The Artful Readers Club for January
Artist's Journal Workshop: Creating Your Life in Words and Pictures by Cathy Johnson Sat in front of a local church on a sunny Saturday, then picked some flowers to examine. I only had a pencil so I added the watercolor later. Armed with few supplies, I went to one of my favorite spots and doodled. Lines added in Photoshop before posting...timid me. Please note: I recommend this book for any artist at any stage...my reference to 12-13 year olds in this review, is remarked due to the value of journaling. It's actually a very sophisticated book on many levels. In a brief shuffle through the pages of Artist's Journal Workshop , I found myself conflicted. The book contains numerous examples of a style of art making that toggles between the hugely personal and a publishable 'look'. So, with that...the book set up on my shelf for nearly a year. Now, after an honest read, I still feel a bit conflicted...but in a way that offers some inspir...
Very absorbing paint effects in this one, with the blurring and the stripes and so on. I particularly liked the horizontally placed chair with the rooted hand coming out of it.
ReplyDeleteI think there is a lot of playing around with the X and Y axes here, evidenced by that same chair. The stripes go vertically and horizontally, the finger of the lady is a horizontal, her face is divided in two (this line of symmetry is accentuated by the corresponding line underneath...)
What is the butterfly tale here? The finger directed at the temple of the woman looks somewhat suicidal. Or is she threatening someone with death? A butterfly comes from a caterpillar. Is the adorning of the woman a statement about the evolution of beauty? A reference to a cocoon somewhere in the past?
I feel like there is a deliberate contrast between the butterfly and the woman. The butterfly is very ostentatious - the woman seems as though she is camouflaged. The shadow emphasises this...
Very violent again for some reason - what with the finger-gun... (a reference to painting - the violence of putting the mark on the paper?)