Arts 552 Blog
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
David Hockney... Check it out!
“When your eyes stop moving, you are dead.” David Hockney
So a little background on David Hockney: He is a painter turned photographer/collage artist that gave up working all together to do research for 3 years that leads historians to believe that as far back as the 1400’s, painters were using lenses and mirrors to assist in painting. Shortly after he finishes this groundbreaking and controversial research, some of the most important people in his life die. That is pretty much where director Bruno Wollheim picks up as Hockney has given him permission to film his work off and on over four or five years.
Early on in the film, it’s Hockney taking the English countryside (Yorkshire) he grew up in and relentlessly driving around and painting in watercolors and eventually oils. He exclaims to the viewers that something this beautiful cannot be seen with a camera! You cannot see all of this by looking in a hole. You have to get out here and paint it. He proclaims that he is finished with photography. So that’s what he did… every day… for a couple years! He might pick a spot in the morning, and his assistant would set up on the roadside and Hockney would paint until the painting was done. A painting a day; an astonishing amount of work, and an astonishing work ethic. Did I mention that Hockney (during filming… now 2 years ago) was 70! The energy and emotion this guy has is amazing. He is up painting as the sun is rising, and wrapping up as the sun sets. Of course just about all of the paintings they showed were great.
As he refines what it is he’s doing, he receives a commission from a British museum to create a painting to fill a space that is 600 sq ft. He had two months to finish it… 50 canvases, when completed would all be connected and create one giant image. Hockney fearlessly starts the project and seems to be working at a pace that would make most people submit to exhaustion. Hockney shows sketches of the composition, and himself working both in the field, and also tweaking things back in his studio. The big ironic crazy twist… his staff, in order to give Hockney an idea of what each canvas should look like, is using digital photography in order to line up each pixel… I mean canvas. His studio will not allow him to work more than a few at a time, so on a computer screen, progress of the composition is tracked. Once the painting is hung, the idea of Hockney as a landscape artist is valid, but elements of his collage and photo work are also present. Not the total departure he had mentioned in the beginning.
Beyond the large commissioned piece, he then began to take his paintings and impose photographic elements on to them… below is a painting of an English countryside, with a winding road, but the trees or branches in the foreground would be actual photos that have somehow been transferred to the canvas. When Wollheim questions his methods and renewed interest in the camera, Hockney simply responds “Don’t believe what an artist says, only believe what he does”.
Hockney working on a 6 canvas image in Yorkshire.
An photo collage Hockney did of his mother.
One of his more recent works involving painting and photo collage to create a single image.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Weekend shots...
Starting to think about chapter 6... I really wish I had time to get down to boston. Urban and the seacoast don't really go together.
Saturday, I ended up in York, and took some shots. Not quite as "poetic" as I was hoping, but it was 1:00 and sunny... so the light was against me. For some reason I'm drawn to things that seem to be fading or part of the past... an arcade, a crappy amusement park, and a crumbling pizza parlor seemed to catch my eye...
Saturday, I ended up in York, and took some shots. Not quite as "poetic" as I was hoping, but it was 1:00 and sunny... so the light was against me. For some reason I'm drawn to things that seem to be fading or part of the past... an arcade, a crappy amusement park, and a crumbling pizza parlor seemed to catch my eye...
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Top 3 of Homework 5...
This is my shot of "nature"...
Here is a rotting barn... My "residential" photo.
My "urban" shot. Not exactly a bustling city, but Portsmouth has some pretty sketchy side streets that lead to spots like this. Pictured on the left is someones blacksmith shop, and I can't figure out if I'm not welcome, or if they are stuck in there pounding metal for the rest of their lives with no way out?
Monday, September 20, 2010
Homework 5...
Here is my contact sheet from Homework #5. Some success, and plenty of failures, but I feel good about the progress made in the last week or so. I got super-pissed at photoshop/myself in class Tuesday, and I really have to start to embrace the technology as apposed to letting it get to me. I just have to admit that as a beginner, I am surrounded by people taking great photos while I feel like mine are lesser and I flounder with all aspects of the photo process. ...so I'm a little overwhelmed.
Working with the light during this process was fun though. My "urban, residential, and natural" categories seem to blur together a little as a took most of my pictures in Portsmouth. I wish I could have made it down to Boston last weekend... maybe next time. I'm pretty happy about the photos that I picked to print though. I just need to stay positive, and try to incorporate everything I learn as I go.
The party lights photo is sad... and for some reason I enjoy that juxtaposition.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
White Balance assignment...
So here is a sample of me playing with the white balance in the wee hours of the morning. It was dark out, and I only had on our overhead kitchen light, and I set the white balance to "sunny" to see the difference between that and "AWB". The darker, blurrier, warmer pictures are the ones with the sunny setting, and the colder crisper photos are taken with AWB (which is auto white balance). I can see the advantages of both depending on what mood is trying to be captured. The warmth in the "sunny" setting photos could be great if that tonal range and texture are what you are after.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Favorite Scans
Simple, crystal clear, and with the single egg in movement in the lower right my eye travels around this really well.
Scary series... but the emotion in this shot feels so real!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Scanner as Camera
I really got into this process and enjoyed the strange ability to capture light and movement in a different way. I should have made a better effort to keep the glass cleaner, but I guess I can edit that stuff out later in photoshop.
Thanks for viewing...
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Golden Means Top 6
So my photo of the "Modern Launderette" is my favorite of the assignment, and these 5 round out my top 6.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)