I decided that it would be too difficult to post about M.C. Escher without showing any images and, especially, without getting into a lot of really complex mathematical concepts that I don’t understand well enough to write about just yet (and definitely not in an interesting way). So instead, I’m posting about woodcut printing. This is, incidentally, how M.C. Escher created many of his works. At the end you’ll find instructions to make your own woodcut print.
When he creates a woodcut print, the artist first draws or prints an image onto a block of wood. Then he cuts away the background. That is, he cuts away everything that he doesn’t want to come out in color in the print. Then the artist rolls ink onto the woodblock. The ink will coat the image and leave the background clean. Finally, the woodblock is pressed onto paper and the image appears, exactly as shown on the woodblock but in reverse.
Create Your Own Woodcut Print
Supplies Needed:
Styrofoam Plate
Marker
Pencil
Ink Pad
Paper
Gather your supplies. You can use the leftover Styrofoam plate after you finish a container of berries. Cut the edges off to create a flat surface. Protect your workspace with newspaper.
You should design your image first, on a scrap piece of paper. Then draw it onto the Styrofoam plate with a marker. Don’t press too hard.
Now, use your pencil to color in everything you didn’t mark with your marker. Feel free to press hard this time. This will leave the marker lines raised above the background. Those lines will pick up the ink and the part you colored in with pencil will not.
Press your ink pad onto the Styrofoam. Be sure to mark all the lines with the ink. Quickly but carefully press the Styrofoam onto your piece of paper.
And now you have a simple and safe woodcut print of your own. You can make as many copies of your print as you want in as many colors and on as many types of paper. Mix and match and have fun with it.
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Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Negative and Positive Space
Positive and negative space are both needed to create a complete picture. Without background (negative space), the subject (positive space) of a work of art might become meaningless or you might be unable to locate it at all.
For example, Imagine a yellow rectangle with a purple circle in the center. The circle, in purple, is the positive space and the background, in yellow, is the negative space. The contrast of the yellow background allows you to see the circle.
Without the negative space you wouldn’t be able to locate the positive space. The whole image would just be purple and meaningless.
Of course, this could go the other way, too. If the circle and the rectangle were the same shade of yellow, it would be an image without any positive space. The whole image would be the yellow background. Again, this is meaningless.
Look at any painting. Every artist uses positive and negative space but M.C. Escher is a particularly good example of an artist using negative space to his advantage. Due to copywrite issues, I cannot reproduce any images here, but I will direct you to the official M.C. Escher website. When you get there, click on Picture Gallery, then Switzerland and Belgium, then the image Sky and Water. Look at the way positive and negative space define each other in the form of fish and birds.
Tomorrow I’ll post something more on Escher, without images of course.
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For example, Imagine a yellow rectangle with a purple circle in the center. The circle, in purple, is the positive space and the background, in yellow, is the negative space. The contrast of the yellow background allows you to see the circle.
Without the negative space you wouldn’t be able to locate the positive space. The whole image would just be purple and meaningless.
Of course, this could go the other way, too. If the circle and the rectangle were the same shade of yellow, it would be an image without any positive space. The whole image would be the yellow background. Again, this is meaningless.
Look at any painting. Every artist uses positive and negative space but M.C. Escher is a particularly good example of an artist using negative space to his advantage. Due to copywrite issues, I cannot reproduce any images here, but I will direct you to the official M.C. Escher website. When you get there, click on Picture Gallery, then Switzerland and Belgium, then the image Sky and Water. Look at the way positive and negative space define each other in the form of fish and birds.
Tomorrow I’ll post something more on Escher, without images of course.
Return to main page.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Maurice Denis
Maurice Denis, like Paul Ranson, joined the Nabis when he saw Paul Serusier’s Talisman. He believed in all the things the Nabis stood for. Denis was an active member of the movement and published an article, Art Et Critique, in which he told of the Nabis beliefs.
Like the other Nabis, he was interested in symbolism, religious thought, and the decorative arts. He thought it was of particular importance that an artist chose the right subject and he was drawn to the bold colors of the Nabis. Below if a painting, Sunlight in the Terrace, in which Denis uses the bold colors of the Nabis in a similar way as Serusier did in his Talisman.
Denis was particularly interested in religious subjects. When you consider his body of work, this interest is clear. Below is just one example of a painting of a religious subject, Holy Women Near the Tomb.
Besides paintings, Denis illustrated books and musical scores, designed carpets and planned stained-glass windows. He decorated ceramics and even painted a mural on the ceiling of French composer, Chausson’s home.
Denis’ popularity grew ever greater and he received many commissions. Later in his life, he painted more ceiling murals, many in prestigious locations. These included murals at the Theater des Champs-Elysees, the Church of St. Paul in Geneva, and the Petit Palais in Paris.
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Like the other Nabis, he was interested in symbolism, religious thought, and the decorative arts. He thought it was of particular importance that an artist chose the right subject and he was drawn to the bold colors of the Nabis. Below if a painting, Sunlight in the Terrace, in which Denis uses the bold colors of the Nabis in a similar way as Serusier did in his Talisman.
Denis was particularly interested in religious subjects. When you consider his body of work, this interest is clear. Below is just one example of a painting of a religious subject, Holy Women Near the Tomb.Besides paintings, Denis illustrated books and musical scores, designed carpets and planned stained-glass windows. He decorated ceramics and even painted a mural on the ceiling of French composer, Chausson’s home.Denis’ popularity grew ever greater and he received many commissions. Later in his life, he painted more ceiling murals, many in prestigious locations. These included murals at the Theater des Champs-Elysees, the Church of St. Paul in Geneva, and the Petit Palais in Paris.
Return to main page.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Paul Ranson
Today’s post focuses on another of the Nabis, Paul Ranson. They all seem to be named Paul, huh? Paul Serusier and his inspiration, Paul Gauguin, and now Paul Ranson. There are plenty of others who are not named Paul, but I particularly liked Ranson’s Nabi Landscape, shown below. So today, Paul Ranson.
Ranson enjoyed a short life, from 1864 to 1909. Even as a child he enjoyed painting and his parents encouraged him to create art. He did not begin his education at Academie Julian, but it was there that he met Paul Serusier who introduced him to the new artistic movement of the Nabis.
Paul Ranson was interested, like the other Nabis, in symbolism, philosophy, and the decorative arts. He even designed tapestries, some of which were made by his wife. He especially liked to paint images of fantasy rather than those observed in nature. The main thing Ranson didn’t like about Impressionism was that (he believed) the artists chose random, unimportant subjects to portray and then did so without adding anything from their own minds.
Ranson played a central role in unifying the Nabis; he held weekly meetings in his home and wrote plays that the Nabis performed for writers and philosophers. Still, when Gauguin left for Tahiti, as you read yesterday, the Nabis gradually disbanded. Ranson continued painting in the Nabi style.
In 1908 he opened a school to teach the style and philosophy of the Nabis. When he died in 1909 his wife took over the school and other Nabis taught as they had the time and the desire.
Return to main page.
Ranson enjoyed a short life, from 1864 to 1909. Even as a child he enjoyed painting and his parents encouraged him to create art. He did not begin his education at Academie Julian, but it was there that he met Paul Serusier who introduced him to the new artistic movement of the Nabis.Paul Ranson was interested, like the other Nabis, in symbolism, philosophy, and the decorative arts. He even designed tapestries, some of which were made by his wife. He especially liked to paint images of fantasy rather than those observed in nature. The main thing Ranson didn’t like about Impressionism was that (he believed) the artists chose random, unimportant subjects to portray and then did so without adding anything from their own minds.
Ranson played a central role in unifying the Nabis; he held weekly meetings in his home and wrote plays that the Nabis performed for writers and philosophers. Still, when Gauguin left for Tahiti, as you read yesterday, the Nabis gradually disbanded. Ranson continued painting in the Nabi style.
In 1908 he opened a school to teach the style and philosophy of the Nabis. When he died in 1909 his wife took over the school and other Nabis taught as they had the time and the desire.
Return to main page.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Paul Serusier
At the beginning of his adult life, Paul Serusier did not seem to be in the position to found and form a new art movement, but he did just that. He formed the Nabi Movement in France that existed through the 1890s. You read about this on Monday and can click the link above to refresh your memory.
Serusier was born to a wealthy family in Paris in 1864. He earned two degrees from the Condorcet Lycee: one in philosophy and one in the sciences. He worked only a short time before going to the Academie Julian to study art. Here, he found his calling and made a great many friends, including Maurice Denis who also became a member of the Nabis.
At the Academie Julian, Serusier learned artist techniques in the traditional manner of copying the masters. It wasn’t until 1888 when he went to Pont-Aven and met Paul Gauguin that Serusier developed his own style. Gauguin encouraged Serusier to use bright colors and not hide his own ideas but show them boldly in his paintings. Gauguin guided Serusier to paint a colorful landscape on a cigar box lid which became known as “the Talisman” among Nabis. Below is another example of Serusier’s bright colors: Washerwomen at the Laita River Near Pouldu.
The group formed when Serusier returned to Paris and met often to discuss artistic ideas, especially what the Nabis found wrong or broken in the more established art world. They were very interested in symbolism and religious thought, as well.
When Gauguin went to Tahiti in 1891, the Nabis gradually disbanded. Eventually Serusier stopped using pure, bright colors, choosing instead to mix grey into his paints. His paintings also became more realistic, as you can see in the painting shown below, Rainshower.
Serusier was born to a wealthy family in Paris in 1864. He earned two degrees from the Condorcet Lycee: one in philosophy and one in the sciences. He worked only a short time before going to the Academie Julian to study art. Here, he found his calling and made a great many friends, including Maurice Denis who also became a member of the Nabis.
At the Academie Julian, Serusier learned artist techniques in the traditional manner of copying the masters. It wasn’t until 1888 when he went to Pont-Aven and met Paul Gauguin that Serusier developed his own style. Gauguin encouraged Serusier to use bright colors and not hide his own ideas but show them boldly in his paintings. Gauguin guided Serusier to paint a colorful landscape on a cigar box lid which became known as “the Talisman” among Nabis. Below is another example of Serusier’s bright colors: Washerwomen at the Laita River Near Pouldu.
The group formed when Serusier returned to Paris and met often to discuss artistic ideas, especially what the Nabis found wrong or broken in the more established art world. They were very interested in symbolism and religious thought, as well.When Gauguin went to Tahiti in 1891, the Nabis gradually disbanded. Eventually Serusier stopped using pure, bright colors, choosing instead to mix grey into his paints. His paintings also became more realistic, as you can see in the painting shown below, Rainshower.
In 1895, Serusier went to a monastery in Germany where he learned to paint using measurements and numbers. His new style did not appeal to his friends in Paris but he continued anyhow, committed to the new ideas.
He studied Egyptian and Italian art, as well as tapestries of the Middle Ages to further understand the decorative arts and to learn to simplify his paintings. In 1914 he published a book, “ABCs of Painting” which was a summary of his life’s studies in art.
He died in 1927.
He studied Egyptian and Italian art, as well as tapestries of the Middle Ages to further understand the decorative arts and to learn to simplify his paintings. In 1914 he published a book, “ABCs of Painting” which was a summary of his life’s studies in art.
He died in 1927.
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