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Painting and Understanding Abstract Art is a practical book on how to paint abstracts but it also explains how to approach and understand abstract art. It moves the teaching of art from a doing level of painting a certain subject in a particular medium to a thinking level of 'what am I doing when I paint?' and 'what am I trying to say in this painting?' Using practical exercises with explanatory text, John Lowry develops the thinking and doing processes together and leads the reader to a greater understanding and appreciation of this most exciting art genre. Gives advice on moving from figurative painting towards abstraction, and explains the tools to abstraction - simplifying and exaggerating; eliminating curves and straights; changing colours, lines and items ; emphasising positive and negative shapes; and using contrast. Includes practical exercises to help develop your own style and understand the techniques of the masters, and offers an overview of the lives and times of artists involved in the stage-by-stage evolution from realism to abstraction. Aimed at beginners and the more experienced, and illustrated with 229 colour illustrations.
He delivered the lectures, edited and reproduced here with their illustrations, to overflowing crowds at the National Gallery of Art in Washington in the spring of 2003, just months before his death. With brilliance, passion, and humor, Varnedoe addresses the skeptical attitudes and misunderstandings that we often bring to our experience of abstract art. Resisting grand generalizations, he makes a deliberate and scholarly case for abstraction--showing us that more than just pure looking is necessary to understand the self-made symbolic language of abstract art. Proceeding decade by decade, he brings alive the history and biography that inform the art while also challenging the received wisdom about distinctions between abstraction and representation, modernism and postmodernism, and minimalism and pop.
"Abstract paintings are discussed here both from the point of view of their creators and from the point of view of the spectator. Then, the kind of question repeatedly asked about abstraction is asked and answered: By what standards can an abstract painting be judged? ; Does abstraction set out to disregard the public's expectations and wishes? If so, is it unique in this? ; Does the viewer contribute more to an appreciation of an abstract painting than to a more traditional work? ; Does any abstract painting have a message? If so, how does it express it? ; Is it necessary to know anything about the artist himself in order to fully appreciate his work? ; Does an abstract painting require more or less skill in its execution than a traditional work? ; Is there anything more to abstraction than novelty?" - back cover.
This volume looks at spatialization of abstract concepts in verbo-pictorial aphorisms at work in the cartoons of a single artist. While extensive work has been done in studying spatialization of abstract concepts in grammar and lexicon within cognitive linguistics, this book is the first of its kind to provide a detailed account of such phenomena in multimodal discourse. The volume integrates a range of approaches from cognitive linguistics, including image schema theory, conceptual theory of metaphor, multimodal metaphor theory, the dynamic approach to metaphor, and a multimodal approach to metonymy, and applies this multi-faceted framework to a selection of cartoons from the work of Polish artist Janusz Kapusta. Taken together, these cartoons form the basis of two comprehensive case studies which explore the abstract concepts of "emotions" and "life," highlighting the ways in which cartoons can illustrate the important relationship between space, situated cognition, and language and in turn, a clear and systematic framework for establishing cohesive ties between the verbal and pictorial modes in multimodal cognitive linguistic research. The volume sheds new light on visual thinking and multimodal rendition of creative abstract thought.
Because nature is so expansive and complex, so varied in its range of light, landscape painters often have to look further and more deeply to find form and structure, value patterns, and an organized arrangement of shapes. In Landscape Painting, Mitchell Albala shares his concepts and practices for translating nature's grandeur, complexity, and color dynamics into convincing representations of space and light. Concise, practical, and inspirational, Landscape Painting focuses on the greatest challenges for the landscape artist, such as: • Simplification and Massing: Learn to reduce nature's complexity by looking beneath the surface of a subject to discover the form's basic masses and shapes.• Color and Light: Explore color theory as it specifically applies to the landscape, and learn the various strategies painters use to capture the illusion of natural light.• Selection and Composition: Learn to select wisely from nature's vast panorama. Albala shows you the essential cues to look for and how to find the most promising subject from a world of possibilities. The lessons in Landscape Painting—based on observation rather than imitation and applicable to both plein air and studio practice—are accompanied by painting examples, demonstrations, photographs, and diagrams. Illustrations draw from the work of more than 40 contemporary artists and such masters of landscape painting as John Constable, Sanford Gifford, and Claude Monet. Based on Albala's 25 years of experience and the proven methods taught at his successful plein air workshops, this in-depth guide to all aspects of landscape painting is a must-have for anyone getting started in the genre, as well as more experienced practitioners who want to hone their skills or learn new perspectives.
Praised throughout the cartoon industry by such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Matt Groening, and Will Eisner, this innovative comic book provides a detailed look at the history, meaning, and art of comics and cartooning.
This introduction to light for students and visual artists explores the way light can be used to create realistic and fantastical effects in a wide range of media. Divided into three parts, the clearly written text explains: the fundamental properties of natural and artificial light; how to create realistic images by observing people and the environment; the creative use of light in composition and design. Updated with revised photos and artwork, as well as 15 practical exercises and new online video material, this second edition is an indispensable resource for animators, digital illustrators, painters, photographers and artists working in any medium.
The first time she made a pizza from scratch, art historian Nancy Heller made the observation that led her to write this entertaining guide to contemporary art. Comparing modern art not only to pizzas but also to traditional and children's art, Heller shows us how we can refine analytical tools we already possess to understand and enjoy even the most unfamiliar paintings and sculptures. How is a painting like a pizza? Both depend on visual balance for much of their overall appeal and, though both can be judged by a set of established standards, pizzas and paintings must ultimately be evaluated in terms of individual taste. By using such commonsense examples and making unexpected connections, this book helps even the most skeptical viewers feel comfortable around contemporary art and see aspects of it they would otherwise miss. Heller discusses how nontraditional works of art are made--and thus how to talk about their composition and formal elements. She also considers why such art is made and what it "means." At the same time, Heller reassures those of us who have felt uncomfortable around avant-garde art that we don't have to like all--or even any--of it. Yet, if we can relax, we can use the aesthetic awareness developed in everyday life to analyze almost any painting, sculpture, or installation. Heller also gives concise answers to the eight questions she is most frequently asked about contemporary art--from how to tell when an abstract painting is right side up to which works of art belong in a museum. This book is for anyone who agrees with art critic Clement Greenberg that "All profoundly original art looks ugly at first." It's also for anyone who disagrees. It is for anyone who wants to get more out of a museum or gallery visit and would like to be able to say something more than just "yes" or "no" when asked if they like an artist's work.
The Art of Understanding Art reveals to students and other readers new and meaningful ways of developing personal ideas and opinions about art and how to express them with confidence. Offers an inquiry—unique among introductory art texts—into the learning process of understanding and appreciating art Examines the multiple issues and processes essential to making, analyzing and evaluating art Uses cross-cultural examples to help readers develop comprehensive, yet personal, ways of looking at and thinking about art Includes an annotated glossary of the 'Art World', institutions and individuals that play a role in defining art as well as diagrams, textboxes callouts and other visual elements to highlight information and enhance learning Richly illustrated with over 40 images Suggests innovative class assignments and projects useful for developing lesson plans, and offers an online companion site for additional illustrations and information
