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/