen's work so interesting is the way he composes his pieces through found objects, paint, collage, and performance. He will use sound to help craft a feeling for the piece while he creates in front of an audience. This process gives every piece its own sense of life, allowing the viewer to be a part of its birth. Gootzen's background as a professional skateboarder has heavily influenced his work. A lot of the forms he creates are reminiscent of urban architecture, such as rails and stair-sets.

Shaun Washington





Michael Cina

By creating works solely based on shape, color, composition and mood, Cina, is able to craft a body of work that is visually complex. He uses vibrant colors to pull you in. Once invested your mind begins to shape the piece, picking out figures and shapes that aren't entirely there. Cina constructs his work in response to an emotion, a sound or feeling that happened in a particular moment. Cina works from this subconscious spark as if by reaction. He paints off feel and what to him looks right in that moment. He plays with Kantian ideas of beauty, giving us just enough to find visually stimulating while asking us to question just what it is that makes his work so enticing.

Shaun Washington