Torn by nature

Artist research - Andy Chen

Andy Chen is a artist from China, several times Chen has a Master of Arts from Guang Zhou Academy of Fine Art. He has also had exhibitions in the academy.Chen does contemporary art, printmaking, painting and other type of art. In his various work Chen uses a wide range of media, such as; oil, acrylic paint, watermark paper, charcoal, wax, wood, sometimes even glass etc.
Chen isn't really a well known artist, I found his artwork on his personal blog, there is really vague information relating to him or his work. Also on his art blog where he uploads his artwork, I have noticed that he doesn't always write down the media, year or the name of his work, however here are some images of his work bellow; 

(Inspection 2, painting on paper)

(Quest, wood, acrylic paint, oil, paper)

(Unnamed painting, 2012 - 2013, mixed media on paper was used, such as tea, coffee, mud, plants and other organic materials)

Maybe it isn't the best decision to research and look into a not so well known artist, who's work information is hard to find, but there is something about his style of work that I really enjoy observing, and it kind of amazes me, so it would be a shame not to try to analyse his work or work in his style, as I like it a lot.

I think the reason why I like his work, is because he uses a huge variety of media and creates textured 2D and 3D pieces, and they aren't too complicated either, this just shows how something can look good and impressive, without the need to overdo the artwork.

Out of all his work my favorite work is a painting called Melancholy 01, and it is made using Acrylic paint, Glass, Wood, hessian etc. Personally I find glass and wood quite unusual for a painting. 

Although it is considered a painting, to me it looks a lot like a mixture of a collage and assemblage, as individual parts, like the wooden frame and the use of hessian, seem to make the art piece appear more 3 dimensional, as it just doesn't seem flat surfaced. Also the way the pieces of material/media are closely layered on each other etc. make it appear more collage like, rather than a painting. The curvy, freehand lines and the curved and somewhat linear shapes, compose the piece to emerge more soft edged and unpolished.  i really like how Chen has made the painting look rustic and old, maybe slightly retro as well. I think it also comes down to the well organised composition of this piece, the way he balances out the eye with the human body image on the painting, helps, as it doesn't create the feeling that there is too much going on in the same place.  

Through out his work, Chen never uses artificial or bright colours, instead he uses more earthy and natural looking colours , that make his work appear more organic, tarnished and  rustic. Mostly he chooses between secondary colours, such as medium brown and dark brown colours, such as raw umber, fallow brown and hints of burnt umber, as well as white and black tones, to darken and lighten areas of the painting. I think the concept of his work being so "natural" looking, can relate to my work, as my environmental theme is suppose to be more natural and organic looking, as it is suppose to relate to nature. And Brown does have an associations with the earth and the natural world.

Not only does he choose the right paint colours, Chen also chooses fairly natural looking materials, that are also quite brown toned (e.g. hessian,wood). These materials also help to create texture and depth.  Like the hessian seems to look quite bold, rough and scratched on the painting, especially when there has been dark brown paint applied. This gives both the effect of gradual tonal change, that blends well with the image, and enables the painting to look more rough,uneven and coarse.

It's hard to explain or even know the reason and meaning of the piece. For some reason when I observe this painting, I see and imagine a person(being the human figure) looking up to the sun (round eye) which is shinning bright (with the light being the whiter and lighter section of the painting), the hessian as the sky and the white/grey paint part as mountains.
This may be completely wrong, but then again, everyone sees something different when they look at a piece of art.
Here I have done a quick annotation to sort of show what I mean.

I did also look up the meaning of the name of the painting " Melancholy" and I found a few meanings; A constitutional tendency to gloominess or depression. A sad thoughtful state of mind; pensiveness. So possibly the artist was trying to express what he was feeling at the time, or maybe it was just that the painting was suppose to represent that state of sadness or depression. Even so I still see the painting as something more positive than negative.  

I have already began working in the style of chen in my sketch book, tyring to use similar media, that the artist would use. Here are some images

source of artist images; http://www.saatchionline.com/andychen1001

Artist research - Gael Stack

Gael Stack is and American painter, she is also a full time professor at the University of Houston since 1974. Stack's work is very unusual compared to other artist that I have researched, at first sight when I seen her work, it reminded me of scribbles and drawings made in a maths books, during a boring lesson. However her work is far more ineradicable and interesting. In her work Stack uses fragments of images, words, drawings etc.and she layers them to create a final piece. 
Here are some images of her work bellow called;
(Forty-one songs #10, ink, graphite, coloured pencil on vellum, 2010)(Forty-one songs #31,ink, graphite,oil, coloured pencil on vellum, 2010). 
I have noticed Stack usually uses a variety of mixed media in her work.

I really like Stack's work, because it isn't flawless or neat and perfect. Instead she scribbles over the top of her work, draws other things over her drawings, and even messes up her image by leaving smudges and fingerprints etc. She isn't afraid to be expressive or different. It also seems like she is inspired by Chinese art, as in some of her work I have seen Chinese style drawings, like in the first image of her work in this analysis(Forty-one songs #10)
One piece of her work that I will analyse in more detail is called Forty-one songs #19, 2010)

When looking at this image with the squared paper , this is what I meant by saying it reminds me of a page from a maths book. In this work, she once again uses a range of mixed media like ,ink, graphite, colored pencil on vellum. The variety of different media makes her work more lively and vibrant.
What I really like about this image is, how it is quite plain and uncomplicated with fairly thin and simple (birow etc) lines, but because they are bold, the whole image doesn't actually need a of stuff going on to appear defined or intriguing. Stack uses a variety of shapes, some are quite sharp, whilst other are linear.

In the majority of her work Stack adds black tones(with graphite) to make a specific subject/image stand out more than others. However in this piece of work, there isn't something that is really strongly  overpowering other images, it seems quite balanced out. 
Possibly just this part of the drawing (image bellow) that is darker than the rest of the work, when I look at this piece of work It does grab my attention more than the rest. Although not for long as I get distracted by other parts of the composition.
Colour wise the artist uses a lot of blue, red and orange shade/colours as well as some black for tone. I like that these colours are never too bright or intense, so they don't create a dramatic contrast or give the image a synthetic look.

I think Stack created these pieces of work to show a different way of being expressive. Also to show that art work doesn't have to have an expectation of being ideal, perfect and neat. It can be very beautiful in a completely different way, people just need to realize and know how to look at it, to understand the feelings of the artist.

I could interpret this work to my theme (environment) by just doing sketches of different things I see/observe outdoors, possibly indoors with natural organic materials too. 
I have already done some work in the style of Stack in my sketch book. Here is an example of one of my drawings that I have done. 

Artist research - Emily Leonard

Emily Leonard is a full time American landscape artist, from Tennessee. Most of her subject matter concentrates on observational paintings of trees,forests and empty roads. Her work style is somewhere between representational and abstract art. Although Leonard uses a variety of mixed media, her main media is oil paint. Here are some of her paintings bellow.

(Under tender limbs buds will start to gather,mixed media on gessoed paper, 2009) (What You Whispered Keeps Me Satisfied, oil 2005) (Tyne Boulevard / I know I should go,oil, 2006)

The reason I like Leonard's work is because she looks at everyday things like a trees, that most people don't really take notice of or they find trees to common and boring, and she creates something very beautiful and expressive through the use of the right colours, shades and brushstrokes. She does't even always try to create photographic or realistic paintings of landscape or nature, she just goes with how, what she is observing is making her feel, and reveals her feelings and thoughts through expressive, momentary and prompt sweep of the paintbrush. It is quite easy to tell this when observing her work, as she often leaves clear brush stroke lines on the paintings. 

In a interview Leonard has said "My process and practice mimic these movements: I break down an image and build it back slowly with hundreds of washy layers, glazes and gestures.... I want them to come upon the viewer as such – slowly and intimately, as if the viewer feels like he found this image instead of me. I want to get at the experience of being in your body in a place. Rather than painting the tree out the kitchen window".

One painting that really makes me imagine what it feels like being at that place is "Follow That Lonesome Roadside, oil, 2006"

When I look at this image I straight away think of a freezing winter evening at sunset, that makes me shiver. At first it's mainly because of the dark blue road that looks like it is covered in thick layers of ice, and the leafless trees all in the open, with only evergreen trees that create a shadowy and and gloomy atmosphere. The use of darker oil paint colours, like O-H blue deep together with burnt umber and green umber, creates a very cold, isolated and lonely feeling. As if indicating that the darkness will overrule the fading subtle sunlight, that adds some kind of warmth to the cool atmosphere. This may be due to the use of the dark shades of brown(burnt umber) creating darker tones that make the sky(napels yellow extra) look very gentle compared to the rest. Also the yellow((napels yellow extra) sky and the dark O-H blue deep road stand out well because yellow and blue primary colours compliment each other. The overall use of colour creates a harmonious effect to the whole image.

In her work Leonard uses natural and slightly blurred lines, to create blurred edges and smoothing boundaries, these with the help of graduated tone, add depth to the painting. Making it appear gloomy and faint, as well as more 3D.
Another way of how Leonard builds up depth  and modifies colours in her painting is trough glazing. Which is done by applying thin translucent layers of oil paint over and over each other. 

I think Leonard creates this kind of art work, because she sees beauty and is fascination in nature. She wants to express and share how she feels about something she finds amazing and calm, through painting it out so people could experience and understand what she has felt , maybe even remind them of something, or somewhere they have been or seen before. She doesn't just want the viewers to see her work as a "painting of nature" and nothing else, she wants them to use their senses and travel to that moment to imagine what it's like there etc. Because personally I find her work to be tranquil and peaceful.
I believe her work is very easy to relate to my theme as I am focusing on the environment and nature. And Leonard's landscape paintings have given me ideas and inspiration. I have already done work in her style, here are some pictures of my drawings etc. 

Sources
http://www.emilyleonard.com/

Artist Research - Blu

For my artist research I wanted to find an artist who not only creates interesting bold work, but also has a true meaning behind it. I also wanted to find an artist who's work relates to my "environmental" theme. So after some research I found an Italian artist called Blu(Blu is the artist pseudonym, as his true name is unknown). Blu creates street art urban paintings, on various buildings etc. He first started off in 1999, when he began creating street art in his home town called Bologna (Italy).

In the beginning, Blu had a limited amount of media and techniques, he started off by using spray paint. However he gradually progressed and began painting using house paint with the help of a roller that the artist mounted to a telescopic stick. This allowed him to be more creative with his work as well as gave him a larger surface area to paint and work with.

Here are some of Blu's work bellow;

As probably seen above, Blu's artwork has a theme about society, corruption and the damage that humans have done to the environment.

I think this is what impresses me the most about his work. Because at first his work may seem ridiculous and weird, but actually it is so meaningful and powerful, Blu is pointing out the flaws of the modern society through his work. This really relates to my environmental theme, and how environment is neglected. As his work illustrates how the world is possibly changing for the worse, as people become less and less caring about everything that surrounds them, just so that they could benefit themselves. Like in a image that I studied in class of one of his work,called "A Stuffed Cake" it is a street art painting of a cake full of toxic waste barrels, on the walls of a building in Milan, Italy.
 I looked into the reason and meaning behind this image, and I found out that it is related to expanding dumps in Southern Italy, and how there are more and more of them being dug up, and there is rubbish being brought to the dumps from various distant places of Northern Europe. Even though people are against it, they are still being ignored. Personally I think Blu has expressed this "issue" quite well, through this painting.  He uses the idea of the cake to represent landfill sites/dumps, as the layers of the cake, are representing the building up of tons of rubbish, gradually layering and layering in a similar manner.  The greenery on the top of the cake represents the beautiful olive trees that grow in the fields of Italy. I think Blu, is trying to put a point across, that if the dumps will continue to be dug up and filled, not only will it pollute the environment, but the beautiful plants etc. that Italy is famous for, will be lost. Also maybe he represents this problem as a cake, because Blu is trying to highlight how the dumping of the pollutants etc. is simply covered up, like a cake, so no one really sees the issue, until they look inside.

What really stands out in this work, is the use of the colours, especial the contrast between the both secondary and primary colours of blue,orange, red, green etc. and the duller grey/black layers. Making it really bold and adding visual depth to the whole image.
Also this image contains a strong use of lines, for instance the grass, and some of the layers of the "cake" soil. This  helps to create texture and tone, making the work look less plain and empty, also I noticed the shapes are mostly oval, and round, this is why the image appears to look 3D form, so it  looks more like a real cake.
Even though the whole image is laid out slightly to the left side of the wall, it doesn't look odd or out of place, probably because of the arm that is stretched out holding the plate with the cake. It makes it look more proportional, and fills up some of the empty space. Also I think the whole image is arranged well as firstly when I look at it, I immediately focus on the greenery, that gives me the impression like everything is perfectly nice and fine. However then  I am encouraged to gradually start  looking down, this is when the "slightly" harmful litter begins and grabs my attention, and so the more I look down the more of the severe toxic waste I start to see, so right in the bottom it is the worst. This may have been composed in such way, because (as I mentioned before) the artist is trying to explain how  everything is covered up, meaning it looks perfect at first glance, on the outside, but when you start looking into it deeper, you see the ugly side of it. 

In class, I have began doing work, similar to Blu's, I used this cakes image and tried to, recreate it using his style, whilst experimenting with different mediums and materials.
I tried using different bases and backgrounds, and I tried creating texture and shapes with graphite, pencil, conte-crayon, feltip pen and Biro pen. For some images I had more time given than others, like the bottom left page, with several images, was done in 3-5 min and had to be continuous line, I personally found that difficult. Also the fact that Blu's work is very fine lined and bold, made it harder for me to make it look anything like his work. Mainly because every time I tried to get a thin fine line, I would just end up making the lines thick. I could next time try and use a fine liner, to see if it works better. My favorite drawing was the very bottom right one, using conte-crayon. Basically, when I was shading the page (to get some tone) traces of writing (that I had done on other pages whilst pressing down hardly) appeared, creating an accidental texture, which looks similar, to the original "Stuffed Cake" texture.