Roy Lichtenstein, Painter

Roy Lichtenstein

I am a huge fan of pop art, this concept was birthed in America and encompasses many concepts and ideas. The thought of pop art was to make a form that was American based and caught America in its ideal form. One artist who stuck out during this period is Roy Lichtenstein, his ideas and concepts inspired many elements of American art from painting to graphic design and even typography. When I think of pop art I think of a comic that used the small dots to portray color, this gives me an old-school feel; most of the paintings that were done by Roy Lichtenstein, were mostly vibrant.

When many think of Roy Lichtenstein, you think of an artist who inspired the comic book movement but, I see an artist who was driven to produce subject matter in a form that was accepted not only by every culture but most ages as well. Most artists at the time focused on the elder crowd and was very culture specific. Roy Lichtenstein, provides art that can be viewed and appreciated by everyone because of its illustrative and cartoon feel.

In the aspect of type, the idea of illustrating and cartoon design included only those two aspects. But Roy Lichtenstein, incorporated a story a line of literature to compliment his art pieces. Every piece tells a story that every audience can view and appreciate. For instance, Mickey and Donald duck are seen here fishing this can be seen through the illustration alone; the fact that he entails a story to the illustration via text bubble gives the piece depth. 

This concept was around before Roy Lichtenstein's, ideas but the concept he incorporated that separated him from being just another artist I believe is the messages he entailed. Roy Lichtenstein, used the idea's of a love story all the way to the idea of comedy, but everyone understood his message. Therefore, I believe this concept made his pieces more identifiable than most.

Albert Bierstadt, painter

Albert Bierstadt

Albert Bierstadt, was a pioneer of landscape paintings, the idea to capture nature in its ideal form. The landscape painting would come on massive scales this element was to give the viewer a feel of, "awww". In most landscape paintings the artist would portray only nature very seldomly would you see a human figure; if you see such a figure they are often depicted on a much smaller scale that what viewers were used to. Human figures up to this point were often the center focus of most paintings. Albert Bierstadt, was one of the artist whom inspired the idea that nature was bigger than man.

I personally appreciate this type of painting because I took from it the aspect that for once a painter has put aside the human ego and captured the beauty of nature. Most often you find elements of idealism. This being seeing nature as beautiful and trying to portray it in its most perfect form. At the time, the idea of landscape painting underwent much scrutiny, such are most new concepts. Eventually the concept of landscape painting would be greatly accepted and inspire even French painters, who lead the world in painting. 

This idea that American painters inspired would be taken by many cultures. This acceptance lead to many variations of landscape painting, through brush techniques and subject matter. But the overall idea of portraying nature in its ideal form was uniform amongst various painters. One criticism that many American painters underwent with the idea of landscape painting was that the eye of American painters was to hard versus the looseness of French painters. Albert Bierstadt on the other hand I feel captured the comfortable median of looking too hard and painting too loosely.

David Friedrich, Painter

David Friedrich

David Friedrich, a french painter of the romanticism period and is one of the fathers of the romanticism period. His pieces consist of a large amount of emotion; his pieces inspire a lot of artists who followed the romanticism movement. I appreciate the passion involved in his paintings and entails a huge deal of the emotion the artist is depicting. One of the more particular pieces that consist of this is, "The wand above the mists" it shows a figure standing on a cliff that is above what seems to be a sea; the sea appears to clash with the rocks, the figure also seems to be swaying with the wind. This piece gives me a heroic feel towards the figure, the horizon of mountains and clouds help give it a classical feel. 

Most of his artworks involve this sort of central feeling that gives the overall element of heroism. The passionate feel gives an inspiring feel that drives a sense of heroic feel or devotion from the viewer. The fact that you as the viewer can get a sense of energy from his paintings make them quite remarkable. Not many painters can dig that feel of energy from their viewers as David Friedrich. The idea of a romantic painting derived from the concepts David Friedrich, was implimenting in his paintings. The brush work as you notice is a strong element in constructing a romantic feel to painting. This technique captures the emotional aspect.

Lastly, an element that I noticed with most if not, all his paintings is that the central figure is not involved with the viewer. This concept lets you believe that the figure is undergoing the emotion of the painter; the ability to make this figure a compliment to this emotion or in conflict with it makes the painting able to depict the particular emotion. Even when David Friedrich, depicts nature, nature is not directly involved with the viewer. Instead, nature is involved with the emotion being portrayed.   

   

Van Gogh, Painter

Van Gogh

Dutch Post - Impressionist painter, Vincent van Gogh, was a brilliant painter and perhaps one of the most famous. His paintings entail a great deal of emotion that most viewers can relate to rather it be a vivid, bright and welcoming painting, or a dark, gloomy and grim picture; Van Gogh knew how to attract the eye of his viewers. The most appealing factor about his paintings is the technique he uses which, seems to be an unorthodox brush stroke one that is repetitive and gives the technique a characteristic of a mosaic feel. 

One thing I appreciate most about this artist is the fact that he painted with emotion. Being a victim of mental illness, it can be assumed that Van Gogh used art as an outlet to portray his particular mood or trial he may have been dealing with at that particular time in his life. During his career it is said that he underwent many dilemma's in life aside from his mental condition. 

a Particular painting that many maybe familiar with is The Starry Night, this painting was done towards the end of his life before he committed suicide. This painting was done by him from the window of his hospital room. the picture is uniform and gives the viewer a feel of liberation. The structure is a bit grim feeling giving the over all feel of the picture a sense of contradiction in the aspect that you are welcomed into this setting but thrown off by the shape of this structure. You can also say this picture gives you a , "wave" of emotion. Van Gogh is a monumental figure in the art world today, his unusual technique that works uniformly makes his style, "Van Gogh".   

Eugene Delacroix, Painter

Eugene Delacroix

Eugene Delacroix, a french painter whom of which, was a strong figure for the romantic period of art. His artistic style captures the emotion of his figures; also his technique is the use of loose brush strokes to capture this emotion. Eugene Delacroix was known as a history painter, history paintings include a central figure in which the theme of the painting is based upon. His embarkment on romanticism closely followed Neoclassicism painting which caused a lot of conflict about what was appreciated at the time.

I personally admire paintings and especially those of which were done during the romanticism period. The beauty of the loose brush stroke technique completely captures every emotion the painter is trying to tell the reader. Also his ability to capture the central figure allows the viewer to study what emotion the painter is trying to depict. Eugene Delacroix, was always a painter perceived as an inspiration to those who are becoming well known painters as well as those who are already prestigious. 

During this time French painters were the leaders of art, especially painting. Eugene Delacroix was world profound and his painting set a standard that many wished to achieve. His influence to deliver painting from the Neoclassical period to the Romanticism period was truly remarkable and a success. Another element I appreciate about this particular type of painting is the ability to capture the timeframe at a stand still through these picturesque brush strokes.

Saul Bass, Graphic Designer

Saul Bass

Saul Bass has proven to be an inspiration amongst many graphic designers including myself. His style is quite unique, he comes from the "New Wave" era which entails a punk rock feel while still maintaining the principles of Swiss design. His art pieces are unique in the idea of the time in which they began to surface the design world. 

His concepts use a quite a bit of contrast that depicts the message from the illustration. His works give you a grunge feel a style that was mostly used by, David Carson, while using this feel he also incorporates a clean feel to allow his messaging to be clear and concise. One of his most noticeable works is the AT&T logo that is identical to a globe, that has a number of lines arranging the shape. Also the Bell logo is quite distinguishable amongst consumers and designers.

His use of tile sequences were also a, "Saul Bass" brand of design. You can notice this through the logo design for ATT&T. This concept has to do with a repetitive shape that is often inconsistent. He uses this to build shapes that are representative to the message he is trying to portray.

Marian Bantjes, Graphic Designer

Marian Bantjes

Women graphic designers are hard to find. The graphic design industry is mostly lead by men. But one inspiring grahic designer artist that I found who happens to be a woman is, Marian Bantjes he design work incorporates elements of typography. Typography which is a personal favorite of mine, is the concept of design through the use of words; using words to illustrate your concept. 

The artwork that Marian Bantjes, produces is quite complex yet inviting to the eyes of many. Unlike the Swiss design style which involves, simplicity. Her concepts mainly involve the viewer to actually read the artwork and look into its complexities to appreciate the overall concept of the design. Marian Bantjes has become a well known graphic designer who is paving the way for many women who have the desire to become a designer themselves.

Marian Bantjes provides many concepts most of which have a script feel to them. The use of swirls and circles gives her concepts a more feminine approach most of which you may not notice in the design industry these days. The use of these swirls provide a bit more of depth to her designs and also contrasts with her message intended thus, making the overall design concept readable and complex.