ART DISCUSSION: What is art? Who/what inspires you?

Great to see people like/love art on NT.

I remember the art thread we had going a while ago, with DJ AM (RIP) posting a lot as well.

It's my passion. But to deffine it is impossible...maybe call it materialized creativity.

Painting is probably my number one love and my favorites have to be: Rothko, de Stael, Diebenkorn and Manessier for now.

Sadly it's very hard to find biographies for numerous artists, great artists...

If you want to read, my way is to browse wikipedia, fid out what I like and then do some in depth research, by buying books or going to the library. Someone mentioned Taschen, which is good I own a lot of books published by them, but in many cases they aim the people looking for a breif description, with a few photos, smaller or medium sized monographies. It depends where the artist is from I've recently been buying Thames and Hudson books, Phaidon and a few publishers I can't even name, but have many-many pictures and some analysis. I tend to find it more important to have many good reproductions then being able to read in depth about their lives, because autobiographies can be purchased seperatly which are a lot more accurate and in some cases were written by very talented writers (James Lord, Zola etc.)


Great website. finally a good one!!!
 
Originally Posted by JoseBronx

architect major here, I kinda like the fact that not everyone "gets" art

Cooper Union - MORPHOSIS

Switched out of architecture to finish off a previous major.  Plan on going back after I graduate.  Probably the most fun major I've had (I changed my major five times
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For all my (figurative) painters out there, here are a few of my fave. bookmarked blogs:
Vivianite

Bearded Roman

Women painting Women

Underpaintings

I'd like to think that seeing a variety in painting styles and approach informs my own work and helps me be a better artist.

And I very much agree with Nocomment about Wikipedia being a great source to learn about artists and their significant movements. I love how you'll just be reading about one artist and there will be a links in the wiki page leading to 3,4,5, 6 other artists. And each one of those will themselves have 4,5,6,7 links to other artists. Straight up be feelin' like a kid in a candy shop--opening mad artist tabs like you thought I was watching pron...
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Ohh yeah, and you aint a legit art student unless you can identify with ArtOwl on certain issues...
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(Shout out to all those Cadmium based pigments...my testes are done...
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Originally Posted by LUKEwarm Skywalker

For all my (figurative) painters out there, here are a few of my fave. bookmarked blogs:
Vivianite

Bearded Roman

Women painting Women

Underpaintings

I'd like to think that seeing a variety in painting styles and approach informs my own work and helps me be a better artist.

And I very much agree with Nocomment about Wikipedia being a great source to learn about artists and their significant movements. I love how you'll just be reading about one artist and there will be a links in the wiki page leading to 3,4,5, 6 other artists. And each one of those will themselves have 4,5,6,7 links to other artists. Straight up be feelin' like a kid in a candy shop--opening mad artist tabs like you thought I was watching pron...
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And then you realise the fact that you've spent a whole day on wikipedia reading and on google browsing the images.
 
Originally Posted by LUKEwarm Skywalker

Some of my favorite contemporary artist:
Figurative:




Patrick Earl Hammie




Alex Kanevsky




Alyssa Monks




Caesar Santos




Odd Nedrum




Jacob Collins

Abstract




William T. Williams

Sculptors




Sayaka Ganz

Too many more artists to list and too little time. As you can see from the list though, I lean more towards the figurative painters.

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I can't help to admit, that Alyssa Monks is HOT.
Anybody know anything useful about the Royal Academy in London?  Or how to get a scholarship to Pratt? (I suppose these are the two best fine art universities, right?)
 
In the United States you can study Fine Art at an art school or a liberal arts school. Mind you, the top of the line college is not easy to get into plus = $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Here are top American schools that I know of having good fine art's programs.
- RISD
- Cooper Union
- SAIC
- WashU stl
- Wesleyan
- CCA
- CALarts
- SVA in nyc
- Bard college

Royal Academy is only a grad school as far as I know.

If you are serious about getting your BFA, there are alot of things worth thinking about. What job are interested in coming out of school? I think it is good to have artistic heros, and if you look it up, a lot of the best dudes never went to any institution. If you are serious about being a career artist, most accomplished artists (besides the lucky famous/rich ones) attend a BFA program (4 years) and than a MFA program (2 years) allowing them to teach art in addition to making their work. This works out for those artists who love to make art while teaching allows them some sort of financial security.

"Institutions breed institutions, whether it’s an art school or a police academy. But there are always a few teachers in them that actually inspire people to really think for themselves and to question situations. That’s all it takes to keep things alive. I think it’s too much to expect a whole institution to support radically free thinking. That would be dangerous." - David Byrne
 
one indirect way to define something is to consider what it is NOT.

here's a (in)famous piece of music by composer john cage. the title is "4'33"". in it, the orchestra sits entirely still for 4 minutes and 33 seconds. not a single note is played.

is this art?
 
Alyssa Monks is ridiculous.

I've been researching MFA programs recently also. I went to an undergrad program with the intention of majoring in business so this time around I really, really want to go somewhere that I want to go to, with a staff that I would like to work with. The programs I was looking at were UCLA, Yale, SVA, SAIC and a few others. I will probably take a gap year after college just to work on my portfolio since I don't feel it's strong enough yet. Maybe do a little bit of traveling. Definitely don't want to be the art student that spends the next ten years working in a coffee shop
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^ no use in going anywhere mediocre. Those four schools you mentioned are very prestigious. I would also suggest looking at USC's mfa program (underrated, up and coming) if you are considering UCLA. The best advice I ever heard in relation to picking a good MFA program is to find an artist you really respect and admire and try to learn under them.

If you'd be interested in a brutally honest critique of your art, let me know. For all creative types, the ability to hear criticism is a huge skill.
 
Originally Posted by WILLd540

^ no use in going anywhere mediocre. Those four schools you mentioned are very prestigious. I would also suggest looking at USC's mfa program (underrated, up and coming) if you are considering UCLA. The best advice I ever heard in relation to picking a good MFA program is to find an artist you really respect and admire and try to learn under them.

If you'd be interested in a brutally honest critique of your art, let me know. For all creative types, the ability to hear criticism is a huge skill.
Definitely agree. I wouldn't be doing an MFA just to be doing it and I'm definitely not settling on where I'm going.
I would love a critique. My work is poorly photographed at the moment but when I get my "real" portfolio up and running I'll let you guys know. I hate the cupcakes in class that can't take/dish out criticism. It's incredibly weak-minded. The criticism is supposed to HELP you. I'm glad I finally have a professor that actually will not hold back on picking the work apart.
 
Another NTer messaged me some questions as far as painting goes so I sent him back a pretty lengthy response. I thought it'd be good to share this too. Any other painters with input, please add on!

As far as mediums go, I paint primarily with oil colors. I find that they are the most flexible to paint with and are the richest in color. I can't say for sure since it has been years since I've used acrylics but I don't think you're able to create the same level of complexity in your work using that medium. Plus it dries so fast that it's hard to work with, personally speaking. When creating a work, it's important to think about WHY you are using a certain medium. Let the medium help propel the concept or idea behind your work or help in the creation of it. I use oil colors over acrylics in my paintings because I need the extra drying time since the way I paint includes a lot of detail. I need the extra time so I can work on it and then fix mistakes.

Since oils are what I'm most used to, I can give you some pointers if you want to get back into it. Use good paints, avoid buying the "student" paints. Don't use anything lower than Windsor and Newton's Winton paints. They are amateur level but they are solid. Plus they're reasonably priced for the large tubes. For better paints, you can't go wrong with Gamblin. That stuff is incredible.

My palette consists of Pthalo Blue, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red Medium, Yellow Ochre, Raw Umber, and Flake White. I also have tubes of Cadmium Yellow Medium, Viridian, and Radiant Yellow (Gamblin) for specific works. I can't recommend flake white enough. It mixes beautifully with colors and makes paintings "pop." Colors get warm when mixed with it as opposed to Titanium White which cools. It is technically made of lead so it's poisonous but WHO CARES. Everyone's palette is different. My friend's palette employs only 3 colors I think (and one of them is a white.) Some like to limit themselves to only a few colors, others like to go wild and paint with every color on the wheel.

When I paint, I tend to sketch out what I want onto the primed canvas first so that I get a good idea where I'm going to lay my colors down. Then I do and incredibly rough underpainting. I usually use like three or four colors and just put in fields of color that vaguely resemble the actual colors that I want later on. It's important to cover up the white of the canvas so that you get a better idea of what you're working on. I'm a huge believer that you shouldn't fixate on one part of the painting but should constantly move around and then revisit the piece. I've seen other students who spend hours and hours working on one portion and then they move on to other parts of the painting. This sometimes has the unintended effect of leaving parts that look overworked and other parts that look much weaker.

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Underpainting. Looks like %%@% 
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About two layers later.

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Finished. About five layers total.

I also add medium to my paints to help in the painting process. I swear by liquin, which is made by Windsor and Newton. It's a quick-drying medium so it helps when you want to do layers quickly. Great for students who need to finish a painting in two weeks time. It also helps the flow of the paint. Out of the tube, oil colors tend to be a bit thick. Liquin makes it flow much smoother and also helps leave less brush marks. One of the "down sides" is that liquin dries a bit matte but it shouldn't be an issue if you use a varnish later on to unify the piece. I have friends that use other mediums such as linseed oil (improves flow, slows drying) or mixtures of stand oil, demar varnish, and turpentine for glazing. A lot of experimentation through the years. Again, all of these techniques are used dependent on what you are trying to achieve.

For brushes, I just use cheap brushes that I buy from Blick. They're like $5 and they last me a semester. Then I throw them out and buy new ones. I use a large area brush that I got off some other student for free to fill in large areas. For details I use a small bright and a medium sized bright. I rarely go super detailed but I do carry a small rigger too. The medium sized bright gets the majority of the work. Some people like to use fans for blending, I get by without.

You can paint however you like. I tend to paint on easels (my school has large metal ones) but I have placed my canvas on the wall and painted that way. Jackson Pollock painted on the floor while actually in the canvas. Plenty of people have painted on canvas (or other surfaces) in different ways. Again, it's all about what you're trying to do. There really is no right or wrong.
 
Painting is amazing. Creating an image from nothing using paint. 
If you can appreciate painting, you can have fun in any respectable museum in the world. NextLevel ladies dig a dude who knows his art. 

In understanding art, I believe understanding the word Canon is really important.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_canon

I like to think about art making this way. An art object is a painting if it is in discussion with the canon of painting.

Sparknotes of painting canon:
French Cave ~20,000-30,000 bc
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Egyptian kool figures with Heirogyphics and %+#! ~1360 bc
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Jesus Art ~1300ad
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Renaissance ~1500 (ninja turtles)- da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael killin it. Titian too.
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Baroque and Rococo ~1600-1700 Rembrandt killin it- taking the idea of lighting in portraiture to the next level. gotta see his work in person to really appreciate. Vermeer, Caravaggio , fragonard: All on fire.
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19th century coming in next post...
 
quality thread. props to those that've contributed so far. boys noize, 'preciate the heads up on those fashion photogs
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i've had this site bookmarked for awhile and a site i check for more often than others: http://9-eyes.com/


In Street View photography, Google cars, mounted with nine cameras, roam the earth recordingautomatically whatever comes within their purview. The detached gaze of their cameras witness
but do not act in history. Street View photography, artless and indifferent, without human intention,ascribes no particular significance to any event or person. Bereft of context, history or meaning, theonly glue holding the Street View images together is geospatial contiguity.


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Portraits from the Baroque period are really something.
and those photos from 9-eyes are crazy but i'm not sure how they fit into this discussion of art. I mean... the description itself says the photography is artless and indifferent. Yes, it captures some interesting shots, shots that we might even consider art had they been considered by a human, but these shots are nothing but coincidence (UNLESS these people were posing themselves hoping to be photographed like that by the Google cam... in that case... mind = blown
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^ nice paintings boys noize, ive seen the one's you maid on the art thread as well.

somehow, i feel like i've seen that style before, i dont know if its from my own school or from a local artist here.

anyway, theyre still nice
 
Like Ai Weiwei? Curious about Chinese contemporary art? Heard the name before but didn't know much about him past his run-ins with the Chinese government? Watch this documentary, about 50 minutes long, that delves into his life, his work, his troubles with the government, and contemporary Chinese art in general.
 
Originally Posted by Classy Freshman

I'm a big Edward Hopper fan.
This.
I personally like Grace Crossington-Smith, Dali, Magritte, just to name a few. I did a whole project on Surrealism and Dadaism for 12th grade. I might have to pull that sucker out and see what I wrote. 
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Not big on the Surrealist artists I have come across but I absolutely love Rene Magritte's work. He is one of my favorites. I did a charcoal drawing recreating his "This Is Not A Pipe" with a glass pipe (for pot) instead
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