Total Art Soul - For Artists

A couple of things happened since my last post. First of all, we participated our first real art fair last weekend – Carlsbad Art in the Village. Here’s the poster with my “Cherry Blossom II” on it  :

Unlike with our local markets and swaps, we actually had expectations for this one. It was supposed to show whether or not we are ready for large regional events and whether it is worth paying $200+ to participate. Well, when it comes to generating interest and attracting visitors, I think we are ready. A lot of people stopped by. It is the beauty of an art-dedicated event: all who come there come for the art. It was great to have an “audience” with a genuine interest in and appreciation of my work and art in general.

When it comes to sales…er…it wasn’t that good. We did make our money back with a very small profit on top which disappears when you count things like gas and food. We didn’t have to pay for a night’s sleep (our friends at Camp Pendleton were kind enough to let us stay with them AND they came to the show AND they bought an original painting and a print) or for childcare (my family was visiting and they were more than glad to watch the kid while chilling at the nearby beach). Still, we didn’t lose money, and that’s something, right?

Some of the highlights of the show:

• being in Carlsbad. Perfect weather. Beautiful streets. Intelligent people. Don’t ask me why I moved to the high desert, it’s too prosaic…
• seeing our friends and family who came to the show and made me feel special 
• the smell of the ocean! And almost getting soaked in cold water when I was sitting on the sand breastfeeding Elijah and didn’t notice a particularly strong wave sneaking up on us. We were saved by my husband 
• some comments people made…Like, coming from a dark-long-haired young man with a guitar, “All these colors…This is just too happy for me. I like Gothic…And why so many babies?” – the babies (five of them) are on the wall with examples of my portraits.
• being a Yupo-evangelist. I even gave a little piece of Yupo to one lady.
• a friend of ours buying an original painting. I didn’t feel like I was giving my baby away, but it was still very special. The painting is the“Cheeseburger in Paradise”, I mean, “Lahaina, Hawaii” 

For my husband’s review of the fair, go tohttp://theartistshusband.blogspot.com/2010/08/carlsbad-art-show-report.html

A few days before the fair, I was email-interviewed by Jennifer The Milk Mixer. Jennifer is an artist herself, and maintains a blog where she writes about creative people she meets. She found me through Twitter (@YevgeniaWatts) and liked my paintings. She asked me if she could feature me on her blog – and of course, I was all for it! You can read the mini-interview here.

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I have been on a bit of an art movie and documentary binge recently. I am on my third viewing of Georgia O'Keeffe (2009) since they posted it on Super Channel recently. A fantastic portrayal of one of the finest female artists of the 20th century. I always appreciate people who march to their own drummer, and Georgia O'Keeffe definitely falls into this category. Joan Allen was fantastic as Georgia, allowing me to forget that this was an actress's portrayal of a complex and talented woman. Jeremy Irons is Alfred Stieglitz, her lover, and narcissistic  champion.

The cinematography is beautiful and having never had the good fortune to see an O'Keeffe in person, I appreciated the chance to see the magnitude of some of these works by proxy. I am now a fan of the New Mexico landscape as a result of this film.

Pollock with Ed Harris (2000)

By far this is one of my favorites and one of the best biopics out there. Pollock was a man of many demons, most notably alcoholism, but a genius at his work. There is definitely a 'tortured artist' theme evident in this movie, but Ed Harris goes out on a limb to give us the full picture of the artist and demonstrate the man at his work. This movie is rich in painting scenes and Ed Harris is the consummate perfectionist in recapturing Pollock's passion and approach to the canvas.

Lee Krasner (played by Marcia Gay Harden) is tenacious as Pollock's lover, friend and champion, literally putting aside her own career to absorb herself in his. This movie is brutal in its honesty, the ending a short, sharp shock. Watch for Amy Madigan as Peggy Guggenheim. If you haven't seen this movie, seriously consider putting it at the top of your list.

Lust For Life with Kirk Douglas (1956)

Hands-down, one of the best features of this movie is the original Vincent Van Gogh works featured in the film. The movie shows Vincent's loneliness, agony and passion towards his art, spirituality and the people around him. Van Gogh's mental illness is evident but thankfully not the main feature of the film. Anthony Quinn plays Paul Gauguin , his friend and nemesis. A great portrayal of this dance of opposites, the cold, almost bullying-in-nature Gauguin against the softer emotional and over-eager Van Gogh.   One of my favorite parts inevitably involves "Starry Night". Keep in mind that this movie is from 1956, so it is a stylized drama representative of that time, but otherwise, this movie is vivid and timeless...

Frida with Salma Hayek (2002)

Salma Hayek is brilliant in this movie in her portrayal of Frida Kahlo. This biopic captures the pain, passion and her fiery independence and the art of a woman who was definitely ahead of her time and not to be boxed in by the conventions of her society. That being said, it is painful to watch her walk eyes-wide-open into her marriage with the openly philandering Diego Rivera.  Alfred Molina is fantastic as Deigo and portrays with ease a lovable man that you wish you could hate, yet cannot.

Frida's enormous life-long physical pain as a result of an early trolley accident only heightens the respect you have for her as she was never self-pitying and carried herself with strength and dignity.  The dream sequences that bring her inspiration and artwork to life are some of my favorite features of this movie.  There is such an honesty to Frida's work, and this movie does much to illustrate the complexity and talent of the woman and her genius.

Girl With A Pearl Earring with Colin Firth (2003)

A fictional story woven from the masterpiece of the same name. While the story of the Girl With A Pearl Earring is nothing more than idle speculation and/or fantasy on behalf of the writer, this period piece does much to bring to life a historical portrayal of a brilliant painter during the later 1600's who, with only 16 paintings surviving the centuries, is still viewed as a Master today.

Vermeer's financial dependence, yet evident silent resentment for his arrogant patron brings an interesting conflict to Vermeer's life in this film. He depends on commissions for his families survival and to keep them from having to flee debtors, and to perpetuate the cycle of his art, the commission needed to pursue his life in art is also in a sense, his artistic prison.

Scarlett Johanssen is beautiful in her portrayal of the young and naive maid Griet who seems to intuitively understand the artist and his work better than those who have surrounded him for years. This film does much to give you a sense of that period, and the attention to detail and the low light and shadows does much to set the mood and tone of this time in history.

Basquiat with Jeffrey Wright (1996)

This movie is a great snapshot of the chaotic and often over-indulgent NYC art scene during the 1980's. If you could sum up the theme in only so many words, it would be "be careful what you wish for..." . This film offers a hard look at celebrity and the impact on the artist.  David Bowie is so impressive as Andy Warhol, as is Dennis Hopper as Basquiat's art dealer.

I give this movie credit for expanding my curiosity to new and less conventional forms of art.

Surviving Picasso with Anthony Hopkins (1996)

This film was based on the controversial memoir/book by Françoise Gilot, Picasso's lover, muse and mother to two of his children. Surviving Picasso doesn't so much tell the life of Picasso as much as to give us insight into Gilot's 10 years of observations and life with the private man when the cameras are turned off and the admirers not necessarily at hand. Anthony Hopkins was brilliant as Picasso and it is impossible to imagine another actor playing the part as well as he did.

Picasso's relationship with his friend and rival Henri Matisse (played by Joss Ackland ) was one of the high points of the movie for me. Julianne Moore is amazing as Picasso's troubled former lover and muse, artist and poet Dora Maar.

No doubt about it... he was a creative genius and few artists have ever come close to his diverse skills or prolific creativity. Fortunately or unfortunately, he was also aware of that. People in his inner circle paid a dear price to be near him to experience the extraordinary.

Plenty of studio shots and Picasso (Anthony Hopkins) at work on the canvas or creating assemblage art, and many scenes with his lesser known works. It will be only suggestions of his bigger masterpieces (like a shot from above when he was at work on Guernica) due to the producers being unable to secure permission to show his work at the time this movie was made.

Definitely worth the watch if you are interested in seeing a more intimate and very complex portrait of the artist from the eyes of an insider. Watching this movie, it is not hard to see why people were swept away by the hurricane that was a man named Picasso.

Picasso : The Man and His Work (documentary 1986 )

There are two parts to this documentary, I wish they had been combined into one set and possibly re-mastered for release onto DVD for better quality. I have only seen the first one which covers Picasso's life from 1881 through to 1937, detailing his artistic development from the age of 15 right through his blue and pink periods and leaving off with one of his most famous masterpieces, Guernica. I am ordering Part 2 from Amazon as I speak as this post has reminded me that I had always wanted to own both. The first disc only run about 45 minutes so I suspect the second is probably the same.

I get the impression that the director/producer of this documentary might have been a friend as you really get a first hand view and relaxed interview with Picasso involving his home and studio, and innumerable views of his paintings, sculptures and ceramics. Definitely a Picasso extravaganza!

Part Two covers from 1938 and onwards, I will update this post when I finally get my hands on it!

Marc Chagall (directed by Kim Evans)

I wish I owned this, but I actually happened across this gem in a library video section. It was fantastic and aside from a great biography of the artist behind the fantastical paintings, my parting memory of this video is how the camera would linger on different works, allowing us to really see them. Lots of archival footage of Chagall and film depicting him at work...

The only thing better would be to see these gorgeous works in person~ and since that is not possible for many (especially myself) this documentary is certainly a great runner-up.

My Left Foot with Daniel Day Lewis

The true story of noted  Christy Brown, an accomplished Irish artist and writer who was born with cerebral palsy and did everything with the only limb he could get to cooperate ~ his left foot. Inspiring, heart-breaking, a brilliant movie and easily one of Day Lewis's best perfomances.

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The movie I want to see but have not~  yet...

The Agony and the Ecstasy with Charlton Heston (1965)

This movie is based on Michelangelo's life during the time he painted the Sistine Chapel.

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These descriptions ( and I use the term loosely) are strictly based on my own impressions and opinions and not necessarily a description of the film. Did you get something different from the films above? I would love to hear about it. Do you know of any movies or documentaries not listed here? Please share them! A number of us are always on the look-out for a great movie! I am certain I have forgotten a title or two here but I suspect this post has run on long enough!

Next post: Great Books about Art and Artists!

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It's been a while since we blogged as it suddenly got very busy round here :) We've just put a new exclusive range together for a bridal business, so lots of beading and taking of photographs. On top of that, we're appearing in two gift guides and have just opened a uk shop online !

Then there's the drawing- I'm still working on a range of licensed images, which brings me to the subject of this blog. I've been asked to do a series of black and white images, for which I've been playing with different mediums to show the client how many different effects can be achieved. So, thought I'd compare and contrast for you :) Some of you will have read the first bit before but bear with...

First up, my usual charcoal. I use charcoal pencil normally, as I can sharpen it to a needle point for fine detail and it still blends beautifully. I tried the posh ones that come in sets but didn't get on with them due to the colour change because of the binder. I now only buy the kind that cost about £2 for a pack of 12, as you can see here they are very versatile.



Then, I tried Wolff's carbon pencils, claimed to be the best drawing medium in the world. These cost around £2.50 for a set of 4.  Now, this is just a sketch and done from a photograph that had been blown up so not the best example but...


These were very interesting to work with- not as precise as the charcoal, on art paper close- up it almost looks like ink painting, but the blackest, blackest black you can imagine. It was almost more than my little gothic soul could take :)  Also, unlike the blended charcoal, the different grades showed no colour change, from b through to 6b.
It blends a little oddly too, you rub away like mad with your paper stubby to little effect then suddenly it decides it will blend after all and you nearly take the lot off. I've got the hang of that now, it's not really an issue but just thought I'd warn you.

In the event of you making a hash of it, the carbon is about as tough to rub out- possible but hard to remove all traces so take your time drawing in guide lines. Oh, and quick note- neither charcoal or carbon will go over graphite so don't use standard pencils when you're setting up.
I think I'll use a combination of the two for most images- charcoal for fine detail and carbon for heavy shadow, but I also think the carbon would be fantastic for flowers, the contrast you get is amazing and for the right subject, that slight fuzziness can be a good thing.

So, for those of you still using graphite, give these a go. They do everything graphite does and then some. Plus, you don't get that shine, which can be a pain especially if you've got to scan or photograph the image afterwards.
Go play :)

Karen
(the one without the beard)

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