Artist 9: Frida Kahlo

Friday Kahlo was born July 6, 1907 in Coyocan, Mexico. She was born in La Casa Azul, or, The Blue House, which today is maintained as a museum of her. La Casa Azul was donated by Diego Rivera, Frida's husband and fellow painter, in 1957 when he died.

Frida Kahlo is an interesting choice for me, as to be quite honest, I do not like her work. "Why would you choose her then?! Everyone likes her work!" Well, you see, I didn't choose her as an artist to cover because of her style or talent, I chose her because of how she handled art and her less-than-normal symbolism used.



I think that for the most part, her pictures are creepy. And not in the good way. They really aren't pleasing to my eye in the least bit, because of color schemes, awkward positioning, lack of contrast and depth. However, she brings some very interesting themes into her works. So while I think her pictures are, well, not to my liking in the least bit, she clearly has brought in some strange ideas that I will elaborate on.

Her self-portrait, "The Two Fridas" is an incredibly unique work. I think a self portrait such as this is something to be admired, as it is so "out there" and strange. Here, Frida has 2 self-portraits who seem to be connected with this hearts as a strange string is strung between the two. The Frida on the left is holding scissors which has just cut the string and it is now bleeding on her dress. I suppose it would be accurate to say that the string was a blood vessel or something. THIS is the kind of stuff I like about her work. The unique and odd ideas and symbolism she introduces, things never thought of before or at least not expressed in art. That being said, that's the only part of her work that I like.

Artist 8: Andy Warhol

Finally, an artist that is just a little bit more...recent. Yes, Andy Warhol is indeed yet another interesting artist who has some incredibly iconic works. Funny enough, most of his ionic works were that of...iconic figures/objects. His "Campbell's Soup" comes to my mind immediately. Warhol had a gift to make everyday, boring objects, well, interesting. I'm not so sure if I could have said to myself "You know what would make a totally famous picture? Campbell's Soup can." Nope. I don't think it would have come to mind at all. And of course this leads to great inspiration for many, what dull, everyday objects could be used to make something incredibly iconic one day?



His style which was very popular during the 60's/70's was "pop art." In other words, it was more or less comic book-like. Very bold colors, shading done with dots like a comic book. Something most people don't think of when they picture "fine arts" as it is a bit less "sophisticated" however it brought a whole new perspective on the arts and what one can do as an artist.



His art also shows up today what was "in" at the time period he made them. Now, I wouldn't say that soup was "cool" but...Marilyn Monroe was. And people ate that soup then, and still do now. So that company has lasted until today which is also something to dwell on. How many things have people painted that are no longer around? Who was famous then and still around/successful today? It's very fun/inspiring to look back in the not-so-distant past and compare things then and now, especially with art.

And I must add, I'd say that his hairstyle in his "Self Portrait" was way ahead of his time. Lookin' good Andy!

Artist 7: Raphael

Yes. I am going down the list of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for ideas on which artists to do. Well, partly. I can't deny that these artists are some of my favorite and I absolutely adore their work. (I can't deny the TNMTs were badass either) What I like about Raphael's style of painting is that he reminds me of a combination of Leonardo and Simone Martini. What I mean by that is he tends to use the S-curve in some of his figures and elongates them like Simone Martini's paintings, and he does a nice job with backgrounds and, well, his figures remind me of Leonardo's, maybe minus the tsfumato and has a bit less contrast.

In his altar piece "The Wedding of the Virgin" you can clearly see the S-curve used and the elegance he gives every single figure, even those in the background. His colors used are also much brighter than that of Leonardo which has its pros and cons. Brighter colors look more fresh, yet I personally am a fan of the darker color scheme. Big surprise, right? Anyway, I think I like the appearance of his figures as well as Simone Martini's the best as my top artists, and I like Leonardo's shading, colors, clothing and faces the best. Don't get me wrong though, I love them all dearly!!

Another thing I noticed about Raphael is his tendency to put real or similar to the real thing buildings in his backgrounds, which gives his pictures more relevance, interest, and intrigue.

It's a shame Raphael died so young (37) because I think he would have had an incredibly successful career ahead of him.

(Pictured here is Raphael's "Galatea")

Now, on a side note, more related to senior sem thinking I suppose you can say, I listen to music 100% of the time I do art. It obviously influences my stuff, and as discussed a bit it is most likely going to have a big influence on my senior sem stuffs (Like KISS, Motley Crue's costumes etc.) So, why not share some of my influence and one of my current personal favs so you can get inside my head for about 5 min. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDNkjWv-Lhw&feature=related Razed in Black "Oh My Goth!"

Artist 6: Leonardo da Vinci

As I mentioned in the last post, Michelangelo has my love for sculpture. However, when it comes to painting, Leonardo takes the cake. In my personal opinion, he has the absolute perfect balance of lights and darks in his pieces which makes them come to live and capture your attention. He isn't one of the most, if not the most, famous artists in the world for no reason. I'm willing to say the number of those reasons ranges from "a whole lot" all the way to "whole bunches." His only talent wasn't simply painting, but he was an inventor as well. The Thomas Edison of his time he made many blueprints of inventions that have inspired things that we use today, such as the airplane!

Ok now is the part where I talk about his paintings and why I do so love them so very very much. Ahem.

His backgrounds are just as interesting as his foregrounds and subjects. In fact, I find myself looking at the backgrounds just as much as the main subjects, if not MORE to see all of the details and try to figure them out. They are very mysterious, and that is one reason why I adore Leonardo, and this is the mystery that I take from his pictures. "The Virgin of the Rocks" pictured above, is an example of some of the interesting backgrounds Leonardo is capable of. Next, I really enjoy the lights and darks that he uses, tsfumato (I hope I spelled that correctly) and the smokey effect of the pictures like there is a slight fog drifting in or something of that nature. More mystery! Also, he is very good with showing where his light source is coming from, using "The Virgin of the Rocks" as an example again, it is quite obvious where the light is shining from, and the illumination of the figures really brings them to life and gives them a sense of form and weight. (Speaking of how his figures always seem that they have form and weight, I love how his babies always look so rollypolly like they still have those baby rolls.) His figures are also very proportioned and detailed. The clothes are always very elegant and seem like real fabric, and my favorite part is his hair. He's known for those beautiful locks of hair on his figures, and it's no surprise as it looks like he paid intense attention to each strand of hair. Finally, the faces that he does are nothing less than beautiful. One of my favorites is the angel in, yes, that's right, "The Virgin of the Rocks." So elegant and graceful, one would expect nothing less from his angels. This painting is not my favorite of his, though it is far far up there, believe that. It is just so fun to talk about and it has so many good examples of techniques he uses in his other works. Also, it's just a beautiful piece so I really couldn't NOT use it.

Now, I'd have to say one of my favorite pieces by him is his "Annunciation" piece. Have you noticed the pattern of "My favorite piece by them is the Annunciation!"? Well, I have. Probably because I'm fascinated by angels and they always look so pretty in these pictures. Compared to "The Virgin of the Rocks," this piece looks much more faded, and probably is, however you can still see the tsfumato he is so good at. The background is simple, yet I want to look at it to see what is there, because of the interesting shape of the trees and small town or city far off in the distance. The folds in the clothes are nothing less than amazing, and as usual, the Virgin's and even Gabriel's hair look golden in the sunlight. These are just two examples of his paintings, of which all of them have a unique charm to them and I could gush on about for hours, which, no matter how much I would love to, I must stop myself here for today!