Photo/Sculpture Mediums and Methods

 Instant collage in photography is a process of instant assemblage.

"A MINER'S HOME"

A Miner's Home, Vicinity Morgantown, West Virginia, by Walker Evans,
1935, photograph

Walker Evans ((1903-1975) was an American photographer. Walker Evans worked during the Great Depression era.  Living in that time was the reason behind his work and by documenting the struggles of that time he achieved his goal of making pictures that were "literate, authoritative, and transcendent".  Evans typically displays American visual reality in his work, capturing moments as they come; just as they are.  This piece is called A Miner's Home by Evans done in 1935, and is an excellent example of instant collage.  A collage is defined as a work that includes different objects, materials, or pictures all put together. The photo depicts the era with the shoe-less, ragged clothes child and minimal furnishings. Evans would frequently incorporate posters and signs into his work of the times.  In 1973 Evans began using a Polaroid camera, which he used its innovative technology to achieve his style of photograhy. 

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Portrait photography or portraiture is photograph of a person or group of people that displays the expression, personality, and mood of the subject. Likes other types of portraiture, the focus of the photograph is usually on the person's face, although the entire body and background or context may be included.  

"PETE TOWNSEND"

Pete Townsend, by Annie Leibovitz, 1980, photograph

Annie Leibovitz, born 1949 in Waterbury, Connecticut is an American photographer. While studying painting at the San Francisco Art Institute, she took night classes in photography, where she found her real passion. In 1973 she became the chief photographer for Rolling Stone magazine. Pete Townsend is a portraiture done in 1980 by Leibovitz. The photo is very expressive and shows the somber mood of Townsend, as blood is streaming from his fingers. Leibovitz is considered one of America's best portrait photographers, who developed her trademark with the use of bold colors and poses. Leibovitz has photographed for dozens of magazines and continues to be in high demand today.  

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Manipulated photography is the application of image editing techniques to photographs in order to create and illusion or deception after the original photographing took place. 

"HAND HOLDING LIPS & NUDE"

Hand Holding Lips & Nude, by Jerry Uelsmann, 1972, photograph

Jerry N. Uelsmann, born 1934 in Detroit, Michigan is an American photographer.  Uelsmann's interest in photography started at the age of 14.  Uelsmann believed that through photography he could exist outside of himself, to live in a world captured through the lens. Uelsmann used his imagination and used photo-montage as a means to share his images with viewers. Uelsmann is a master printer, producing composite photographs with multiple negatives and extensive darkroom work.  He uses dozens of enlargers at a time to produce his final works.  Uelsmann frequently includes more than one focal point, using negatives as one focal point and the background as another.  Hand Holding Lips & Nude is a perfect example of Uelsmann's manipulated photography.  The first picture would have been of a hand; the second a negative of a nude woman; and the third a negative of a woman's lips. Uelsmann's works are not meant to depict a familiar object, but to allow the viewer to transcend the frames and take them through the unfathomable.  Uelsmann believes he touches his viewers on a personal and emotional level.  Formally, Uelsmann composes his works in black and white, with complements of grays and mid-tones.  

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Carving is the removal of material (as wood, ivory or stone) via chipping, gouging or hammering in order to create a desired figure or design. 

"DYING SLAVE"

Dying Slave, by Michelangelo, 1513-1515, marble, for the Tomb
of Pope Julius II

Michelangelo (1475-1564) is regarded as the most famous artist of the Italian Renaissance and a master at carving.  Michelangelo's loved quarried marble and his reverence for the stone lies at the heart of his chosen art form of sculpture. He sought to prove that devotion to the integrity of the stone block is the foundation which great sculpture is created. Dying Slave is no exception.  Dying Slave took about two years to complete and was meant for the tomb of Julius II, but was not included because of the lack of space. Michelangelo visualized the figure as imprisoned in the huge block of marble and only removing the excess marble that could set him free.  

Michelangelo's precise carving is evident in the photo above.  Note the detail of the figures hair, ear, etc.  Far from dying, the figure seems to be relaxed, arched back, extended left arm and relaxed stomach. Michelangelo's artistic mastery has endured for centuries and his name is famous to all. 

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Modeling in sculpture is the shaping of a form in some plastic materials such as clay or plaster; to create the illusion of a three dimensional form.

"JOHN WITH ART"

John With Art, by Robert Arneson, 1964,
Stoneware with glaze

Robert Arneson (1930-1992) was an American artist.  Arneson is famous for taking modern contemporary items and re-imagining them in clay form. Arneson was encouraged by his father at a young age to draw and as a teenager drew cartoons for a local newspaper. He studied art education but became interested in ceramics. Arneson was influenced by the expressionist work of Californian Peter Voulkos, who studied Picasso's works in clay. The influence stimulated Arneson to be adventurous and break through established sculptural boundaries.  He rejected decorative items and began creating non-functional clay pieces. John With Art is an example of modeling.  Arneson has modeled a ceramic toilet, attributed to sexual anatomy to the flush handle, the seat, and the opening of the bowl, put fingernails on one end of the horseshoe seat, and completed the piece with a pile of ceramic excrement inside, spelling "art" (see insert below).   John With Art is inscribed with scatological jokes.  

Arneson aimed a biting satire at the abstract expressionist aspiration of letting everything within the artist spill out freely in the work.  Arneson's work has come to be known as "Funk Art". In the early 1980s Arneson became ill with liver cancer, at that time his work became more somber in tone.  

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Earth Art is an art movement in which landscape and the work of art are inextricably linked.  It is also an art form that is created in nature using natural materials, such as rocks, twigs, etc. 

"BROKEN PEBBLES SCRATCHED"

Broken Pebbles Scratched, by Andy Goldsworthy, 1985, stones
scratched with another tone

Andy Goldsworthy, born in 1956 is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist. Goldsworthy produces site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings.  As a boy, Goldsworthy worked as a farm hand. He has linked the repetitive quality of farm tasks to making sculpture. Goldsworthy's art often includes brightly colored flowers, twigs, stones,mud, snow, and icicles.  Goldsworthy believes it is brave to use those objects because he cannot edit the materials, they are nature as a whole. Often in his works, he uses only his bare hands, teeth and found tools to prepare and arrange the materials.  Broken Pebbles is an example of earth art.  There are 34 strategically places broken pebbles formed in a spiral, with each pebble broken in half; and each half of the pebbles have been scratched white with another pebble. Goldsworthy realizes a maximal effect. Goldsworthy embodies the beauty of the act of creation of the art. Often the beauty is not only in the final piece, but rather the beauty of its creation. 

Painting Mediums and Printmaking Methods

In this blog I will show several examples of mediums and methods in painting and printmaking. 

Medium is 1) any material used to create a work of art; and 2) in painting, a liquid added to print to make it easier to manipulate.   

Method is a procedure or process for attaining an object in art; a systematic procedure, technique, or mode of inquiry employed by or proper to a particular discipline in art.

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Woodcut is a relief printmaking method in which wooden block is carved so that those parts not intended to print are cut away leaving the design raised. 

"SLEEPING WOMAN WITH CHILD"

Sleeping Woman with Child, by Kathe Kollwitz 1929, Woodcut

Kathe Kollwitz (1867-1945) was a German painter, printmaker and sculptor. Her work often was an account of the tragedy of war, and human nature along with her empathy for the less fortunate. After her son Peter was killed in battle, Kollwitz became an increasingly strong socialist and pacifist who was drawn to communism.  Kollwitz found etching insufficient for expressing her ideas and turned to woodcut.  Sleeping Woman with Child  is a prime example of woodcut. Most of the surface of the wood block has been untouched to allow for the blackness.  the areas that are to be white print have been carved or gauged away.  The shading is remarkable to show the shadows of the darkness upon the sleeping woman and child.  In 1933,  as a result of signing an appeal to unite socialist and communists leaders against fascism, Kollwitz was forced to resign from the Academy of Fine Arts.  Her work was removed from museums; however her "woman and child" pieces were used by the Nazis for propaganda. 

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Etching is an intaglio printmaking process in which a metal plate coated with wax is drawn upon the sharp tool down to the plate and then placed in an acid bath.  The acid eats into the plate where the lines have been drawn, the wax is removed, and then the plate is inked and printed. 

"THE BLINDNESS OF TOBIT"

The Blindness of Tobit: The Large Plate, by Rembrandt
1651, Etching and drypoint

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) was a  Dutch painter and etcher who embraced realism and innovative technique to become one of the greatest artists of all time. Rembrandt's religious and allegorical themes are prominent in most of his works. Rembrandt was very innovative involving his use of light. His etchings were obscured in shadow, leaving bright spots and deep darkness. He was very interested in the handling of light, drawing the viewer's eye to a general focal point before moving about the work.  The Blindness of Tobit is a moving image.   Tobit is a frail elderly blind man who was modeled after the Book of Tobit, an apocryphal book of the Old Testament, which Rembrandt was fascinated with. Rembrandt completed many etchings based on Tobit. The etching in The Blindness of Tobit is detailed. In Blindness of Tobit Rembrandt used his fingers to make a fine layer of pale transparent ink on the surface of the plate leaving a small area of Tobit's beard free of ink.

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Encaustic is a method of painting in which pigment is added to molten wax and then applied to a surface.  The technique requires fusing the layers of wax to prevent cracking.

    "FLAG"

Flag, by Jasper Johns 1954-55, Encaustic, oil and collage on fabric
mounted on plywood, three panels (107.3 x 153.8 cm)

Jasper Johns (1930) is an American printmaker, painter, and sculptor. Johns is one of the first American artists to embrace encaustic.  Encaustic painting is a medium that allows artists to create a wide variety of subject matter. Johns states 'I dreamt one night that I painted the flag of America. The next day I did it.'  Johns' Flag is his most famous work, which is an iconic image of the American flag. Flag was created after Johns returned home from the Korean War where he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  John's works are often of flags and maps, which he raises to iconic status.  Johns believed the meaning of the painting could be found in the painting process itself. He paints objects of things the mind already knows. His simple subject matter gained viewer interest in his motivation and process. Johns can be categorized as a pop artist because of his use of classic iconography.  In 2010 Christie's sold John's Flag painting for a record $28 Million. 

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Oil paint is a medium using linseed oil as a binder.  It can be blended on the painting surface to create a continuous scale of tones and hues.

"VASE OF ROSES"

Vase of Roses, by Vincent van Gogh 1890, oil on canvas, (93 x 74 cm)

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), was a Dutch painter noted for his rough beauty and bold colors. Vincent van Gogh suffered years of painful anxiety and bouts of mental illness. Since his death, his mental health has been a subject of speculation.  van Gogh and his brother exchanged hundreds of letters, which was the foundation for what is know about the artist's thoughts and beliefs.In 1888, after many disappointments with woman and frustrated and ill, van Gogh fled to a local brothel, where he visited often, he took a razor blade and cut off his left earlobe. He wrapped the severed ear in newspaper and gave it to a prostitute to keep. In 1889 van Gogh committed himself to a hospital in Saint-Remy. White a patient there, the hospital's garden became the main subject of his paintings. His paintings during this time are most characterized with expressive "swirls". In 1980, while preparing to leave the hospital, van Gogh painted Vase of Roses. Vase of Roses reflects the optimism van Gogh felt about his future, both in the joyful colors and the object of the painting. After his release, van Gogh conveyed his enthusiasm by painting flowers. In a letter to his mother, van Gogh wrote "But for one's health, as you say, it is very necessary to work in the garden and see the flowers growing."  Vase of Roses is a great example of overabundance in still life, filling the picture with a vase and overflowing flowers. 

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Watercolor is a painting medium consisting of pigments suspended in a solution of water and gum arabic. 

"CABIN IN NOON SUNLIGHT"

Cabin in Noon Sunlight, by Charles Burchfield 1925, Watercolor, gouache & pencil

Charles Burchfield (1893-1967) was an American artist who began his career as a wallpaper designer.  Burchfield used his vivid childhood memories to create some of the most beautiful art ever seen. The majority of his works were done in watercolors and show extraordinary visual imagination. To express his unforgettable childhood, Burchfield came up with a a series of symbols to express sounds, moods, and movements.  In 1917 Burchfield experiences a mental crisis or spiritual event that entirely transformed his style. He developed a detailed system of personal signs and settled on a variety of everyday symbols.  After a decade of this style Burchfield changed again to an American scene realism, bringing his style more appealing to critics and collectors. Burchfield was an American original who's paintings tell the stories of our small towns and their charm. Cabin in Noon Sunlight is a good example of oil painting as shown in the blended and continuous scale of tones and hues.  The changes in the light give the viewer a realistic three-dimensional effect.  Cabin in Noon Sunlight relies on actual appearance of the subject.  Burchfield emphasized descriptive qualities with the strokes of the brush to give the look of a log cabin, the brightness of the sun shining on the front of the cabin with the shadow from the roof appropriately set, the bright red poppies adorn the front of the cabin, the weathered log boards and the use of perspective to portray depth in the painting.  Burchfield's paintings were very expressive. The Burchfield Penney Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY is named after Charles Burchfield.  

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Gouache is a painting medium that is opaque instead of transparent,essentially watercolor mixed with Chinese white chalk . Gouache is pronounced "gwash".  

"SELF-PORTRAIT"

Self-Portrait, by Jacob Lawrence, 1977, Gouache on paper

Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) was an American painter. His style has been referred to as "dynamic cubism", but to Lawrence his use of shapes and colors are those in Harlem. In 1941 Lawrence married painter Gwendolyn Knight. During WWII he enlisted in the US Coast Guard and served in the first racially integrated crew. Lawrence's Self-Portrait is typical of gouache in color and style in its flattened and abstracted treatment of realistic subject matter.  Lawrence was drawn to gouache because of the abstract quality of the finished work.  In gouache Lawrence uses somber tones of browns and black for the shadows and outlines in his otherwise vibrate palette. Self-Portrait emphasizes the flat two-dimensional quality of the painting. Lawrence was the most acclaimed African-American artist of the 20th century renowned for his modern depictions of everyday life and narratives of African American history. In 1941 at 24 years old, when his most famous works, The Migration Series was shown at New York’s Downtown Gallery, he became the first African-American to be represented by a New York gallery.