Here
is another of my many cubist portrait series that I have been experimenting
with, once again collaging cut out features from magazines as starting points. Using acrylic paint and ink I used the same color schemes and line treatments.
I am, if it's not already obvious, a huge fan of Picasso. And one of his gifts, among many, was his hard hitting role in the creation of Cubism as well as the use of collage, both for which I am heavily indebted.
This is the one of many cubist series of portraits that I have created beginning with the eyes, noses, and mouths that I cut from magazine photos. Each series is a slight variation of another. But they all begin from the same point of view and end in collage.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Many years ago, I spent a lot of time in tents. They were large structures made out of canvas. They would get hot, stuffy, and smelly in the summer and be freezing and wet in the winters. Frequently we would raise the canvas walls to ventilate and bring in some light by rolling up the side panels. It was an unremarkable exercise but I always thought the patterns and shapes and light and shadows made them quite beautiful to behold. I also enjoy the tactile the flat color panels contrasted against the organic geometry of the drapery. These pieces were based on small doodles from my sketch book.
I discovered the merge photoshop application that just blew me away. I have always been a fan of taking and combining sequential images and until now have relied on either cutting and pasting the old fashioned way with glue and scissors or more recently using some rudimentary digital techniques. But this trick allows me to seamlessly stitch two or three images together as one continuous image. Here are some of my first experiments. Buckingham Fountain in Chicago was taken last summer. The rest were taken recently in the midst of a cold Chicago winter in front of and behind my home.
Sometimes I believe I should still be living in the 20th century, when I felt that I had more of a handle on the speed of progress and technology. But I'm slowly catching up. Obviously you are reading this on a blog so that must count for something.
I tend to like challenges and being able to adapt to changes which in this day and age is something that can hardly be avoided. I also tend to be in awe of nature and about the world in which we live; not just whatis visible but also that which is not. Maybe this is why I tend find meaning and fulfillment in creating art.