Evaluation Writing

At first, I found it difficult about what I needed to do for the cube, but then I found it clear that I had to produce a six sided cube with the still life, self-portrait, Zentangles and three typographies. My first thoughts on receiving the assignments brief was quite interesting because I wanted to see where I’m at. I collected some information from different artistic views and I put it in my own words. Some of the researches I took for e.g. Van Gogh‘s drawings were line and tonal, sketches were contour and gestured lines, some of his paintings were cross hatch.

I found that seeking and handling the information was quite difficult because when I needed to find the specific information for each one especially Egon Schiele, his work that he has done has mostly produced mono drawings and mono paintings, it took me quite a long time to find some of the information I needed. I think that the elements of my research that inspired my designs were the shape and form and the colour of the line drawings and still life’s I done.

To be honest, before I didn't think my designs would be high quality, but then at the end, I was more than satisfied with some of my designs which I put more quality into. On the other hand, I do feel that I could have improve some of my work to a high standard like improving every single mistake that I have committed on each side of my cube, that way I would have got more marks on my assignment, instead It could be the other way round.                              

 

Before we started our I was finding it difficult to pick my designs because some of them were simply not good enough, then I had to create better new designs for my final piece. I planned out each of my designs and I picked out the best six drawings to put on each side of my cube. The techniques, process and materials I use are three primary colours and those three colours to produce secondary and tertiary colours by using acrylic paint.


I think during my time at GCSE (BTEC Art and Design Level 1), it was easier because if you didn't understand what you needed to do, you will be provided with a lot of help from your teachers. However, at the moment BTEC Art and design Level 3, it's much harder because there is a lot more work given to you by more than one teacher, mostly I have to work independently on my assignments that are given to me to do. 


Before when I couldn't come on Saturday to complete my work which Ieft me with one more day to go. On that point, I thought that I wasn't going to make the cube on time. On the last day, I managed to solve all my problems by finishing off the detail on each side of my cube, in a way that made me produce my assignment to a high standard.   


If I had Extra time, the changes that I would make would be to spend a lot on each side at a time. I just completed my work on time. to me, I think I rushed one of the sides which was the last side I did before finishing my cube.
  

 

 

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15 1452 and died on 2^nd May 1519, was an Italian polymath, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.

Leonardo's early works begin with the Baptism of Christ painted in conjunction with Verrocchio. Two other paintings appear to date from his time at the workshop, both of which are Annunciations. In the 1480s Leonardo received two very important commissions and commenced another work which was also of ground-breaking importance in terms of composition. Two of the three were never finished, and the third took so long that it was subject to lengthy negotiations over completion and payment.

One of these paintings is that of St. Jerome in the Wilderness. Bortolon associates this picture with a difficult period of Leonardo's life, as evidenced in his diary: "I thought I was learning to live; I was only learning to die."

Although the painting is barely begun, the composition can be seen and it is very unusual. Jerome, as a penitent, occupies the middle of the picture, set on a slight diagonal and viewed somewhat from above. His kneeling form takes on a "trapezoid shape", with one arm stretched to the outer edge of the painting and his gaze looking in the opposite direction.

Among the works created by Leonardo in the 16th century is the small portrait known as the Mona Lisa or "la Gioconda", the laughing one? In the present era it is arguably the most famous painting in the world. Its fame rests, in particular, on the "elusive" smile on the woman's face, its mysterious quality brought about perhaps by the fact that the artist has subtly shadowed the corners of the mouth and eyes so that the exact nature of the smile cannot be determined. The shadowy quality for which the work is renowned came to be called "sfumato" or Leonardo's smoke.

Leonardo was not a prolific painter, but he was a most prolific draftsman, keeping journals full of small sketches and detailed drawings recording all manner of things that took his attention.

In my opinion Leonardo da Vinci was a successful painter, and with the famous painting called Mona Lisa, that inspired other future artists to design their own type.   

 

Egon Schiele

Egon Schiele was born on June 12, 1890 and died on October 31, 1918, he was an Austrian painter. Schiele was a major figurative painter of the early 20th century. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and the many self-portraits the artist produced, including naked self-portraits. The twisted body shapes and the expressive line that characterize Schiele's paintings and drawings mark the artist as an early exponent of Expressionism.

In his early years, Schiele was strongly influenced by Klimt and Kokoschka. Although imitations of their styles, particularly with the former, are noticeably visible in Schiele's first works, he soon evolved into his own distinctive style.

Schiele's earliest works between 1907 and 1909 contain strong similarities with those of Klimt, as well as influences from Art Nouveau. In 1910, Schiele began experimenting with nudes and within a year a definitive style featuring emaciated, sickly-coloured figures, often with strong sexual overtones. Schiele also began painting and drawing children.

Schiele's work grew more complex and thematic, and after his imprisonment in 1912 he dealt with themes such as death and rebirth, although female nudes remained his main output. During the war Schiele's paintings became larger and more detailed, when he had the time to produce them. His military service however gave him limited time, and much of his output consisted of linear drawings of scenery and military officers. Around this time Schiele also began experimenting with the theme of motherhood and family.

Some view Schiele's work as being grotesque, erotic, pornographic, or disturbing, focusing on sex, death, and discovery. He focused on portraits of others as well as himself. In his later years, while he still worked often with nudes, they were done in a more realist fashion. He also painted tributes to Van Gogh's Sunflowers as well as landscapes and still life’s.

Pablo Picasso

 

 

 

Pablo Picasso was born on the 25 October 1881 and died on the 8 April 1973; he was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, stage designer, poet and playwright who spent most of his adult life in France. As one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, he was known for co-founding the Cubist movement.

Picasso demonstrated extraordinary artistic talent in his early years, painting in a realistic manner through his childhood and adolescence. During the first decade of the 20th century, his style changed as he experimented with different theories, techniques, and ideas. His work is often categorized into periods. While the names of many of his later periods are debated, the most commonly accepted periods in his work are the Blue Period from the 1901 to the 1904, the Rose Period from 1904 to the 1906), the African-influenced Period from the 1907 to the 1909, Analytic Cubism from 1909 to the 1912, and Synthetic Cubism from the 1912 to the 1919.

Picasso's African-influenced Period on 1907 to the 1909 begins with the two figures on the right in his painting, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, which were inspired by African artefacts. Formal ideas developed during this period lead directly into the Cubist period that follows.

Analytic cubism from 1909 to the 1912 is a style of painting Picasso developed with Georges Braque using monochrome brownish and neutral colours. Both artists took apart objects and "analyzed" them in terms of their shapes. Picasso and Braque's paintings at this time share many similarities. Synthetic cubism from the 1912 to 1919, was a further development of the genre, in which cut paper fragments – often wallpaper or portions of newspaper pages – were pasted into compositions, marking the first use of collage in fine art.

In Paris, Picasso entertained a distinguished coterie of friends in the Montmartre and Montparnasse quarters, including Andre Breton, poet Guillaume Apollinaire, writer Alfred Jarry, and Gertrude Stein. Apollinaire was arrested on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911. Apollinaire pointed to his friend Picasso, who was also brought in for questioning, but both were later exonerated.

 

 

 

Van Gogh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His Life and his Work




· Van Gogh was born on the 30 March 1853, and died 29 July 1890; he was a Post-Impressionist painter of Dutch origin. Vincent was highly emotional and lacked self-confidence. Between 1860 and 1880, when he finally decided to become an artist, Van Gogh had had two unsuitable and unhappy romances and had worked unsuccessfully as a clerk in a bookstore, an art salesman.



· He remained in Belgium to study art, determined to give happiness by creating beauty. The works of his early Dutch period are somber-toned, sharply lit, genre paintings of which the most famous is "The Potato Eaters" in 1885. In that year Van Gogh went to Antwerp, where he discovered the works of Rubens and purchased many Japanese prints. He is mostly known for painting and drawing.



· Van Gogh studied with Cormon, inevitably met Pissarro, Monet, and Gauguin, and began to lighten his very dark palette and to paint in the short brushstrokes of the Impressionists. His nervous temperament made him a difficult companion and night-long discussions combined with painting all day undermined his health.




· He decided to go south to Arles where he hoped his friends would join him and help found a school of art. Gauguin did join him but with disastrous results. 
  In my opinion, I think that Van Gogh is a interesting artist that been in a lot of art exhibitions with his art work which made him more popular with his fantastic work.  

Michael Craig-Martin

Michael Craig-Martin

Michael Craig-Martin was born 28 Aug 1941; he is a contemporary conceptual artist and painter. He is noted for his fostering of the Young British Artists, many of whom he taught, and for his "conceptual" artwork.

Craig-Martin has lived and worked in London since 1966. From his early box-like constructions of the late 60’s he moved increasingly to the use of ordinary household objects. In the late 70’s he began to make line drawings of ordinary objects, creating over the years an ever-expanding vocabulary of images which form the foundation of his work to this day. During the 1990s the focus of his work shifted decisively to painting, with the same range of boldly outlined motifs and vivid color schemes applied both to works on canvas, and to increasingly complex installations of wall paintings.

In 1973, he exhibited the seminal piece An Oak Tree. The work consists of a glass of water standing on a shelf attached to the gallery wall next to which is a text using a semiotic argument to explain why it is in fact an oak tree. Nevertheless, on one occasion when it was barred by Australian Customs officials from entering the country as vegetation, he was forced to explain it was really a glass of water. The work was bought by the National Gallery of Australia in 1977; however, the Tate gallery has an artist's copy.

In the 1980s, Craig-Martin was a tutor at Goldsmiths College, Department of Art, and was a significant influence on the emerging YBA generation, including Damien Hirst. He was also helpful in promoting the Freeze show to established art-world figures. In 1995 he created drawing the Line: a comprehensive touring exhibition on the history of line drawing for the Southbank Centre, London. Craig-Martin and his influence were described in an article in the Observer regarding the mentors of British art, entitled Schools of Thought. Craig-Martin has been trusted by the Tate Gallery and he has also been trusted by the National Art Collections Fund.

Michael Craig-Martin had his first one man exhibition at the Rowan Gallery in London in 1969. His solo museum exhibitions include “Always Now,” Kunstverein in Hannover, Germany, 1998; IVAM, Valencia, Spain, 2000; “Living,” Sintra Museum of Modern Art in Portugal, 2001; “Signs of Life,” Kunsthaus Bregenz in Austria, 2006; and “Less Is Still More,” Museum Haus Esters, Krefeld, Germany, 2013. He made his American debut in the "Projects" series at the Museum of Modern Art.

In my opinion, I think that Michael Craig-Martin was a still life who was inspired by artists in the 19th century to create modern art paintings.