Art event afterthoughts

Event: 19th Century American Art

 

I attended the “Nineteenth Century American Art” exhibit at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. As the name suggests, the show featured landscape works by both prominent and lesser known American artists of the 1800s. Because the show displayed 19^th century art, however, even the more popular artists, such as George Bingham, are not widely known today. The majority of the works were oil on canvas paintings, though there were also a few watercolors. Overall, the exhibit was interesting, particularly as it was not what I expected it to be.

                When I hear the words “American art,” I usually think about the abstract art movements of the early or mid-20^th century. I picture works like American Gothic or those of Jackson Pollock. The exhibit I attended, then, was surprising to me because the style was vastly different from what I had imagined. I knew that the exhibit was about 19^th century art, but because I didn’t know of any real examples, I substituted what I did know. Overall, the works were highly realistic portrayals of American landscapes; the realism of many of the paintings was surprising in and of itself. It was clear that the artists went through years of training and practice to accurately include so much detail in their work. Their expertise serves as a reminder that we tend to take photography for granted in modern times. In the same sense, I felt that a lot of the works were somewhat dull in their appeal. The ease of capturing real life with a digital camera has almost caused us to expect some sort of personal innovation in all artwork, which was not the case in the 19^th century. Without photography, people in that period would probably think such realistic depictions of life were fascinating. I enjoyed the whole exhibit because although I didn’t find the paintings hugely appealing, I was able to see how art has changed not just in terms of an artist’s style, but also in terms of what people want to see in artwork.

A few of my works

    For this work, I used both pencil and Adobe Illustrator. I originally drew the base image on standard copier paper using a pencil. A physical medium, such as a pencil, was much easier to control and experiment with specific shapes than a digital medium would be. However, I used Illustrator to color in the work, because I found it easier to be precise on a small-scaled work such as this. I also wanted the work to have a simple, straightforward feel, which I felt would be best created by pure, solid colors.

     I created this work entirely in Adobe Illustrator. To me, it looks very basic, but I like the "clean" look of the image. I created this work as a more light-hearted graphic showing outer space. A lot of graphics and even photos of outer space have a kind of dark, sullen feel to them, probably because they depict something so vast and poorly understood. With this work, however, I wanted to create a space scene, but I didn't want it to be too solemn, and I feel that I was able to satisfy that intention.

    I created this work for an art project in high school. It is made from a piece of cardboard covered in duct tape, which I then coated in black spray paint. To me, the simple black coating gives the sculpture an air of mystery. It is clearly discernible as an elephant (I hope), but it strikes me as something that one wouldn't expect to encounter in an average art show. When I created the sculpture, I intended it to seem authentic; That is, I wanted it to look like genuine African art, and I feel that I was able to create that sensation in this work.


Full sizes for all of these pictures available here.

First Words

I've never really tried blogging before, so this will all be new to me. I do like to draw things on the computer, though, so I'm looking forward to having a place to share it all. I find it odd to be called an artist because I've never really considered myself one. Most people in college art classes have been doing some sort of art for most of their lives. They've been drawing, painting, sketching, and sculpting for years. I enjoy creating art, but I haven't done it much in my lifetime, especially with a medium other than the computer.
I can easily get swept up on a drawing I'm doing on the computer. Hours can pass without notice. Years ago, when I first got started with digital art, I assumed it would be faster than the traditional mediums, but I've found that it can take just as long. I guess I was just used to computers speeding things up. Now, I'm happy that digital art can be so time consuming as it feels more rewarding in the end.