Rembrandt: the descent from the cross

 I was  asked to look at 3 stages of, "the descent from the cross" by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. The first image I found entitled,  "The descent from the cross: a sketch,  1642.

This was the first image created of this scene,  it was made by etching and dry point in paper. The image is off Christ hanging on the cross after his death. There is a figure pulling out the nails from his body,  while other support him with a stretch of material wrapped round his upper half-This image is very sad to look at. There is someone looking as though he is praying under the cross, as well as onlookers bowing their heads in sorrow and disbelief.

 The second image I found was," descent from the cross: the second plate", 1633. This was made by etching and engraving on paper. Although this plate was made earlier that the previous one I mentioned, there is clearly more detail within this image. Straight away,  I am aware that it is a very different image from the first. The angle which Rembrandt has drew from provides more depth into the image as a whole. The first observation I made was the use of light and dark when the light is shining down on Christ. This alone acts as a spiritual feeling for the entire image.  The darkness of the background adds to the eeriness and disgust of what had happened. It is also clear to see that the people in the image are caring and considerate for Christ's body. This is shown through them supporting him while gently lowering him down. Onlookers are also fixated on the body of Christ,  I am unsure if it is more of a curiosity,  or if it is in disbelief.

 The third image,  "The descent from the cross by torchlight", 1654, etching and dry point printed on Japanese paper.  Again,  this image is completely different from the other two. The overall feel of the print is darker than the other two,  this print shows a stretcher being prepared to remove the body from the scene.  I feel this is more of a finalised emotion,  that there is nothing left to feel,  other than woe.

 I found this a slightly difficult task as I wasn't sure if I should have included,

               "Christ presented to the people"
or

         "Christ crucified between the two                            thieves:the three crosses".

However,  I feel that I have achieved a better understanding of the approach and emotion felt at the crucifixion of Christ.

Surrealism influenced by Sigmond Freud

The surrealism movement began in the 1920's, inspiring a variety of writers are Artists. In 1924, poet Andre Breton launched the movement in Paris and in 1936, it became an international movement. The movement was strongly influenced by the well-known neurologist, Sigmond Freud and his theories. There were two types of art within the Surrealism movement. One being the oneric, which was when artists used dream-like imagery within their work.  The other was Automatism, the style of creating work by unleashing the unconscious mind through drawing or writing. Salvador Dali and Max Ernst were amongst the main artists of this movement.

I have decided on,  Forgotten horizon,  1936 by Salvador Dali to show an example of Automatism in surrealism. this was one of a small series of oil paintings on a wood panel. The picture is a representation of the memories he had as a child, on the beach at Costa Brava. The figure  in the distance is his cousin,  where the dancing figures in the front were inspired by a postcard and were there to stimulate the imagination and subconscious.  Dali was  also intending the painting to be a hallucination with the feeling of a theatrical nature. The way the paint was  applied is an important factor in this painting paint as it has adds texture and form to the figures. Freud describes the unconscious mind to be " a cauldron of primitive wishes and impulse kept at bay ".  Dali has expressed this through the figures,revealing a half naked body while dancing on an empty beach scene. What makes this picture surreal,  is  the dancing figures, are not only the main focus of the picture,  but the only focal point in the picture. According to Freud, some of his patients found it difficult to acknowledge frightening or painful desires or certain events or situations. Maybe Dali decided to express his thoughts and feelings through this painting rather than in words. I also felt that Freud's theory on "the ego" was relevant in backing up the information in this picture. "The ego is that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world" Freud 1923, 1961, p25. This provides a depth into the thought process and feeling emotion behind the painting.

 Metamorphosis of Narcissus,  1937 by Salvador Dali, is an image  based on the Greek Myth of Narcissus. Dali paid close attention to detail so that his creation provided a hallucinatory effect to the transformation of Narcissus. By using two similar images,  Dali has shown his interest in hallucination and delusion in this painting.  This  relates to Freud's theory  of Automatism suggesting this is a piece of work created by the unconscious mind.

I have chosen, men shall know nothing of this 1923, by Max Ernst as an example of a dream-like state (oneric) in surrealism.  The image contains two pairs of legs in a sexual position raised above the ground.  The picture is not logical in the sense that this form would not happen in nature.  The painting was inspired by Sigmond Freud's study of the "delusions of a paranoiac Daniel Paul Schreber". It relates to Schreber fantasising about becoming a woman. Ernst also had a keen interest in  the thought processes of the insane and the way they saw reality. This helped guide him to produce such interesting work.
Since having a passion for psychology, I found it really interesting looking at Freud's theories and seeing how they have had such a large impact on the Surrealism movement.  There is so much information,  I wish I had the time to sit for a few days and absorb it all. Very fascinating.

Artist Presentation - Sarah Taylor

Sarah Taylor came to talk about the work she does and what inspired her. She began her presentation with a quote that inspires her,  "Designers usually design,  not just because they enjoy doing it but because they tend to be fascinated by the things they create" (lawson 1965).  Sarah always imagined her becoming a Potter, until she went to school at Winsor Scto hool of Art and started learning about textiles. She soon gained an interest in creating textiles that had form, shape and that was 3 dimensional. Following that, she began her post graduate at Heriot Watt University, this was so she could explore her interest with cloth design and yarn. It was at that point,  Sarah found an interest in light and reflective qualities. At an exhibition,  Sarah was fascinated by the use of optical fibres, which gave her the idea of using optical fibres within clothing. She also discovered that the fibres had healing qualities so she also experimented with UV light and baby blankets. Sarah was kind enough to show us some images of fabrics made with lights. Picasso's drawing with light image was a very inspirational piece of work which encouraged Sarah to expand her ideas through her work. She began to experiment by weaving with hand looms so that she could create a fabric with light that could be manipulated, to give the impression of movement through the use of light.
After this, Sarah had the opportunity to work with many designers to develop her work. Helen Story,  ( a well-known fashion designer between 1980-90, worked with her on a project named, "The first 1000 hours of life". This was the perfect opportunity to combine their talents to come up a dress inspired by the "primitive streak".
Another project Sarah took part in was to present a piece of work which represents femininity and the female form. The use of interactive light was used, which was a completely different way of working for Sarah. There was a sculpture of a woman laying down,  covered in a fur coat, (goat fur) with the lighting entwined within the fur coat. The theme was, "first last everything" which used  touch sensitive lighting to light up when touched. A similar idea was used at another exhibition entitled,  "coming to our senses"  which used a mixture of sound effects and different coloured lighting to alert the senses,  this was particularly good for people who were blind or for people with sensory disorders such as autism.
During an exhibition in Germany, Sarah presented an Art piece which focused on the sensory idea combined with balance and rhythm. She also looked at the use of light against shadows.
Aswell as the various types of art Sarah created with the use of optical fibres,  she also learned how to use a lazer cutting machine to make panel lighting. This then led her to create another work of art which is still at Aberdeen art Gallery,  it consisted off a single fabric pattern,  using individual rolled up pieces of fabric, and optical fibres.  Sarah still continues to work with optical fibres and takes part in exhibitions.
I was very inspired by Sarah's talk, as I too have a passion for working with coloured lighting.  Whether it is optical fibres or led lights I thoroughly enjoyed using them within my work aswell as my day-to-day. That's why it was nice to see someone expand on that idea and produce some gorgeous work.

Wear and tear - painting techniques

This morning I have been working on my painting techniques to create texture,  form and a three-dimensional shape. I have be working from a soft toy - Jessie. She has no gloves left and she is no longer white due to children playing with her.
Initially I decided to use Acrylic paint to create the vibrant colours on her but I struggled to add depth with acrylic alone. I was then curious how watercolours would turn out. I was quite surprised how well they worked,  but they were good for some areas and not others. I felt the watercolour paint was perfect for adding little details such as, the blue on the jeans, the detail on the belt and adding a dirt and worn effect to represent wear on the 'white' fabric. I also discovered that I could add texture to the hat, which is what I needed to create a curved texture and shape.  I then decided to combine the two paints to create the best result. I used acrylic paint for the face and trousers,  aswell as the outline of the eyes and mouth.  I also used acrylic to paint the hands. After that, I used watercolour to paint the belt, jeans, shoes and the hat, aswell as the iris and button detail. The most important technique came at the end when I used watercolour in a criss cross pattern over the places that were dirty on the doll to add texture.

This image was produced using acrylic paint.

This image was created using watercolours and acrylic paint.

As you can see, the acrylic image appears quite flat, resembling a two dimentional image not a three-dimensional one. There is no depth or texture either.
After exploring the paint and techniques,  I now have a better idea of how I am going to produce my final image.

Pablo Picasso lino cutting - prints

Pablo Picasso is one of the most famous artists for his paintings but he also created lino prints in the 1950-60s. In about 1953-4, Picasso worked in Vallauris, France, alongside Hidalgo Arnera, a well-known master printer. Together they experimented with print making and colour techniques.  They would experiment by using different colours on different linoleum,  which were then super imposed on the same sheet of paper. Picasso's first attempt at,  " portrait of a woman after cranach the younger " was produced on 3/7/1958 by using 2 colours.  The next day, he returned to the same image but with a more enthusiastic approach. The same day, he made 5 different lino blocks with a single colour on each block- sepia,yellow,  red, blue and black.  This was so that he could superimpose them together in that colour sequence.  This provided an idea to print different proofs. He made 2 of the coloured blocks and three black to create the final image. The final image on white Arches Wove paper in an edition of approximately 15 Artists prints.
A little later on, in 1962, the two prints, "still life under the lamp",  and "Jacqueline reading"  were counted as two of the most important works.

Still life under lamp 1962

Still life with watermelon 1962

Jaqualine reading 1962

Portrait of woman after cranach the younger 1958

The prints are very interesting through the use of vibrant colours and simple shape. This is completely different to the work of Tom Davidson,  whos lino cuts are more like photographs. Tom uses more neutral,  realistic colours and fine line with incredible detail to create a three-dimensional setting such as landscapes. Picasso's are more flat but are still lovely in their own way. I cant help but wonder if Picasso's lino cut prints would be as popular, if the prints from Tom Davidson were around at the same time.

Self portrait inspired by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610)

I was asked to research the Artist Michelangelo Merisi,  known as Caravaggio and produce a self portrait inspired by one of his paintings.  After a lot of decision making,  I chose, "David with the head of Goliath" 1610 for my inspiration. From the research, I found  that this was one of the most important artworks he had done. Within the original image, the figure of David has been altered to have Caravaggios head on it. The face  is of Caravaggio when he was younger and the beheaded is also Caravaggios face but a more recent representation The idea was to represent how his youth caused a negative effect on the rest of his life. This could also have been the last painting he ever created before dying at age 38. Throughout his work he uses chiaroscuro to add to the sense of darkness, by using shadow to overpower the figures,  It adds an unpleasant feeling to the image. The use of light highlights the the figures to provide a more three-dimensional shape.

David with the head of Goliath 1610

I really enjoyed replicating this painting,  I would like to do another one over a larger timescale so I can perfect it. I enjoyed the realism and the biblical theme. I also found his life story to be very interesting,  especially his last days where he was waiting on a Pardon to be allowed back into Rome and it was only granted after his death.

Artist Presentation - Liz Douglas

Liz Douglas is a local artist based at Wasp Studios in Selkirk,  Scottish Borders. She came into class to show us some of her work. I found out that She spent 6 years studying at Edinburgh college of Art. In 1991 she gained her honers degree in drawing and painting and in 1993 she achieved her master of fine art in painting,  both at Edinburgh college of Art. She has also acquired a few awards over the years including, visual Artist and Craft Makers Award for south of Scotland 2014-15,  The Edinburgh Laser Cutting Studio prize-SSA 2013 and cabn/Creative Scotland Visual Artist award 2011. She explained how most of her current work is researched based and she is inspired by nature and natural surroundings. She showed us some of the work she has done through a power point. There was a piece named "fault line" which was made on top of the Ettrick Valley,  it is 10mx1.5m and is made using a mixture of glue, charcoal and sand- all media was found on site. "elements"  was another mixed media painting created at 2000ft above sea level. In this piece, she wanted to show the difference between then and now, when it was freezing cold and the water was 25 Degrees. She also created artwork at Ravenscraig and Ettrick marshes.  Another style of work Liz does was drawing and painting things in nature, "moth drawing" is an image of a moth, produced by using graphite and chalk on canvas. "Marsh drawing"  is 1.5x4m,this started off with drawing Liz plants, insects and birds on photocopy paper, transferred onto acetate then a carbon copy was made, this piece took a month to complete. The end result is a large paper cutting with the shapes cut out, a very lovely piece of work. "raft" was another painting inspired by whitlaw mosses. The idea behind this piece was making corridors for animals to pass through,  so they were not harmed by the chemicals in the fields. Liz also turned her hand to lazer cutting where she created such works as "inner pool firms" and "pleated landscape".
After listening to Liz describe how important she felt the process in creating her work was,  rather than just the end result,  I decided to look her up online. I found that she had a page containing alot of her artwork aswell as information. A few artworks which I am interested in are :

You can view more artwork and information at Liz@Lizdouglas.co.uk

Tom Davidson - lino cutting and prints

Tom Davidson was born in 1956,  he is a local artist who has a Gallery in Earlston,  in the Scottish Borders. His main form of artwork is producing  lino cuttings, which are transferred into prints . He first gained interest in printmaking in his first year at College in 1984. He creates images from one piece of linoleum using a reduction process then adds colour to make a series of images. Each image is hand-drawn onto the lino,then when its cut,  colour is added, working from light to dark. Tom usually adds two colours at the same time and can produce up to 6 prints with each lino cutting. It can take up to 6 weeks to complete a print as the process has to be done in stages. When producing a series of prints, Tom will usually make between 20 and 30 editions so that it would appeal more to a collector than a large selection would.
I found this work to be really interesting, the detail within each print is incredible. With the use of fine line and delicate shapes,  he is able to create an image representing a 3d view. Below are some examples of his work :