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Archive of Notes from Art School

Sketch of cells Colored pencil 6" x 6" © c. 2004-5 Marilyn Fenn
Sketch of cells Colored pencil 6″ x 6″ © c. 2004-5 Marilyn Fenn

I started this art blog* to put all of my notes from art school online in one place — mostly for my own convenience, but if anyone else benefits from my clumsily compiled notes (often with no real date), that’s good, too.

I’ve back-dated these posts, back to the beginning of when I started my first art blog, with a range (so far) from 3/20/05 – 4/20/05.

If I find more, I’ll add them on with back dates in 2005 as well.

*Note: referring to ArtNotes, which has been combined with my first art blog, which together have now been combined with my website.

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The Essence Lies in the Visual Meaning

This entry is part 10 of 10 in the series SAIC Class Notes
Copy After Leonora Carrington's "Juan Soriano de Lacandón," 1964 at the Art Institute of Chicago Pencil 7" x 5" © 1991 Marilyn Fenn
Copy After Leonora Carrington’s “Juan Soriano de Lacandón,” 1964 at the Art Institute of Chicago Pencil 7″ x 5″ © 1991 Marilyn Fenn
Class notes from SAIC, 1991

The image must communicate something special which appeals to the senses through the way they are presented.

Abstract concepts help to provide visual meaning (aside from subject matter).

The subject supplies literal meaning.

The essence of a work lies in its visual meaning.

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Look at Botticelli and Raphael

This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series Drawing the Figure in Space

The Birth of Venus Sandro Botticelli, c. 1482–1486 tempera on canvas 172.5 cm × 278.5 cm (67.9 in × 109.6 in) Uffizi, Florence

The Birth of Venus
Sandro Botticelli, c. 1482–1486
tempera on canvas
172.5 cm × 278.5 cm (67.9 in × 109.6 in)
Uffizi, Florence

Class notes from Drawing the Figure in Space with Elizabeth Rupprecht, SAIC, 1991

Look at feet & hands like Raphael or Botticelli:

With cubism, the grid should be 3D

Mark an X for direction.

With cubism, the grid should be 3D, not 2D.

Raphael - The School of Athens
The School of Athens
Raphael
1509–1510
Fresco
500 × 770 cm

View a gallery of drawings made in this way from this class. 

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Artists to Look at for Paint and Pictorial Methods

This entry is part 8 of 10 in the series SAIC Class Notes
Francis Bacon - Study after Velazquezs Portrait of Pope Innocent X
Francis Bacon – Study after Velazquezs Portrait of Pope Innocent X
Class notes, SAIC, 1991

Look at these artists:

Florine Stettheimer
Jim Lutes
Gaylen Hansen — all in Ryerson Library
Robert Barnes
Marcy Hermansader
Cheryl Lemli (?)
Jacob Lawrence
Phillip Guston (content inherent to painting as well as line, form, etc.)
ask Laurel Bradley, AH teacher.

Gradual accumulation of paint on surface until you get to center of interest.

All of Francis Bacon’s paintings are covered with glass – they reflect the viewer & architecture of the room. Change as you change position to it.

Continue reading “Artists to Look at for Paint and Pictorial Methods”

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Artists to Look at for Atmosphere

This entry is part 7 of 7 in the series Class Notes
Painting by Ferdinand Hodler Lake Geneva as seen from Chexbres, oil on canvas 1905
Painting by Ferdinand Hodler Lake Geneva as seen from Chexbres, oil on canvas 1905
Class notes, from Advanced Drawing Studio with Barbara Rossi, SAIC, 1991

For help with my current work, look at:

Heiderrat, India – rock formations like Enchanted Rock from National Geographic or Life.

Ferdinand Hodler for narrative.

Gauguin for composition, 4×5 ft. Especially “D’où venons nous? Que sommes-nous? Où allons-nous? (Where Do We come from? What Are We? Where Are We Going?)” 1897

Hudson River painters: Church, Cole, Bierstadt. The Voyage of Life series.

Paradigmatic – mythic poses.

Marsden Hartley
Tiepolo
Constable
Van Gogh
Turner – for atmosphere.
Yvonne Jacquette – for cloud studies, aerial paintings, contemporary.
Chinese wash landscapes.
19th C. American landscape photographers
Balthus – “The Mountain”

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Find the Static and Dynamic Areas

This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series Drawing the Figure in Space

Painting by Cezanne Mount Saint-Victoire 1902-1904

Painting by Cezanne
Mount Saint-Victoire
1902-1904

Class notes from Drawing the Figure in Space with Elizabeth Rupprecht, SAIC, 1991

Look at Cezanne’s Mt. St. Victoire – picture is divided into 3 horizontal bands: dark and warm on bottom, medium, warm & hot in center, light & blue at top.

How Cezannes Painted His Mountains

Sky/mountain area over mid-plane overlapping front plane.

17th C. – paintings divided into 3 horizontal areas – light blue sky on top, mid-tone in center, dark foreground.

Find areas that are static and dynamic to the picture plane.

Hard lines will come closer to you.

(read more about Cezanne’s mountain paintings here.)

View a gallery of drawings made in this way from this class. 

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Draw from Center Out

This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Drawing the Figure in Space
Draw from Center Out
Class notes from Drawing the Figure in Space with Elizabeth Rupprecht, SAIC, 1991

Draw from center out. Work from bottom up, never top down.

Like riding a bike uphill.

Crunching up the space, like using your muscles. All this space to work with. Swooping down.

2D & 3D working together.

Books – Henry Moore, National Gallery, Sharaku.

Split planes, like Cezanne’s still lifes.

Modigliani, Picasso.

in & up (compressed); out & down.

Mondrian, eyeball.

Holbein for eyes & mouth.

View a gallery of drawings made in this way from this class. 

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Your Work Must Grow

This entry is part 6 of 7 in the series Class Notes
Painting by Arshile Gorky The Artist's Mother, 1926 or 1936 Charcoal on ivory laid paper 630 x 485 mm
Painting by Arshile Gorky The Artist’s Mother, 1926 or 1936 Charcoal on ivory laid paper 630 x 485 mm

 

 

Class notes, from Advanced Drawing Studio with Barbara Rossi, SAIC, 1991

Look at Gorky’s portrait of his mother in our collection.

Focus on the theme, medium, or image of our work – substantial # of drawings – qualitative development of an idea through many works.  Sketchbook, also.

Work must grow.

Make a collection of whatever subject or form for our project.

Look at Mona Lisa, other Renaissance portraits.

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80 Ways to Paint…

This entry is part 5 of 7 in the series Class Notes
80 Ways to Paint…

 

Class notes, from Advanced Drawing Studio with Barbara Rossi, SAIC, 1991

Poem – Wallace Stevens: 13 ways of looking at a blackbird.

There are at least 80 ways of painting an ice cream cone.

Bring examples of artist who have used masks as part of their imagery.