Connectivity

We could just simply say that there is no original idea any more and if we look at it from one way we would be right. But that’s the whole point; we shouldn’t look at anything from only one aspect. Today as an artist you probably have a harder job to create something new than someone else who lived a thousand years ago. As we went forward in history more and more people started to create artworks for their own pleasure or to reflect their feelings. Although there wasn’t as much impact around them as much we have now, we have more things to think about, more ideas to combine.

1, Benjamin West - The Death of General Wolfe 1770 2, John Trumbull - The Death of General Montgomery at the Attack of Quebec 1786 3, Giotto di Bondone - Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ) 1304-1306

These three paintings all represent the same thing, the death of someone. If you look at the angles and the movement in the two paintings above, they have a lot of similarities, but that’s not surprising since West was Trumbull’s mentor for several years. One inspired the other and they worked together but that doesn’t mean they copied each other. Both were painting about different aspects of the war, they were using the colours differently; Trumbull also put a lot more contrast is his painting. However the position of men, how they surround the dying and the way someone’s holding his body takes after the “Lamentation" scenes. 

What is important when you create something? First of all you need to know about the history, the culture, anything that’s connected to the subject you’re working on. The more you know about it the fewer mistakes you’re going to make. That’s how you can stop yourself recreating existing works.

It’s difficult to get to a wide range of audience. People, the cultures, countries can be so different, if they like something in Europe, they might hate it in Asia, it might even offend them. The things surround us; they way we grow up make the biggest impact in our creative thinking. If you look at art from different cultures, they can be wide and varied.

1, Mihály Munkácsy - Ásító inas (Yawning Apprentice) 1868 – 1869 2, Yair Garbuz – The Yawning man 1968

 

Two artists both worked on the same idea, a yawning man. After all they are nothing like the other, the different techniques, materials and the time they lived in. This is just a simple idea, but it shows in how many different ways you can visualize something.

 

The simplest theme can become a huge success; it can be luck, the audience’s need for change or the artist itself being so exciting and unique that no one can ignore him/her. One of the most known paintings in the world, is just a portrait of a woman, still great mystique surrounds it. If someone else would have painted it, it may have never become as famous as it is now…

Leonardo da Vinci - Mona Lisa 1503-1505

 Links:

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/west/
http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/tbio?person=30800
http://www.mihalymunkacsy.org/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/leonardo/

 

Diverse

 

Overcoming Mindsets

In our culture when we are growing up we are learning the basic things of survival. Not how to survive in the nature, but how to survive in the community we are living in. How to talk to each other what body sings should we use, how to fit in perfectly in a place. This sort of kills the imagination and the creativity in a young person. But if you stand out and aren’t necessarily following all the rules, you can still fit in. I think a good artist is who can create something exciting from subjects, materials, pictures what others would avoid even looking at.

Niemann’s illustrations are very simple but he still fills the simplest image with humour, delight and criticism as well. And there is no other way, you have to be straightforward or your audience might get confused or just bored. 

No one ever publishes what he or she draws down first. You’re experimenting with angles, changing colours, taking things out, and putting new ideas in. You might not even realize how much you went through to do one piece of work, but that’s a good thing because that means that you enjoyed it. If you are struggling with something maybe you’re on the wrong path and you have to open your mind to view things from different aspects.

I have never draw a lot. I thought I wasn’t good at it but it’s all about practice and how much you put in it. Although I’m into photography I started drawing for this project at my university. They are simple but I like to put humour in them, which hopefully makes them enjoyable to look at. I like to experiment, make many variations of one picture and then chose the one that really gets my attention even if I look at it days/weeks later.

The thinking Man

Getting Rid of Assumptions

We believe in a lot of things, we believe we know a lot of things. You know what music they listen to, what places they go, that they’re happy or not from just looking at their clothes. The cloth you ware, what hairstyle you have obviously important in today’s world but making conclusion without talking to someone can be dangerous. After all you will stuck in the same false thinking. Don’t be afraid to change they way of your thinking and other’s either.

Sam Webber's painting of Cleopatra for National Geographic

As he didn’t have a lot of resources to work from, he had to create something from his own knowledge. “We wanted to show both her strength and character while at the same time evoking the mystery that has become synonymous with her legend and name” – says Webber. A very detailed artwork, like the earring refers that she killed herself with a snake.

For the magazine we are making as part of a university project about Birmingham, I’m writing about J.R.R. Tolkien’s relationship with the city.

Other then just taking a picture of places that influenced him, I’m going to make a drawing including a place that may have inspired the images of the dark towers with fictional pictures out of the story itself.

I’ll put these on the blog later on.

Links:

http://www.christophniemann.com

http://sampaints.com/