Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Discussion 2: Drawing and Painting

I am a bit late in posting this, but I think as long as I get it all posted it will be alright. Anyway, in week 2 of my Survey of Studio Art Practices class we did an online discussion about Drawing and Painting. We looked at a number of artists including Henry Darger, Shazia Sikander, and Laurie Lipton. Henry Darger interested me the most. He was a man who lived in the early to mid 20th century and was considered odd and a recluse. It's possible that he would have been diagnosed with autism or asperger's in this day and age. He worked odd jobs and as a janitor most of his life, and in the off hours, spent his time putting together an epic story (which included both words and illustrations) entitled In the Realms of the Unreal. His story followed the adventures of his heroines named the Vivian Girls against evil. He created his illustrations mostly on butchers paper (as it was cheap) and traced magazines to create his collage-like compositions. His use of color is perhaps what tied all of his work together. Overall his work had a childish and naive feel to it, almost looking like it could have come out of a coloring book.

Anyway, I really love drawing. It is something that you can do anywhere and at anytime. It has a portability to it that other art practices don't seem to have. I personally draw for many reasons. A lot of them boil down to passing the time whether in class, work, or at home. A lot of times my drawings end up reflecting that particular moment in time in some way. For instance, look at this Batman I drew in my Survey I class. What started out as a normal mindless Batman doodle that I have done so many times took on an attitude that normally would be out of character for him. I don't know why I like this doodle, but every time I look at it, it makes me want to laugh.

No comments:

Post a Comment