Concept

This is definitely subject to change, although if it does it won't be TERRIBLY much.
Anyway, my concept so far for my senior sem is going to be something along the lines of...
Portraiture. They are all going to have a rather dark mood, both in colors used (primarily black and white, most likely charcoal, and possibly highlighting very small pieces of the composition with a color, such as eyes to help convey the message of the piece) and in feeling. I want them to be kind of like gothic portraits, like goth-expressionism (I think I just made up a new style?!) tho I intend them to all have a theme, such as expressions, someone gave me the idea of the seven deadly sins and seven...something virtues which I liked as well. If I go with those, I will probably have my figures sporting overly dramatic expressions like anger, etc. As far as how big the portraits are going to be, not too big, I already have the paper so I need to measure that out, and I am not 100% sure on how much of the figures I'll show, either shoulders up or waist up could be good, probably they will be seated. This is my idea so far, I'll probably just make a new post if I decide to change it.

Artist #2: Simone Martini

I heart Simone Martini.


I first learned about him in Italian Renaissance this last semester and I am so happy I was able to learn about him because his work is so very pretty! I'd say my favorite piece of that entire semester was "The Annunciation" (1333)





A bit about Simone Martini, he was a Sienese painter, lived during the Italian Renaissance, and was the pupil of Duccio.





What I love about this fresco, aside from everything, is, for one, his figures. The seemingly elongated figures seem so elegant and fragile, and his use of the "S curve" adds to that effect ten fold. I probably won't be able to use the words "elegant, beautiful, and divine" enough in this post, because "The Annunciation" screams those descriptions so much that it makes blood shoot from my eyes, but that's aside the point. The gold background makes this piece shine like it is a piece directly sent from Heaven as it depicts the Arch Angel Gabriel giving Mary the news that she is to be the mother of the Savior. However, it gives a possibly realistic view of how the Virgin Mary would have reacted to such news, with a bit of fear and hesitation.





Another thing I adore about this piece is the clothing. Each piece of clothing seems so elegant, and I know from class that Gabriel's clothes' pattern is based off of actual cloth from that time period! Aside from the melding of current (current as in 1300's) and traditional clothes from the time of the Annunciation, I believe, is incrediby clever. Also, the folds that he painted, to me at least, seem pretty accurate as how clothing folds, I like his use of lights and darks, just enough to give it a believable quality. Finally for clothing, I love how they fit the Virgin. Her clothes make her look very beautiful, tall, and slim. The dark blue of her cloak against the bright gold of the background really makes her stand out. And the unshiney appearance of the figures against the shiney gold really gives this piece an interesting look.





Finally, the altar piece itself is exquisite!!! All of those beautiful details on the edges and around the figures is one of my favorite things about this piece, it's so detailed.

(Also, for Prof Harris, I made the font bigger, although it doesn't appear to have changed when I view my blog, it might look different on yours for some reason because both posts seem to have decently big font to me, let me know if this one is too small though cuz I changed the font to large instead of normal!)

Marc Chagall

Recently, my mother called me up and told me she found an art book in the library she works at that had an artist she thought would interest me. Well, she was right, good thing too or this would have been a rather short post. Anyway, it turns out she found a book about Marc Chagall. A Jewish artist, born 1887, died 1985, uses a wide variety of styles and mediums (gouche, oils, tempura, even canvas and cardboard.) Some of his pieces look incredibly cubist, so much that it is difficult to see what is being portrayed. However, he has some other pieces that only have small traces of cubism influences, which gives his body of work wide variety in not only what he uses, as mentioned before, but his style. Even having different styles, it is still possible to tell which is his personal style overall. (Some musicians today could take a page out of his book and not have all of their songs sound identical, eh Owl City?)

Anyway~ some pieces of his work that caught my eye and show his varying styles:











"Grey" Lovers. 1917. Oil on canvas. 69 x 49. (Left)

Self-Portrait. 1914. Oil on cardboard. 30 x 26.5. (Right)

Self-Portrait with Muse (Dream). 1917-1918. Oil on canvas. 157 x 140.

Anyway, I love the feel of his paintings, as well as the colors that he uses and, just simply, the way he draws people. I think their faces are very interesting, and the compositions are nice to look at. The concepts of the paintings are also intriguing, going from dreams to religious pictures, once again, he has a wide variety in his art, something for everyone, and something to keep you looking through all of his pieces.

Finally, the setup of this blog makes no damn sense and the pictures and text positioning is driving me bloody freaky nuts. So until I can tame this God forsaken beast of a format, bear with me as it most likely will make absolutely NO SENSE.

This has been another Wasting Time With Kathy, join us again next week for another episode. Will Kathy get her coffee? Will she steal her neighbor's cat? Find out next week.

*Disclaimer: I know I'm not wasting time as this is for the very important Senior Sem. It's just a running joke that I've come to love, and might just rename my blog such as it is rather catchy...