acrylic - Smelly Rhino Studio

acrylic

Jun10

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yea yea yea, I heard it all before…

Posted in: Rebecca Salcedo, acrylic, art, artist blog, mixed media, painting blog, resolutions, smellyrhino, take action

In studio all week. Painting in Progress…

For quite some time, 2 years, actually, I have been kept away from any sense of normalcy when it comes to a workday in my studio. My desire to learn more about this internet/blogging/social networking/online selling world of ours has made, well, an addict outta me. It was innocent at first. I thought, “well, I’ll just learn this stuff real quick like so I can do my own marketing!” Did I mention that was 2 years ago?

Monday, I decided to alter this freakish course of action because the perceived outcome wasn’t lookin’ good for my art career. I have no inventory!

So, I intervened on my own behalf, and legislated a self-imposed computer ban in my studio. I had to add (to myself) that I also have to BE in my studio (or it wont work). he he

Today was day two and I have made a lot of progress. I even wrote in my journal 3 mornings in a row! I know, unbelievable.

I told Eric I needed a little push toward that manifest destiny thing. I work on it constantly by saying aloud all the weaknesses I’m dealing with so that he can regurgitate them back to me at strategic moments. It’s my own way of holding myself accountable.

I asked him for help and he gave it to me!

He said, “Ok, well, first of all, no computer during the day. You can get online at night while you’re hanging on the couch with me! Pretend your boss is there and you can’t surf!

The other thing: Stop making lists and plans. Just paint. You need to just paint without worrying about all that other stuff for a while.

You are doing what they do in the corporate world…lists and schedules and planning, it’s like Dilbert, for crying out loud! Nothing gets done this way at the office either! That’s why they wrote a cartoon about it. Just allow yourself to let loose and be creative. Let yourself see some progress that makes you feel good. This is your goal, after all. You are having anxiety about it, but once you start to see progress, this will pass.”

I was listening this time.

Well, the reward the past 2 days has been real progress on a painting and a nice feeling of satisfaction after focusing for a change on what I really want to do.
He is really smart.
Mar2

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#2 Byzantine; 31 days of Rhinos

Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rebecca Salcedo, acrylic, art history, byzantine, humorous blogs, smelly rhino

#2 Byzantine Rhino (or “Jesus Rhino” as one reader suggested!)
Media: Acrylic and ink on Canvas

How can I blame the genius of Michelangelo’s Statue of David on the Byzantine period?
Read and find out!

Where would art be without Religion? Well, even if you’re not religious, it would be difficult to deny religion as an influence on art. In this case, Christianity, as iconic depictions in painted, sculpted or mosaic form were heavily sought after in medieval times. Although this rhino bears little likeness to the mosaic that I mostly ripped off today, Christ in Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, you can clearly see if you look past it’s otherworldly face, that the standards of the day are included. Such details as draping fabric, which they were able to paint pretty well back then, so they included it in EVERYTHING! The flat appearance of some of the clothing details in juxtaposition to the only slightly more 3 dimensional appearance of the still flat-ish face and “hoof”! And, of course the cross bearing halo behind the Rhino’s head suggesting his holy stature.

You can pretty much blame Constantine for the massive Christian art movement, as he was quite fond of art and even created a big artistic centre in Constantinople, which supported art in many forms, including statuary, one of his favorite mediums! He had a statue of himself made, too. Maybe he commissioned the rest of them so his would not be alone. You never know!

Even Homer’s books were illustrated in byzantine art..would be cool to see what those paintings must have looked like! With much of the period art destroyed, we are left with the earliest surviving remnants of Byzantine art in other cities like Rome and Istanbul to provide us with insight into that period.

Why is it called Byzantine Art instead of Constantinopolitan Art? (…too hard to say the latter?)
Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 4th century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.
[*Just as the Byzantine empire represented the political continuation of the Roman Empire, Byzantine art developed out of the art of the Roman empire, which was itself profoundly influenced by ancient Greek art. Byzantine art never lost sight of this classical heritage. The Byzantine capital, Constantinople, was adorned with a large number of classical sculptures^[1], although they eventually became an object of some puzzlement for its inhabitants.^[2] And indeed, the art produced during the Byzantine empire, although marked by periodic revivals of a classical aesthetic, was above all marked by the development of a new aesthetic.

The most salient feature of this new aesthetic was its “abstract,” or anti-naturalistic character. If classical art was marked by the attempt to create representations that mimicked reality as closely as possible, Byzantine art seems to have abandoned this attempt in favor of a more symbolic approach.” *excerpt from Wikipedia, which may hold some errors!]

Among the most popular luxury substrates, Ivory and silver plate were a fond choice for carving and embossing. Mosaics were among the most important art forms representing this period.

Along the way, as rulers changed hands, the depiction of people in paintings at one point became illegal because they didn’t want to incite any excitement from the people. (Dark times, friends). But, they too passed and paved the way for more great iconoclasm-ism!

Certain artistic traditions that originated in the Byzantine Empire, particularly in regard to icon painting and church architecture, are maintained in Greece, Bulgaria, Russia and other Eastern Orthodox countries to the present day.

Byzantine associations with Italian art and culture slowly brought changes to the Byzantine art forms and the Italian influences of landscapes and their more fluid interpretive approach lead artists to slowly leave their mosaics behind and pick up their paint brushes! By the same token, Byzantine architecture influenced western Europe, so it was a win win situation! Many artists of the late Byzantine period migrated to Italy at the beginning of the Renaissance, and the revival of Greek and Roman studies could be attributed to this emigration (you know, Michelangelo’s David???? Good one!!)

Byzantine culture continued happily (or not) for about 800 years until Constantinople fell to the Turks and the Ottoman Empire. From there, we had lots of places to rest our feet and look at the artwork! (BAH HA HA HA….but, that’s another story.

Just remember, you can thank the Byzantine period for one of the most important foundations of art in history (and the Statue of David, maybe!)
Mar1

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#1 Impressionism; 31 days of Rhinos

Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rebecca Salcedo, Smellyrhinostudio, acrylic, hot air balloons painting, impressionism, smelly rhino

My Impression is that this style is here to stay!

Rhino #1; 31 days of Rhinos
Genre: Impressionism
Media: Acrylic on canvas paper

Join me on an adventure into the history of art, my way…

Over the next 31 days, I will share with you the most influential genres of art throughout history!

Each day, I will post a new rhino painting, created using a specific technique or with a specific genre in mind!

Rhino #1 is the the first “Impressionist” Rhino that we’ll see this month, (there may be more than one), after what is arguably one of the most popular painting styles the world over! It is evidenced by the amount of art which is still produced today using the techniques which came into favor by the late 19th century movement.

Some of the most famous artists we recognize today as Masters and indeed, among favorites to collectors, came from the impressionist movement and weren’t limited to painters, either! There were great sculptors too, as the cultural arts community was heavy patronized in all sectors of fine art: Monet (the trademark artist when we think of Impressionism), Cezanne, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Boudin, Guillaumin, Cassatt (The only American in the group), Pissarro, Sisley, Morisot, Bazille and of course, Gustave Caillebotte, of whose infamous painting of the streets of Paris we are all familiar, were among the many who were featured in the Salons of the day. Some of these painters did not consider themselves Impressionists, but have been placed here due to their loyalty to the group, like Degas, who fancied himself a realist.

Impressionist style:
There were many different painters who handled paint differently, but for the most part the style was identified by *short, thick strokes of paint which are used to quickly capture the essence of the subject, rather than its details. The paint is often applied heavily or impasto. Colours are applied side-by-side with as little mixing as possible, creating a vibrant surface. The optical mixing of colours occurs in the eye of the viewer. Grays and dark tones are produced by mixing complimentary colors. In pure Impressionism the use of black paint is avoided. Wet paint is applied into wet paint without waiting for successive applications to dry, producing softer edges and an intermingling of colour. The media used were oil and pastel
-(*some excerpts from Wikipedia; Impressionism)

You might say that the impressionist movement was only slightly anti-establishment in their simultaneous denial and employment of traditional realism teachings, but with their own colorful and unique twist, creating the beloved and immortal style! They weren’t quite ready to let go of order and control. The Impressionists were the mature group who paved the way for the much looser, wilder strokes Post-Impressionism. And a few of them would soon identify more closely with Post Impressionism, where the likes of Van Gogh, Seurat, and Toulouse Lautrec would flourish and move their way into the Art Nouveau Era!