The Artist Encounters the Sublime... by proxy.
This one goes out to anyone who has endured my 19th Century Art lectures, or is otherwise interested in my recent trip to Cleveland. Made with assistance from Frederic Edwin Church and Carolyn Reddy’s phone. I also feel indebted to this gentleman.
One of many, many shelves for "Art Books"
In my teaching work, students occasionally ask me what books I would recommend for learning more about art-making. I say “occasionally” because I find the majority of young people allergic to the printed word and perplexed by the concept of independent learning. (Sigh.) So, in honor of you curious students of art, I’ve compiled some rough reading lists. (Also, there are lots of films, because film is a brilliant medium for learning about visual disciplines.)
FOR DRAWING: The practice of drawing is a terrible thing to try to learn from a book, but once in a while authors explain ideas well, or publish beautiful illustrations that demonstrate real seeing. The Natural Way to Draw, by Kimon Nicolaides; The Practice and Science of Drawing, by Harold Speed; Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards; and Die Gestalt des Menschen, by Gottfried Bammes
FOR PAINTING: Again, only painting will teach you painting. Hawthorne on Painting, by Mrs. Charles Hawthorne; The Art Spirit, by Robert Henri; and maybe What Painting Is, by James Elkins. Also, the film El Sol de Membrillo will blow your mind.
ART HISTORY/THEORY: General Textbooks are a necessary evil. Also, A Short Guide to Writing About Art, by Sylvan Barnet. Afterward you can go very deep very quickly. Here are some suggestions:
Ancient: Ancient Art History and Ancient Regular History aren’t that different. Art History does more with formal analysis, but this area is mostly about knowing how cultures interact and make things to reflect their ideas and values. I like the Crash Course videos for fun overviews with a few insights. I also like Jared Daimond’s approach found in Collapse, and Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Medieval and Renaissance: Read Genesis, The Gospel of Luke, and Revelations. They are shorter than you think, and account for 80% of the imagery in Christian art. Seriously, DO IT. Vasari’s Lives of the Artists is like a fun trip into pre-modern art history, full of inaccuracy, moralizing, and other bad habits of scholarship. For really good scholarship on this period, read anything by Erwin Panofsky, but especially Studies in Iconology. Also Dürer’s The Painter’s Manual is arguably the first modern textbook in the areas of art and design.
Early Modern/Modern: Aside from dry textbooks and the wealth of primary source literature from this period, I like John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, Kurt Vonnegut’s Bluebeard, and the PBS series, Art21 . Terry Barrett’s Criticizing Art is good for understanding theory and has thankfully replaced its hideous cover. I also recommend reading monographs, exhibition catalogs, journals, essays, and interviews BY or ABOUT any artists that interest you.
DESIGN: Yes, designers! Beyond whatever your actual design instructors tell you to read, I recommend many of the preceding titles, especially Collapse, but also Carol Cragoe’s How to Read Buildings, Bill Mollison’s Introduction to Permaculture, the films of Gary Hustwit, or about 75% of the talks on TED. I also strongly recommend Ken Robinson’s books on creativity, like Out of Our Minds.
This list is by no means complete or systematic, but is mostly a blend of things I read when I was a student that still affect me or things I wish my students had read. Also, I linked to Amazon like crazy, but I encourage you to find these titles at your local libraries, used, or independent bookstores. Reviews? Comments? Additions?
Work and certificate for "The One About Needing a Bigger Boat"
On July 1st, LxWxH will begin selling their July/August issue: rePlace. The issue contains original works by Julie Alpert, Adam Boehmer, and Ryan Finnerty. There are only 20 issues available, and each box sells for an extremely modest price. (Order yours early!) My contribution is the Memory Paintings, in which I make visual recollections of other people’s paintings. (more on these in earlier posts) This collection contains small paintings of everything I know about Jan Van Eyck, Gustav Courbet, Caravaggio, Kimberly Trowbridge, and many others. I’ll post more images from this series in the coming days, but the best way to see them is probably to buy one.
LxWxH is like a cross between a gallery, a magazine, and a CSA produce service. What’s important is that its an exciting new idea in marketing artwork, and that it gives regular people the chance to collect some of Seattle’s best artists for very little money. If you think owning contemporary art is just for rich people, Sharon, the project’s curator, will be happy to disabuse you of that idea. (at length) ORDER YOURS HERE.
Work on the memory paintings continues. These paintings will be featured/available in July’s LxWxH. This afternoon’s was an ambitious painting:
The One About All Things at All Times
This painting never fails to dazzle me. It’s a kind of visual encyclopedia of the Northern Renaissance. I teach a class on Medieval and Renaissance Art, and I offer an automatic “A” to any student who goes to Ghent and visits this painting. (No one has tried it yet.) If you can’t fly to Belgium, there’s a jaw-dropping hi-res image of the altarpiece, including x-ray images. You can use it to find all the places my memory faltered on this one.
Work in Progress
Also, this painting pairs beautifully with a Belgian Ale and The Virgin Queen Soundtrack.
The One About Eroticizing The Other
There are more of these each day. As I discussed earlier, in an effort to develop new approaches to painting from observation, I’ve been plumbing the depths of my visual memory. Here are the RULES: 1. Use known paintings. Maybe with complex spacial arrangements, maybe with dynamic color, maybe works I discuss in my art history lectures, maybe with naked ladies… whatever. Rule 2. Look at the image for no more than ten minutes, during breakfast. Rule 3. Wait for the afternoon, mix up some colors, and see what you know. Rule 4. Do not look at the original image. Rule 5. DO NOT look at the original image.
The One About a Subtle but Profound Shift
Observations: 1. Representational, Figurative, Western painting is still weirdly compelling. 2. I am impressed with the parts I get right, and delighted by the parts I get wrong. 3. Gesture is the most elusive element.
Very soon, these will be on public display! And packaged with poetry! And sold at shockingly modest prices! More on this part soon!
April 13th is Seattle Art Museum’s Teen Night Out. This free event features access to the SAM’s galleries, live performances, and art-making with Seattle Artists. (Think: SAM Remix for minors.) In honor of the final month of Gauguin & Polynesia, this spring’s event will feature a Tahitian dance troop, Polynesian tattoo, and hands-on art with local artists. I’ll be there leading live figure drawing, and steadfastly avoiding getting any tattoos. Heads up, teens. Come draw with me.
PS, young readers- Miss this event, and all the cool art kids will think you’re a square. Miss this Gauguin show, and live a sadder, darker life.
This Friday night I’ll be at the Seattle Art Museum to lead a teen sketching trip through Gauguin Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise. The show has some excellent paintings and prints from Gauguin’s years in the Pacific, and some beautiful 19th century Polynesian artwork. We’ll trace Gauguin’s creative journey by sketching from the same objects that inspired him, then work from Gauguin’s paintings and drawings. (including one of his sketchbooks!) Then we’ll head downstairs for some figure drawing from live models. Registration is closed for this free program, but I’ll be back soon. Teens, and people who work with them, should check in with the SAM to find out about more great programs and resources.
While I typically work from direct observation, I’ve recently been working on ways of inventing imagery, i.e. making things up. While this kind of working has a long tradition in Western Art, (think: almost anyone before Courbet) I’ve been encountering serious obstacles in painting the unseen. Two of the largest problems I’m encountering in this work are freshness and color complexity- two things that come easily in observational painting.
Based on my memory. Anyone know this painting?
To alleviate this gap between the mind and the eye, I’ve been sketching out paintings from memory. I think of some of my favorite paintings and try to recall general atmosphere, composition, and color masses and paint them as quickly as I can recall them. Painting from a fragmentary memory keeps things fresh, while the original artists furnish the good stuff. This one is different from the original in some amusing ways, yet captured some key elements. Can you guess what painting I was thinking of?
