Translucent Scapes

Below are the Art Deco posters (top: Photoshop version, below: Acrylic painting)

The End

Tomorrows the due date for my paintings and last day of my independent study...

I really enjoyed this project. I was able to experiment with mediums and add my own style to my artwork through the experimentation. It was a real learning experience that Im glad I accomplished.

Below is my artist statement for my series:

Individuals travel daily around the world to visit specific destinations. The vacation becomes a time to relax and explore all the monuments, activities, and food the “city” has to offer. Whether exploring with family, friends or by yourself, the adventure you experience is an exciting and memorable moment. When one returns, they recall the activities they performed, while the cityscape is a hazy memory; rather, they remember the name of the destination and the famous landmarks or entertaining attractions they participated in. The body of work I have created encompasses highly visited cities that are known just for their city name; the provenance is small because it is not needed. The series involves an outline of the cityscape with no particular attention to detail, with an “object” that is associated to that particular city. The posters possess a water theme in relation to the specific cities that are located around water. The objects have bold colors that immediately come to focus at first glance. The particular style is influenced from the 1920s Art Deco artistic style of sleek straight lines with elements of boldness. The palette of each painting embodies the colors that are related with the city, as well as the attention of both warm and cool colors being represented. Beginning this project in a graphic design class, I decided to translate these travel art deco posters into acrylic paintings because painting them would make the project personal, rendering my own interpretation of the graphic posters. The challenge, and also enlightening understanding I encountered was how transforming this artwork onto canvas became a separate unique series on its own. The posters on Photoshop are flat and made for graphic purposes; while, on canvas the posters become expressionistic among the brushstrokes and mediums, allowing a sense of dimensionality and form. Acrylic and mediums such as fiber paste and soft gel gloss, as well as Photoshop were used to generate this series of artwork.

Happy late Fourth of July!

Finishing up my Venice painting...For my last painting I will be doing Scotland with a castle as the cityscape and perhaps a unique "Scottish?" boat to connect with my water theme. Last meeting I discussed my indecisiveness on the last poster. I wanted to use green and yellow as my colors and wanted a country that represented or what though of with those particular colors. I narrowed it down to Ireland and Scotland. The most difficult with the design was what to put as the "object" in the water. At one point I actually photoshopped the Loch Ness Monster in the water. I decided on a "hooker" boat that are used daily on the ocean. The city in Scotland I picked is Galway and is known as the "city of the tribes."

I will sketch Galway on the canvas this weekend and will begin painting.
I am not where I wanted/expected to be by this date. I expected to be done with them by the 8th and then use the rest of the week for touchups.

I will update on the 13th after I have turned in my posters and they have been graded. I will post pictures of the four posters and my artist statement along with it :)

Update on my art deco paintings!


So far I am finishing up my second painting (Australia) and starting on my third one (Venice) hopefully tomorrow, Thursday, if not definitely Friday. I have been meeting with my professor on Fridays discussing what my challenges are and how the process is going for translating the image to a painting. 


I love the fiber paste for the background. The fiber paster on the Chicago piece provide movement among the sky and "water." The medium transpired well, which I was worried about in the beginning. One issues I am having is with the text; trying to get it perfect to the digital text. Up close the text is uneven and not perfect which is hard to leave alone, but thats what happens when you paint. Its not perfect and thats what makes it unique from the graphic design version.


In my last meeting, we conversed about the cityscape and how it was flat and mostly a block of paint. The text, sky and sailboat really caught our eye, while the cityscape was just one color with no real dimension. We talked about ways in which the city could be changed. I am experimenting with adding different values of the same color. I will be either dividing the cities into blocks of color, or adding windows and perhaps corners to break up the flatness.

Influences

Interesting influences I found....

• Coco Chanel
• Radio design-based on pure geometric shape
• Rug-both geometry and parallel lines
• Buildings
• Movie theaters
• Sculptures-elegance, clean lines
• Logos
• Modernity, Technology, Luxury and Leisure

Source: http://www.art-deco-style.com/

Here are some famous Art Deco artists:

A.M. Cassandre (His "L'ATLANTIQUE" at the Paris Exposition is my favorite of his)

• Advertising posters and type designs.
• Began with text and choice of typography 
• Illustrations always based on geometric shapes
• Reduced his subjects to silhouettes and geometric shapes

Tamara De Lempicka (I really enjoy her bold colors and distinctive style)

• Distinctive and bold artistic style
• Novel, clean, precise, and elegant
• Desire and seduction

Roger Broders

• Tourism-luxury travel, exotic locations and leisure activities
• Color harmonies
• Vibrant blocks of color, simple, strong lines and plain typefaces.

"You Know It When You See It"

Here are some bulleted points of my research on the artistic style of Art Deco..Enjoy!

• An elegant style of decorative art and architecture reflective of Art Nouveau, yet with more modern sophistication.
• Art Deco features sleek straight lines and an element of boldness
• "Art Moderne," "jazz style," or "streamline style."
• More reminiscent of the Precisionist art movement
• As leisurely travel came into vogue, a need for marketing exotic destinations to the young and affluent became increasingly important.
• Clean shapes and elegant lines are emphasized; ornate moldings are left out to allow for the curves, sleek lines and streamlined geometric shapes.

History

• Derived from the 1925 "Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs Induustriels et Modernes," held in Paris
• Spanned the "Roaring Twenties," the Great Depression of the early 1930s, and the years leading up to the Second World War.

Source: http://www.decopix.com/ 

             http://www.art-deco-style.com/

Intro

Hello all!


This is my blog for my independent study art class. I will update weekly how my project is progressing. 


I am creating four art deco posters through photoshop and then translating them onto canvases with acrylics (24x28). I have chosen cities to represent; Sydney, Chicago, Venice, and Madrid or London. Each poster will have an object to represent the city. For example, Opera House for Sydney, etc...


The past week I have been experimenting with mediums, such as fiber paste, glosses, and pumice. I have decided to use fiber paste for the background as a medium and a soft gloss for the objects. 


I have started on the Chicago painting and will begin the Australia painting on Friday.


I will post pictures as I progress!