Exhibition Research - First Thoughts

My honours project is basically a 2D illustrative project. Therefore my core research will address art galleries and museums and how they present 2 dimensional art projects in their exhibitions. Then later on I will undertake further research into online exhibitions and galleries as well as interface choices for the digital aspect of the showcase.

Typical Layout

Here are some typical exhibition examples of traditional and modern arts galleries. First some classical examples:

 Now some modern presentation examples:

Momentarily my project is still focusing a lot on the adaptation of traditional painting techniques and craftsmanship skills, so a classical mood/atmosphere might fit quite nicely to the artworks despite them being digital and therefore prints instead of canvases.

In my sketchbook I also made a list with some ideas and research areas I could look into for the showcase. Here's the scanned list:

Honours Workshop Diary 11 (First of Second Semester) - Art History Research

To further guide and develop the honours project I have chosen to do research into different art movements to learn about these artists' aesthetic views and key craftsmanship skills to achieve some of the trademark features that make their artworks stand out. Particularly Impressionism and Tonalism have captured my eye and often have something special in their paintings in my view. 

Impressionism

Summary

To start off I will produce a short overview by defining impressionism and describing the characteristics of impressionist painting. Afterwards I will explain in more detail which aspects of impressionism I would like to consider incorporating into my own artistic style.

Finally I will showcase some of my favourite artworks from the impressionist art movement and explain what makes them so aesthetically appealing to me. The choice of artwork is based on personal opinions and experiences.

Impressionism

The art movement was formed in Paris by a group of artists during the 19^th century and gained prominence in the 1870s and 1880s despite the harsh opposition of the conventional art community in France.

Impressionist painting characteristics include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), common and ordinary subject matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles. 

Timeline: Lives of the Impressionists

Aesthetic Vision

The key aspect I want to take away from this art style and incorporate into my own art is the ability to capture a scene in its accurate mood and atmosphere. The ability to capture actions and dynamics is one main point that can only be achieved through the observation of details and lots of practice. The accurate depiction of -in some cases dramatic- lighting in impressionist painting is very important. It emphasises the mood in paintings and can be used as a compositional element to stage and guide the viewer’s attention. Furthermore it will lead to a better and faster painting process by setting the correct mood from the start.

Impressionism is about focusing on the core mood, atmosphere and emotions of a scene and then conveying them through the painting to the viewer. This is not an easy challenge and requires attention to detail, particularly in the portrayal of expressions and lighting.

Inspirational Impressionists’ Artwork

I chose the following images to reinforce my statements of the paragraph on aesthetic vision. A short description beneath the paintings will describe the main points I find inspiring and worth incorporating into my art style.

Claude Monet

 Reading (portrait of Edma Morisot)

            Impression Sunrise                                                            Haystacks, (Sunset)

         Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son                             Water Lilies

Edgar Degas

The French painter Edgar Degas is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism, although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist. He was a superb draftsman, and particularly masterful in depicting movement, as can be seen in his renditions of dancers, racecourse subjects and female nudes. His portraits are notable for their psychological complexity and for their portrayal of human isolation.

                            Madame Camus with a Fan                                           After the Bath

                        The Green Dancer                                         Waiting

Before the Race

Dancers in Pink

Dancers Climbing the Stairs                                                                        Dancers at the Barre

Edouard Manet

 Race in Longchamp

At the Café

Manet was the quintessential "Painter of Modern Life," a phrase coined by art critic and poet Charles Baudelaire. In 1878-79, he painted a number of scenes set in the Cabaret de Reichshoffen on the Boulevard Rochechouart, where women on the fringes of society freely intermingled with well-heeled gentlemen. Here, Manet captures the kaleidoscopic pleasures of Parisian nightlife. The figures are crowded into the compact space of the canvas, each one seemingly oblivious of the others. When exhibited at La Vie Moderne gallery in 1880, this work was praised by some for its unflinching realism and criticized by others for its apparent crudeness.

          A Philosopher (Beggar with Oysters)                      The Execution of Emperor Maximilian

Honours Workshop Diary 10 – Defining a Critical Framework

The combination of craftsmanship and intellect is indispensable for the creation of meaningful art. The software and hardware remain tools. Originality and innovation can be used to explore and experiment with digital art. 

Over the past few days I have tried to come up with some ideas to define aesthetic criteria in able to produce a critical framework for my honours project. It will form around the ongoing theme of "Seing, Observing, Thinking" (Sander 2009). One will combine craftsmanship, observation and intellect to produce meaningful content.

Critical Framework Development

Skill vs. Expression (personal opinion)

Creating moods and atmospheres by taking advantage of craftsmanship and scientific theory

     1.      Colour

     2.      Lighting

     3.      Composition

     4.      Static vs. Dynamic

     5.      Simple vs. Epic (Design)

(Functional Colour vs. Aesthetic Colour)

(Functional Detail vs. Aesthetic Detail)

There is a core difference between expressing ones personal emotions and effectively expressing emotions to an audience through art. Therefore some aspects will be discussed after breaking down the creation of thought provoking art into

      1.      Main focus on personal expression of content

      2.      Main focus on clarity and informing of the viewer

Logic vs. Aesthetic (concept design (intellect), colour, lighting, ornamental design (differentiate between craft and intellect?)

1.

2.

Realism vs. Abstraction

1.       

a.   Depending on the agenda of the artist personal expression is likely to be more abstracted as the focus is on self-expression of deep emotions / expression of the soul and does not rely on the perception of the viewer

2.       

a.   Realism/ objectification can help clarify the image to the viewer

b.   Complete realism is useful for product design, where the placing and high detail is important.

c.   Complete realism/rendering can diminish the artistic quality in some cases though, as visible brushstrokes help create flow and give the imagination more freedom that can be more powerful than complete rendering. The same applies to the subject matter and composition as implications can be a great storytelling method to let the imagination of the viewer work in the artists’ favour.  

Subjectivity vs. Objectivity

1.

2.

Formula to depict the core emotions in art (“Discrete emotion theory”) and specific moods/atmospheres (environment)

Happiness, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt and fear (Izard & Malatesta 1987)

·    This theory states that these specific core emotions are biologically determined emotional responses whose expression and recognition is fundamentally the same for all individuals regardless of ethnic or cultural differences

·    Different combinations of the core emotions add more depth to the character and help define their personality further

Colour, lighting, values, staging/composition

Solely for character analysis:

1.      Facial features

2.      Gesture

Some Sketches

Female Figure Study

Some Impressions of Prague - Expanding the Visual Library

Prague was an important trade city in the medieval ages. Temporarily it even used to be the capitol of the Holy Roman Empire and lots of the city's culture, architecture and character is still present today and serves as great inspiration and has high aesthetic value to visitors. Beneath are a few examples that I photographed.

The Charles Bridge

The Charles Bridge is a famous historic bridge that crosses the Vltava river (Moldau) in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of the 15th century.

This "solid-land" connection made Prague important as a trade route between Eastern and Western Europe.

St. Vitus Cathedral

Saint Vitus' Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Prague, and the seat of the Archbishop of Prague.

The Red Roofs of Prague

 The City of Prague along the Moldau River at Dusk

Staging and Lighting

Staging

Staging enables a good composition by creating clarity within a scene to achieve an easier understanding of the overall image and its expressed emotions. The relation of negative space, the area surrounding objects, to positive space, the objects themselves, will enhance the overall composition and readability of the image by guiding the viewer’s eye. (Bacher, H. 2007. Dream Worlds: Production Design for Animation. Focal Press)

 Images from Bacher, H. 2007. Dream Worlds: Production Design for Animation. Focal Press

Staging with Characters

There is a trick to get the perspective right with characters not entirely in the picture. One must adjust the characters to the character with visible ground contact to make it look correct. Therefore use the horizon-level of the painting and place the new character at the same size relation following the perspective grid.

 Image from Bacher, H. 2007. Dream Worlds: Production Design for Animation. Focal Press

Staging with Shapes and Positive/Negative Space

Images from Bacher, H. 2007. Dream Worlds: Production Design for Animation. Focal Press

Staging and Lighting to Create Atmospheric Scenes

Images from Bacher, H. 2007. Dream Worlds: Production Design for Animation. Focal Press

Lighting

Lighting can be used to tell a story or draw the viewers attention. Basically it is a category of colours as lighting is merely a lighter colour/value to its surrounding. But with the portrayal of different sorts of lighting one can produce very atmospheric scenes and art pieces. Lighting defines the mood of a painting further and can be used as a staging guidance and amplifier. 

Lighting Behaviour on Diverse Materials

Image by Sam Nielson (http://www.artsammich.blogspot.co.uk/)

Sketch - "Prostitution"

After scanning in the sketch I overlayed it with textures and adjusted contrasts.