Balthus

An artist that relates to teh work that i have been doing is Balthus. he is famous for doing portraits. He is a french painter that was born in 1901. most of his work constists of paintings of people in differnt angles. this is intersting to me because the positions that the people are in are difficlut to paint. these images are also bold. he also uses color in a way that really enchances the work. alot of the art doesnt have bold colors but there is alot of warmth in the paint that draws your eye to the people in the portrait and not the surroundings. Balthus died in Feburary 2001 at the age of 92.

New Day New Painting

This week i have started a painting of a still life. In the still life their are bottles of different shape and color and a dark blue box. There is also a printed fabric surrounding everything. I have started by painting bold shapes in the colors that the objects are. I have also started putting highlights and shadows in the bottles and fabric. The Fabric is going to challenging because there are so many folds and many different colors. At this point i am feeling good about this new painting.

What I Have Been Doing

This semester i have been working on a portrait on my sister and myself. This is the first portrait that i have ever done and there is not just 1 but 2 faces!! I started the process by painting the major bold shapes in basic colors to make sure that i work from general to specific. the placement of the parts of the face was difficult to execute. I had to move the eyes about three times until they were at the right distance from the nose and at the right angle. I also learned a lot about color. Skin color is hard to do because you have to now what hue to use in order to make the features of a person. I have never looked at a picture of myself so closely. I learned that my sister has red undertones when mine are more orange. At times i got very frustrated with the painting. making the nose and eyelids are difficult because they are small things that are difficult to make the right color and give the correct placement. They also make the picture look so much better. Small changes can be a big deal in art. I have yet to tackle the mouth and the teeth which is going to be challenging. Now i am at a stopping point where you can tell that the painting is of my sister and I. The entire canvas is covered in paint and I'm sure that i will be able to go back to it in a few weeks with a fresh eye and be able to complete a beautiful piece of art.

Mid Term Reflection

This year my large painting of two faces has been most challenging. this is the first time that i am painting an entire face, let alone two. faces in general are hard to paint and these ones are really big and at an awkward angle.I am progressing in my color mixing this shows in the noses of the people. I also have to spend time observing areas on my face in a mirror and in a picture. this is helping me improve on my observation skills. This improvement is shown in the proportions of The people and their body positions.
Today we can use techniques that were discovered and used my earlier artist and build upon them. In my painting i had to look at Renaissance looking paintings to figure out how to create a nose. it is important to appreciate the work that they did.

Famous Paintings

The painting that I found to be most interesting was water lilies by Claude Monet who is from France.. In terms of texture there is a blurry feel to the painting. There are no defined lines and all of the water lilies have a soft and smooth texture. There are also many highlights and shadows in the picture that add texture to the water and show that shadows from the trees and everything from the surroundings. The composition of the painting is also interesting because there is nothing in the middle of the painting and all of the sides are filled with objects. To me the painting is showing a calm place. This piece of art is important to the world of art and to me because the style is so different. And art is all about being original and showing a new point of view.