Artist Essay #2 Barry McGee

Barry McGee, aka Twist, is a well known graffiti artist. His is most notable known for his saggy, sleepy, eyed homeless man shown in the series of pictures above. Through his art he shows life on the streets, in this quote from PBS off of the Art 21 series, “He views graffiti as a vital method of communication, one that keeps him in touch with a larger, more diverse audience than can be reached through the traditional spaces of a gallery or museum.” Anyone can respect that. His art pieces are shown throughout the U.S on museum walls, homes, brick walls, and trains. His art captures a time and place most of us can not see or understand, through his art we see hard ships, story telling, and making fun of the government. His work seems to transcend the ghetto to the museums of Minneapolis and California in one flew swop of artistic skill, as well as traveling the train cars of all the major locomotive businesses. Contemporary Urban art is what PBS Art 21 labels him as, even though he’ll gladly take a paint can and sharpie over a paint brush and pencil or other professional artistic implement tool.

Artist Essay #1 Matthew Richie

Matthew Richie is almost indescribable, his work, from what I got off the PBS’s Art 21 website http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/ritchie/index.html, tries to embody the universe, from all forms of art including, painting, drawing, digital, sculpture, and metal works. I’m not too sure what to say about Richie’s art, it could be that I don’t comprehend it, which is most likely the case, but even in my ignorant state there is something on a semi-barbaric level that is utterly, intoxicating about his art work. The free form of simple lines draws me and embraces me with a wanting for discovery, and shows me a completely elaborate world with its own direction, all while following a simple black line on a white wall. I don’t understand what he is trying to convey through his art, all I see from his art is off the explicit surface of his pieces. The lines, colors, the simplicity, the two dimensions, the third dimensions, the wanting to understand his pieces, too know why that particular line cross over the other, does it tell a story, a narrative, is it of fiction or of history. I may not comprehend what Richie is telling me, but I know one thing… I like it.

Blog Image Essay #5

Movement and energy is the two main ideas that come to mind when the term kinetic is brought up in a discussion. How can a static two dimensional image convey the movement and energy, is it possible? Matthew Ritchie has found a way to show us that yes, yes it is. In his piece “Something like Day” shown above, the general feeling you get is well… movement there’s almost no way to take in all the energy without going up and just observing and standing and following the black lines. Lines are what you are seeing in black, the continuous and uninterrupted movement is something I’ve never quite seen. The gentle curves that follow other black line built upon by other black lines, gives a feeling of completeness and wholesomeness. Then as you follow the lines from the outside it all abruptly turns to color, and instead of mostly going horizontally, where twisted and thrown up down and every which way, possibly telling us that you can never predict everything in your life, that each and every day is unique. All this is taught through lines, black lines, and colorful lines, all on a static white non-moving wall. Kinetic can be shown very easily and yet be one of the most complicated items in a piece.

Blog Image Essay #4

The fifth element an astounding movie, most notable known for its incredible CGI work at the time, but today let’s look at the poster, which uses “area of focus” very well. There is quite a bit going on in this piece, flying space ships, three floating disjointed heads, and 5 very bright lights ranging in size going smaller and taller in a hill effect. The area of focus in this piece is undoubtedly is Bruce Willis’s face where not only is there something of a blue aura focusing around and behind his head. But his head is also the biggest out of the three. As well as the 5 lights hill effect the largest one leads us straight to his chin. The flying space ships add to the piece as well with their light tales that pretty much act as arrows pointing to the triangular hierarchy where Bruce is dominant in all shapes and sizes. The blue aura around his acts as a area of high contrast between the blue whitish, to the straight black. Yes with Area of Focus it is a very nice tool to utilize indeed, to point to something that you want the world to see.

Blog Image Essay #3

Ahh, Yes texture and its many various forms is a powerful tool indeed, one that can express a gamut of emotions. This is a desktop made by the fantastic artists at looking glass studio, and is a desktop for the game Bioshock. The large scale looking hand is one from a big daddy, who is the bouncer in the world of Bioshock. And the tiny clean, is from a little sister, a girl that pretty much once was a normal little girl but after a series of events ends up sucking the blood of the dead to produce a drug. It’s an original game for sure. Besides it being a remarkable achievement in rendering technology, what is the feeling this piece is conveying to us? I feel a dreading feeling like the pure has fallen to the dark; the righteous has become and joined forces with the twisted. The large, dark, brooding, slimy, dirty, hand, next to pale, innocent, small, makes for a very interesting contrast as well. Through the texture we learned all this, texture is a fascinating, and deep and powerful tool. One that when used properly can elevate any piece of art to new highs and extremes.

Blog Image Essay #2

Today let’s discuss Line, and to talk about line I have brought in our friend Rorschach, everyone say, hi Rorschach. Who can tell me about Rorschach and how he relates to line values… no well good, maybe you little shits will learn something today. Rorschach is a character in one of the most beloved comic books of all time “Watchmen”, which was created by Alan Moore, and is being made into movie as we speak by Zach Snyder.

Well enough history, LINE VALUES!!! YAY!!

Most notable first is Rorschach’s mask, which has blotches of ink on it. Which obviously refers to his name and how he got it, but what is the ink telling us? Throughout the book Moore uses the ink blotches to convey Rorschach’s feelings and emotions. In this particular scene we get the feeling of wondering, thinking and a touch of danger or possibly movement. We feel movement through the very thin and numerous horizontal lines that run behind Rorschach face. We feel wonder, and thinking in Rorschach face, the rounded blotches together with the four separated blotches almost like the main mass of blotches is reaching for the four lost ones. Like someone searching for answers.

Blog Image Essay #1

For my first assignment I will be writing about Norman Rockwell’s The Golden Rule. This piece really stood out to me first and for most because of the message it sends it viewer, which is obviously do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is a fantastic message about human peace, and loves thy brother. Now down to the elements of the piece. We are first and for most drawn to the little African American child who is placed very precisely in the center, contrasting the very bright cloth of the individuals behind him. He looks rather dirty and down trotted, which tells me he is in need of help. He doesn’t have a shirt own, so he doesn’t own very much, but yet he still holds that gold bowl like his offering it to us, wow humanity at its finest. Other aspects that stand out about this piece is the use of triangular hierarchy, in the contrasting white cloth wears. Not only is it contrasting the African boy by his at the base of the hierarchy which draws our eyes to him but also that the cloth wearers are also staring at him, which creates more invisible lines to the boy.