ITAP lecture – 4 : Research

Principle 3 : Inspiration

In early greek mythology, it is seen that greek artists believed that artistic inspiration came from up above, and that their ideas came straight from God’s such as Apollo and Dionysus. Well, as far as inspiration goes, it is found that the more research done and more the enquires made, better are the ideas one comes up with. As artists we should treasure things that inspire us. We should collect and store work of other artists that have inspired us and constantly look back to see if we can gain anything from their work. It is important for us to keep an open mind towards everyday life in general, keeping our eyes peeled as inspiration can come from anywhere, all we have to do is recognise it and use it to properly fit our purpose.

There are so many things around us that we can draw inspiration from. Some artists draw their inspiration from other artists, while others like to derive their inspiration directly from experience. This inspiration can be drawn from nature, a particular incident, a person, etc. It is important for an artist to be continually inspired and motivated towards his work. Different things inspire different people so it is imperative that we find something that truly inspires us rather than looking at other artists’ sources of inspiration.

As an illustrator I was inspired by the work of this french artist named, Florian Nicole. What I liked most about her work is the style she used for most of her work, that water-colour effect she gave her illustrations while inking them. Apart from her style, I also really liked the way she brings out emotion and plays with facial expression in her illustrations. The two pictures above are examples of her work.

Principle 5 : Knowledge of an Audience 

Knowledge of a target audience plays a vital role as far as visual communication is concerned. As a visual communicator, the audience should hold a key position in the outcome of his or her work. The audience determines the path that the work takes and ultimately the final outcome. When visual communicators start a particular piece of work, they have to ask themselves various key questions like, ‘ Who is my target audience? ‘, ‘ What content would they expect? ‘, ‘ Does my content suit the specific audience? ‘, etc.

Artists require a general understanding of the audience and how different audiences react to different themes and situations. For example, it wouldn’t make sense bring a fine art gallery to an elementary school and expect the young students to understand the depth and grasp the inner meanings of each piece. Similarly, displaying graffiti work at a fine art gallery would’t make sense as only a few people visiting a fine art gallery would actually appreciate and understand graffiti artwork.

In conclusion, an artist should carefully consider his or her work in relation to their target audience. By doing this they ensure that their audience would grasp the meaning and significance of their work, allowing their work to be better appreciated. Having an idea of a target audience also aids in the overall construction process of the work and can act as a guideline on which people can base their ideas on.

Bibliography :

http://artistsinspireartists.com/drawing/artists-series-35-florian-nicolle

ITAP lecture – 3 : Connectivity

Principle 1 : Notions of Originality

The dictionary defines the term novel as, “The ability to think independently and creatively.” or “The quality of being novel or unusual.” In today’s day and age originality is absent. Everything is copied and transformed into something else. There is close to nothing that you can think of that has never been thought of before. Maybe it isn’t completely dead, but it is dying fast. As Mark Twain said, “Adam didn’t know how good he had it; he could say anything he wanted to and know it had never been said before.”

We see examples of this all over the place, on the internet, in works of art, books, media, etc. There are many people that claim that their work or idea is 100% authentic, but majority of the time, its not something someone  has never thought of or done before. Even if we don’t consciously copy someone else, our ideas or work always originate from somewhere. They can originate from someone else’s work or something we’ve seen someone else do, and therefore ideas that we some up with or work that we do cannot be completely original as we mainly base them on our experiences.

Ideas are consciously or unconsciously copied from others, but ultimately “its not where you take things from – its where you take them to.” – Jean-Luc Godard. As we analyse the first set of pictures we see two paintings that look similar in concept. The painting on the left is the mexican artist, Frida Kahlo’s self-portrait made in 1941, and the painting on the right is a copied version of the same painting, where artist Leyana Kurniawati from Indonesia has copied the pose and layout of the original painting. The second set of pictures shows us two very similar book covers. The original being the one on the left, the cover for L.K. Rigel’s book, ‘Spiderwork’. Just as we have seen in the paintings earlier, the book on the right has copied the layout of the cover of the book on the left in a very similar fashion.

Principle  2 : Relations Developed from Existing forms of Historical Culture

There are many artists and other people that derive their work from great works of the past. A large portion of artists like to draw inspiration from renaissance art, replicating and drawing ideas from it. This gave rise to a large amount of artwork inspired mainly by historical events and artwork, that would include sculptures, paintings, etc. Artwork especially from the renaissance period is a great source of inspiration as the period proved as a turning point for art as artists expanded their knowledge of art technically so as to produce artwork that was more realistic. Thus, there are many artists that like to experiment with these works of art and use them in their work.

The first painting over here shows us a picture that resembles the Last Supper. The artist here has used the idea and concept of the Last Supper to derive a specific and different meaning for his own purpose. The second picture is an edited version of the famous Raphael – Cherubini painting. Here the artist gives a comical effect to a historical painting by replacing the faces of the angels with cartoon faces, thus changing the meaning and message of the painting entirely.

Bibliography :

ITAP lecture – 2 : Creative Thought

Principle 1 : Overcoming Mindsets

 

Overcoming mindsets is essential for a person to fully express his or her creativity. Mindsets are a road block in the path to true creativity and genius. They prevent us from looking at things from a different perspective, making us stick to just one approach on a given subject. Therefore it is imperative that we overcome these mindsets, and broaden our field of vision and thought.

 

There are many ways by which we can overcome mindsets. The first most common way to do this is to break out of habits and routines. Habits make us look at everyday issues in a very singular way, thus breaking out of habits allows us to look at problems with fresh eyes. To overcome mindsets we sometimes have to break or bend the rules, thinking outside the box and looking for unconventional solutions to a given problem. It is also essential that we try to work outside our comfort zones, by which we become more versatile and able to adapt to given situations.

 

 

 

 

The first picture here, shows us how the artist, David Allen Reeves, has innovatively portrayed a small zombie scene using paper cut-outs. The next picture shows us how the artist Ben Heine has used a combination of a pencil sketch and a photograph to bring out this stunning picture. It gives the image a sort of 3-D effect that is quite unique. Both these artists have used unique methods that most people are unfamiliar with, to portray their artwork. Therefore they make their work stand out even more in the eyes of their viewers.

 

Principle 5 : Managing a Creative Environment

 

Creativity extends beyond just ideas in your head to your surroundings. An innovative and creative workspace can help foster and inspire new ideas, whether you’re an illustrator, animator, photographer, painter or involved in any other creative work. A comfortable and inspiring workspace not only helps us generate new ideas but also helps us in putting those ideas down and following through with the rest of the work allowing the idea to fully develop. Moreover, our workspace should be a place that we’re comfortable working in and a place that helps inspire us and motivate us.

 

Everyone should have their own custom workspaces, as different set-ups work for different people. But basically, it should contain all the required tools needed for your work. It can also contain some of your work for reference or review. Preferably,  one should collect work from artists that inspire them to help further motivate them. Keeping in mind the kind of work you will be doing, one should customise his or her workplace creatively in a way that inspires them.

 

 

 

The first picture by S. Britt shows a workplace common to that of an illustrator. Everything is neatly arranged and easily accessible and has a pleasant look. The next picture shows the  workplace of a sculptor and how everything is arranged to best suit his or her needs.

 

Bibliography: 

 

http://davidallenreeves.tumblr.com

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/pencil-vs-camera-ii-new-843741

ITAP lecture – 1 : Reflective Visual Journal (RVJ)

Principle 1 : Draw. Work by hand.

This is the first principle I want to concentrate my attention to, as it is the basis for the subsequent principles that follow. Greater emphasis should be placed on drawing by hand as it helps us to visually illustrate our thoughts on paper. Helping us  to break down relatively complex problems and analysing its different components it results in a simpler understanding of what is before us.

Drawing gives us a broader view of the task at hand, therefore making it much easier and faster for one to draw conclusions from it. Apart from simplifying  a problem, drawing also helps in showing one’s entire work process. Analysing work becomes immensely easier when you have an easily understandable and well maintained record of your work. Drawing also helps us to look at different approaches to a given problem, thus giving rise to unique and different ideas. Drawing as an activity can also include illustration through different materials that can be used to better describe an idea. It isn’t limited in any sense, leaving your imagination as the only barrier in its path.

 

As seen in the two sketches above, the first one is a great example of thinking by drawing as the artist has drawn the house from different angles and has also supported his sketch with a few annotations to help further understand his illustration. The next image shows the different elements of a sketch of two people, but apart from being just a drawing the annotations help to further understand the picture and the story.

Principle 2 : Utilise Your Creative Brain

The second principle I would like to emphasise on is utilising one’s creative brain. The creative class of people would find that utilising their brain to overcome problems could be the deadliest weapon in their arsenal.

The brain essentially is divided into two parts, the left brain and the right brain. The right brain symbolises the mind of a child at play, i.e. the creative side. It allows you to experiment and explore the creative recesses of the mind, letting you fully develop your ideas on paper. The left brain symbolises the mind of a businessman or analyst, that interrogates and comes to rational conclusions. The left brain allows you to fully assess your work, seeing whether it meets the required standards. For a creative person, the ability to consciously switch between the two brain modes would help immensely with their work.

For example, we can use the right brain to experiment with our ideas till we come up with something substantial and then use the left brain to critically analyse it, to see if it fits its intended purpose and to also check if we can improve it. It must be kept  in mind that while experimenting with the right brain, we do so around a particular theme to prevent us from straying from the topic.

The first picture is a is a painting by Denton Loomis that shows us the working of the right brain as he shows us his description of love through this painting. The second picture is an art piece done by Mathew James Taylor, that shows us the use of both left and right hemispheres of the brain to bring out an artistic watercolour illustration of his friend, Sai.

 Bibliography