Conclusion/Evaluation

My three main artists have influenced me greatly while doing this project and they have shown me some extremely interesting methods of art production that I had never used before. I hope to use these methods for the rest of my work this year.

Yuriy Shevchuk was overall the biggest influence on my work, his techniques of blowing access paint with a straw from the edges of the player and the guitar proving to be extremely useful and effective to show the movement and energy that a performing guitarist radiates. The energy that guitarists give off when they are playing was a topic which I wanted to explore very much and Shevchuk's work this this very effectively in such a sense that his methods make the pieces seem to come to life in a splash of kinetics. I will most certainly continue to use Shevchuk's work as an influence as I find that it represents my passion for playing the guitar in my work the most effectively. 

Cornelia Parker has had equal amounts of influence on my work, her piece "Dark Matter: An Exploding View" being one of the primary factors. The violently disassembled structure proving to show vast amounts of movement, even for an almost completely stationary object, I managed to create a picture of a destroyed guitar which was inspired by Parker's explosive, powerful pieces, violently dismantled and vaguely re-assembled again to make it seem as though the audience is viewing a picture of the object when it is in the process of being destroyed. I created this as a two-dimensional piece instead of a three-dimensional skeletal structure of an object because it gains a more controlled presentation of destruction; instead of physically destroying a priceless instrument in reality, I could create each individual piece of debris on paper arranged to show the once playable instrument which has now been obliterated. 

Georges Braque did not show me all that much inspiration or influence for my work. Although his work proves extremely interesting with the multiple angles which he has perceived the objects which he has painted all in one picture (of which he contributed greatly to and pioneered the formation of the "Cubism" art movement), I did not find that this blended well with my other artists' production techniques, particularly that of Yuriy Shevchuk; the combination of blowing small trails of surplus water colour paint with a straw and the elements of cubism did not fuse well as the angles and vertices that were to have these paint trails protruding from them were too irregular and at extreme angles therefore were not as aesthetically pleasing as the combination of the other artists' work. 

Work to do over half term - photos of guitarists

Here are some photos of the guitarists from my friend's band performing a few of their songs. I hope to use these in my studies and work.

Formal Analysis - Dark Matter: An Exploding View

 

 





This is an example of a piece by Cornelia Parker of a destroyed garden shed called "Dark Matter: An Exploded View." It has been created using a range of typical materials that you would find in a garden shed; wood, ceramic, some metal and plastic and has been hung up with wire.

 

The dimensions on this piece are only roughly known, about 4000 x 5000 x 5000 millimetres. This is due to the pieces irregular shape and for the fact that it is constantly moving slightly.

 

This piece has been created using fairly unusual techniques; a shed and it's contents have been destroyed using explosives, then re-assembled by hanging the debris with wire from the exhibition ceiling in such a fashion that the shed looks vaguely rebuilt.

A bright light is then hung by wire in the epicentre of this explosive piece. This creates shadows that move as the piece moves and makes it seem as if the viewer is looking at the moment this structure was destroyed.

There is so much kinetic energy in the atmosphere about this piece; everything seems to have so much motion. This is due to how this is hung up - using wire. This thin wire makes every single little piece move and rotate slightly as the people around it viewing the piece move the air surrounding it.

 

The light itself also creates a sense of energy, showing the destructive power of the explosion and turning the piece into a bright blast of movement.

Like the explosion itself, this piece is unfortunately only temporary, as is everything. A metaphor that carries in many of Parker's pieces. She bases much of her work on the flamboyance of destruction and the resulting aftermath, this gives off movement and a vast amount of energy, which is why I have chosen these pieces as inspiration.

 

This piece can be found in the Tate gallery in London, which is the same city as where Cornelia Parker works and lives and was created in 1991.

Georges Braque - Artist Analysis

Georges Braque was a major 20th century French painter and sculptor who, along with Pablo Picasso, developed the art style known as Cubism. From a young age, Braque was gaining experience in painting and art as he was being trained in the family business as a house painter in , like his father and grandfather. However, he also studied artistic painting in his free time.

This is one of Braque's pieces that I have been interested in as it includes a guitar.  The guitar stands out from the rest of the piece with it's size and less angular, squared shape. The cubism style contrasts greatly to my other artist's styles of production and I think that these contrasts would be able to come together so I can merge the two styles quite nicely.

Cubism involves drawing an object from multiple angles all in one picture, in this picture in particular, the guitar has a sense of freedom and has been fractured from reality into this abstract masterpiece. Braque saw that pictures were only two dimensional and his cubist pieces show that he expressed the different dimensions of the objects he was painting with the various angles he painted them all at.

This is another piece by Braque which includes a guitar. This one uses more vibrant colours than the previous piece, which makes the guitar stand out form the rest of the objects, so much so that the rest of the objects seem to be in the background with just the guitar in the foreground. The highly contrasting colours on the guitar are also very eye-catching compared to the rest of the piece which has very earthy tones like the previous example instead of the bright yellow and deep blue colours of this object.

Personal Investigation Introduction

For my personal investigation, I am hoping to study the painting or production of pictures of performing guitarists. Ever since I became aware of music's existence I have been obsessed with the instruments that produce these sounds. The one which caught my attention the most being the guitar.

After consistently begging my parents and telling them that I would not give up my learning for an arduous few years, I finally managed to convince them to take me to a guitar shop.
After the purchase of my first guitar, I've been learning and practicing how to play constantly and buying new guitars for the past 8 years now and it is definitely the biggest interest and passion of mine.

The theme for my personal investigation will be based around the motion of the guitarist and the energy that they give off when performing at a live venue. This energy is what I see when I am watching a guitarist perform on stage; the talent and passion the player has for the instrument radiates from them into the audience along with the actual sounds bellowing from the amplifiers.

My first artist will be Yuriy Shevchuk, a Ukrainian artist who paints performing guitarists using water colour paints in a very intriguing manner; he adds surplus paint to the parts of the guitarist or guitar that he wants appear in motion, then using a straw, blows the paint gently away from the guitarist/guitar. I will use this technique in my own work.

My second artist that I will look at is Cornelia Parker. She has done a piece that has involved destroying a shed with explosives and then hanging up the pieces in a room in such a fashion that makes it look almost rebuilt. She then added a bright light in the middle of the piece. This effect makes it look as if it is in the process of an explosion. This piece also gives a good sense of motion which I am including in my work by destroying an old guitar and photographing the remains after vaguely re-assembling it.

My third artist will be Georges Braque for his guitar paintings. He creates his work using cubism and I think this will give my work a good contrasting aspect to the detail of my previous artists' work.

Formal Analysis

This is a painting of the guitar playing legend Jimi Hendrix by one of my main artists, Yuriy Shevchuk which he titled "Jazz Rock Jimi Hendrix 03". He has created this using a range of materials including pencil and various water colour paints. It has been produced on a medium sized canvas - roughly 70cm wide by 45cm tall.

To create this piece, Shevchuk first sketched Hendrix and his guitar out in pencil, adding only minor detail and outlines with no shading. With this, he had the foundations to begin to add the splashes of water colour paint.
He began with adding colour on the background and surrounding Hendrix's being, using different shades of violet and earthy brown to blend in to create a dark, warm, full bodied background.
He also used the same shades of paint for the tones on Hendrix and his guitar, using more saturated and watered down paint for the lighter tones and more concentrated paint with less water in for the shaded areas.
These contrasting tones blend very well when using water colours, fusing together to create the gradient of tones in between.
He uses eccentric, bold brush strokes on the background of this piece and more intricate brushing for the detailed anatomy of Hendrix's instrument, body and clothing. Also, one of the more distinctive features - along with the use of vibrant colours - is how he has used the technique of blowing the wet paint outwards from the guitarist's body and guitar has been used to suggest the eccentric movement and virtuoso fast playing of the guitar. He uses these methods of production to emphasise the energy radiating from Hendrix in the form of music and talent. Clearly passionately performed onto this canvas.
Unfortunately, the site where I found this image, along with as many other sites that I could find which were relevant to this piece, did not specify it's location or the exact date at which it was produced, however it has been known that Shevchuk has been living in Prague since 1993 and sells his paintings on his website (listed below) directly from his studio in the city.
This artist's work, and definitely this piece in particular, shows that even a two dimensional, still painting can involve movement and expression through music.
Personally I think that, even though the range of colours used is limited, this is a fine example of passionate artwork that I find extremely aesthetically pleasing. However I believe that with a wider range of more vibrant, bright colours would show even more energy and passion and would also link well to the typical "psychedelic" music that the musician that he has painted is linked to.

Link to Shevchuk's website: http://www.shevchukart.com/

Link to the site of the image: http://en.artscad.com/A.nsf/Opra/SRVV-7NVJBA

Yuriy Shevchuk - Artist analysis

Yuri Shevchuk is a Ukrainian painter who attended the Kiev Art School and later the prestigious Kiev Architectural Academy. Among a few other select things, Yuri's passion has been jazz music. This aspect of his life has lead him to produce some stunning pieces of art full of soul, passion, energy and character of performing instrument players.

Here is one example of some of his work; for this, he sketched the picture of the guitarist with his instrument and added watercolour paint for the tones. What catches the viewer's eye with this piece is how he has blown on the wet watercolour paint away from the guitarist to show a sense of energy and eccentric movement, capturing the moment of performance and gives the painting a whole sense of liveliness.

This is another example of his fine work. As a musician myself, I hope to show as much passion for playing my instrument as Shevchuk shows his passion for music through the medium of art. The deep red colours indicate the passion and love this artist has for Jazz music. It also expresses the energy that is radiated from these musicians. 

These pieces have inspired me to use this technique of water colour and blowing the wet paint to create a sense of motion to my own work.

Plan of ideas for my personal investigation

I was originally going to do this in my notebook and upload a picture of my brainstorm, but instead I have made bullet points as it looks neater. Here are the bullet points:

• I enjoy playing my guitars.

• I have a selection of different guitars that I can work from - could possibly make different picture styles for the different styles of guitar.

• I perform in a band sometimes.

• Could do pictures of guitarists performing in a band - lots of movement - links to my artist Cornelia Parker.

• Cornelia Parker - energetic pieces, exploding, lots of movement in her art.

• Parker's work may work well with performing guitarists because of the movement of the piece/guitarist and the energy from the music may be illustrated well with explosive style.

• Use of ink for dark, clean, straight lines.

• May be able to use oil or acrylic paints for bold, energetic colours.

• Use of water colours for more gentle tones

• Blowing the paint at certain points on the piece to create motion in the picture



Cornelia Parker - Artist analysis

 

Cornelia Parker is a sculptor and installation artist from Cheshire, UK. She attended the Gloucestershire College of Art & Design and received an MFA  and doctorates from various universities including University of Wolverhampton, University of Birmingham and the University of Gloucestershire. She now resides and works in London.



This is a photograph of one of Cornelia Parker's pieces. To create this piece, she had a garden shed blown up with explosives, then she picked up the pieces and arranged them hung by thin wire in a room in such a way that you can make out that it was once a shed, almost put back together. The then placed a light in the direct centre of the piece to shine through the destroyed hanging splinters and planks to create a sense of energy and movement, almost as if it is a picture taken of the shed exploding. This piece can be visited at the Tate gallery, London.

This is another piece of work by Parker. It is in a very similar style as the previous example because it has been produced in a similar way, she has set fire to a pile of timber and hung up the results in an organised manner; smaller pieces of debris on the outside of the piece and the larger pieces of these charred planks in the centre, almost like an explosion. Despite not being made in the exact same way as the previous piece, this still has a sense of energy about it. The smaller pieces appear as if they are flying out in a destructive manner.

Selection of photos for our coursework

I was instructed to take photos of any object we could find related to a specific key word. Unfortunately, my phone isn't equipped with the best camera, but I still managed to capture some interesting photographs.

I have also taken some pictures that I found very intriguing that could inspire my work.

The key words that we were given were: 

Hanging,

Angle,

Contrast

Contrast: a fairly simple contrast on this classic car wheel between the black of the tire and the bright, metallic rim.

I found the motion of these two pictures very interesting, they have a certain energy about them that I hope to incorporate into my own work.

Contrast: The black and white on my shoes.

Contrast: Yellow and black give good contrast

Contrast: the contrast between yellow and red produce an image with warm tones

Contrast: Red vs Blue, a well known contrast