Vija Celmins

This week we will be working on tone, and the artist you will be responding to is Vija Celmins. Please check her out here:

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/celmins/index.html

Watch some of the clips, especially the one on building up surface. If any of you belong to netflix, you can stream the episode of Art 21 that this came from for free (it's season 2). We may watch some of it in class if we have time. You can also see clips of it on youtube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPQY1IO-Y70

Also check out:

http://mckeegallery.com/artists/vija-celmins/vija-celmins-images/

And do a google image search for her. An awful lot of drawings will come up. Keep in mind that she works primarily in graphite, and look at the way she breaks down tone into shapes. This will be key in your work for the week.

More Line Stuff!

Line is an excellent way to convey the physical attributes of an object (volume, shape, texture, etc), but the best line work also tells more subtle things about the subject (movement, weight, fragility). In addition to being accurate and informative, a line should also have a sensitivity to these more ephemeral aspects of physicality.

When discussing line work, the term "line quality" is often used. In a most basic sense, line quality refers to thickness and tone of a line, but it is more useful to think of those qualities as they relate to sensitivity towards the subject. All of the characteristics of a line (width, tone, shape, texture) should work together to contribute to an overall sense of the reality of an object.

Please look at the above images (drawn by Edgar Degas) and study the use of line in them. What is the line telling you and how?

Nobuya Hoki

The first artist that we will be studying is Nobuya Hoki.

Hoki uses line and color to convey space, depth, and volume. Please look at the following links, particularly the images, and take note of techniques that he uses to make line dynamic and informative.

http://www.i-20.com/artist.php?artist_id=9&page=images&work_id=400

http://www.takaishiigallery.com/kyoto/

On Tuesday we will begin our unit on line and still life, and you will be asked to employ similar techniques as the ones successfully demonstrated in Hoki's work.

Stay tuned for future posts!

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