art history - Smelly Rhino Studio

art history

Mar24

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#16 The New Yorker; 31 days of rhinos

Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rhino art, Uncategorized, art, art history, art techniques, artist blog, ink, prismacolor markers, rhinoceros, smellyrhino

#16 Ode To The New Yorker; 31 days of Rhinos
Prismacolor on Bristol Smooth paper

#16 in the series, yet another ripoff of one of the iconic images of the 20th century; The New Yorker’s highly hatted Mascot!

Since 1925, when the New Yorker began publishing it’s famous magazine, cartoons have been an integral part of it’s legacy. So much so that most identify the magazine with it’s cartoons! They recently compiled a book of all All 68,647 cartoons ever published in The New Yorker! That’s a lot of cartoons!

Cartoons, in fact, have become such an important part of our culture, that their influence on us is barely fathomable. Consider that many of our greatest cartoonists perhaps were inspired by The New Yorker growing up, and that alone makes it formidable. Great cartoonists, illustrators and satirists abound here!

Regrettably, and it pains me to say this, but Wikipedia is down today, so I can’t give you a fun wee history on The New Yorker and it’s indelible mark on art history. Perhaps I can add some more tomorrow. For now, below are some of the greats.

Roz Chast is one of many to influence us, and it’s great to have a female cartoonist in the mix, because it seems that not many women take the path of cartoonist. Roz first contributed to The New Yorker in 1978 and became a staff cartoonist in 1979, and has contributed over 1000 cartoons to the magazine. [from CBSnews.com: " Editor David Remnick wrote that her cartoons convey a comic sense of "domestic anxiety." ]

Robert Mankoff, is currently the cartoon editor of The New Yorker. He captures that cross section of American business and politics with his humor, as well as every day life in the US. Robert is also the creator of The Cartoon Bank, which is the largest cartoon licensing business in the world. So, if you are a cartoonist, maybe you should start there!

Charles Addams, adored by many as the creator of the Addams Family, spent most of his career drawing for The New Yorker! It all started as the Gothic, dark, bizaare, macabre but humorous cartoon in the New Yorker, which resulted in the beloved TV series and 2 movies! Aren’t tidbits fun?

James Thurber, humorist, cartoonist, writer. A distinguished figure of American Literature, He wrote “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, and others, which put him in the history books as more than just a cartoonist!

Saul Steinberg, among the most prolific artists of the 20th century, appeared in The New Yorker for nearly 60 years! Now that’s a career! Visit his site and be awed by the archives!

Their cartoons were political, controversial and funny. Satire at it’s best! Maybe not that well known to the average person, but if you grew up with this magazine, you were influenced by them! And, well, maybe you do really know a few!

The New Yorker has had a profound effect of US Popular Culture since it’s inception, and I think it is fitting to mention in my 31 days of rhinos series.
Mar18

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#15 Cave Painting; 31 days of rhinos

Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rebecca Salcedo, Rhino art, Smellyrhinostudio, art history, artist blog, cave painting, humorous blogs, mixed media, rhinoceros, smelly rhino, symbolism

So easy, a Caveman really did paint this!

#15 Cave Painting (also mixed media)

Media: Textured stone, acrylic

[Fake excerpt "This amazing piece was discovered in a remote cave somewhere in Arizona. People mistakenly believed that the great Merck's rhinoceros or Rhinoceros merckii must have existed in North America at some point. A better explanation is that the ancient people built really good boats and traveled; and this cave painting was a story of their voyage to Africa or Asia or Eastern Europe. How the heck did they get there? Maybe alien visitors aren't so far fetched after all!

It was originally believed that the markings on the bottom of the picture were fire, but it was later determined that this is grass, because rhinos are herbivores, and at the top of the picture, there is a sun and a moon to depict the cycle of the day. The two rhinos are not mirrored, (although abstract art could have existed then.) Instead, these are a mated pair of rhinos, the male on the left. They come together and touch horns as a gesture of affection. Possibly the early people of the land believed that 'Rhino Love' was an example from the gods to be honored as part of the cycle of the seasons; Love is, essentially, part of the cycle of life.

It is also believed that this painting has much more than symbolism, like that of others found nearby. It's symmetry reflects a desire for ordered decoration, and almost resembles ancient Greek pottery examples. Could it be that these people were the lost potters of the Macedonia and this drawing is not a prehistoric example after all, but a cool illustration borrowed from the cave drawings, to be used on the water jug of a soujourner? hmmm!"]

Seriously,
[Wiki ” Cave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest known European cave paintings date to Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known. The evidence suggests that they were not merely decorations of living areas, since the caves in which they have been found do not have signs of ongoing habitation. Also, they are often in areas of caves that are not easily accessed. Some theories hold that they may have been a way of communicating with others, while other theories ascribe them a religious or ceremonial purpose.

So, were cave paintings merely decoration? Was it history being recorded? Or perhaps a vigil by shamans to create a larger hunt for the people? We will never know for certain, but Please Read more because it’s really interesting!

See you tomorrow.
Mar17

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#14 Origami Rhino; 31 days of rhinos

Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rebecca Salcedo, Rhino art, Smellyrhinostudio, art history, art techniques, artist blog, asian art technique, humorous blogs, joseph wu, paper art, rhinoceros, smelly rhino

Ancient tradition unfolding here, under protest, on Wordless Wednesday!

Above: #14 Origami Rhino; 31 days of rhinos

Media: Paper

Below: Not my rhino!

This beautiful rhino shown here was “borrowed” from Joseph Wu Origami, and wow, he is good! Unfortunately, he doesn’t show you how to fold the damned thing! I printed out his diagram and then stared hopeless at it after creasing every line on the paper.

The only workable tutorial I could find (for free) on YouTube was working great except the occasional floating off the screen while he was folding. Just as I was nearing completion, the artist began folding the back legs, and his hands were entirely out of the camera at that point. Alas, I couldn’t figure it out…I have an origami book somewhere up in my library, but it doesn’t have a rhino in it. You can see how the hind legs are not finished…..balls!

[Wiki "The Japanese word "origami" itself is a compound of two smaller Japanese words: "ori", meaning fold, and "gami", meaning paper...Japanese origami began sometime after Buddhist monks from China carried paper to Japan during the 6th century." Read more! (it's fascinating!)

My brother introduced me to this incredible short story nearly 20 years ago, and you must read it as soon as you can, because it will make you really feel; love, sorrow, joy and hope:

The Story of 1000 Cranes (you must read this!)
"The Thousand Origami Cranes has become a symbol of world peace^{[citation needed]} through the story of Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who tried to stave off her death from leukemia as a result of radiation from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during World War II by making one thousand origami cranes, having folded only 644 before her death, and that her friends completed and buried them all with her.

Her story is told in the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.

Several temples, including some in Tokyo and Hiroshima, have eternal flames for World Peace. At these temples, school groups or individuals often donate Senbazuru to add to the prayer for peace. The cranes are left exposed to the elements, slowly dissolving and becoming tattered as the wish is released. In this way they are related to the prayer flags of India and Tibet.” -Wiki excerpt.

Wordless Wednesday didn’t exactly leave me speechless…Maybe I should have stopped at hello!
See you tomorrow…
(I will try harder next week not to say anything on Wednesday..I really missed the point, eh?)
Mar14

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#12 Negative Space; 31 days of Rhinos

Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rebecca Salcedo, Rhino art, art history, art techniques, humorous blogs, ink, negative space, smellyrhino

“Look, I’m trying to be positive, but you’re in my negative space!”
#12 Negative Space; 31 days of rhinos

Pencil and Ink

If you haven’t ever heard of drawing negative space, it’s probable that you haven’t taken an art class.

This should be one of the fundamental exercises for a beginner. In fact, I remember first drawing negative space in an 8th grade art class. My teacher made us draw from our desk, the view around his head, as I recall. Then, the space around other objects, like chairs, and some more organic shapes. It was eye opening to find that I could render an image by drawing the space around it! The important thing he was always telling us was, “Stop fretting over not being able to draw a chair!! Drawing is about shapes, the shapes that make up the subject, and the shapes that make up the background. The Subject is your positive space, and the rest is your negative space. So, just draw the shapes around your subject, and you will have the chair you are trying to draw! Eventually, you will begin to understand how a given subject is formed and it will become easier and easier!”

[wiki excerpt "Negative space, in art, is the space around and between the subject(s) of an image. Negative space may be most evident when the space around a subject, and not the subject itself, forms an interesting or artistically relevant shape, and such space is occasionally used to artistic effect as the "real" subject of an image. The use of negative space is a key element of artistic composition. The Japanese word "ma" is sometimes used for this concept, for example in garden design.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

In a two-tone, black-and-white image, a subject is normally depicted in black and the space around it is left blank (white), thereby forming a silhouette of the subject. However, reversing the tones so that the space around the subject is printed black and the subject itself is left blank causes the negative space to be apparent as it forms shapes around the subject, called figure-ground reversal.

Elements of an image that distract from the intended subject, or in the case of photography, objects in the same focal plane, are not considered negative space. Negative space can be used to depict a subject in a chosen medium by showing everything around the subject but not the subject itself. Usage of negative space will produce a silhouette of the subject.

The use of equal negative space, as a balance to positive space, in a composition is considered by many as good design. This basic and often overlooked principle of design gives the eye a “place to rest,” increasing the appeal of a composition through subtle means. The term is also used by musicians to indicate silence within a piece.”]

When I went surfing to see what was online, I found lots of great articles, blogs, tutorials, and the lot on drawing negative space. Here’s just one: Using Negative Space Drawing

The inspiration for the sketch came from a photo by the remarkable photographer, Nick Brandt!
I found his site through a neat blog called Nothing Relevant (which by the way, has lots of relevant on it!)

Although my cold is gone, I’m still fighting a very bizarre fatigue that has been making me nearly unable to function. I taught a little workshop on Saturday and did a fun run with a friend on Sunday. These are the only activities I have been able to accomplish, literally. I hope to be back on track tomorrow.

See you then!
Mar10

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#9 Collage; 31 days of Rhinos

Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rebecca Salcedo, art history, art techniques, collage art, humor, humorous blogs, illustration, smelly rhino, smellyrhino

#9 Collage; 31 days of rhinos

Media: acrylic, ink and paper on canvas board

I’m coming back from the dead. I am taking Sudafed though, so I will dismiss later anything that didn’t make sense this week as drug induced fuzz.

Today’s Rhino will appeal to the more contemporary audience, I hope. Collage art is no new thing, though. It’s been commonly referred to in Modern art since the early 20th century, but it’s been used since before Christ!

If you are some kind of art purist and can’t appreciate anything other than Oils (for example), you may be mocking collage art right now. Well, hopefully you will read some history and visit some museums to find that as an art form, it’s been used by some of the greatest painters in history!

-[wiki excerpt- "The term collage derives from the French "coller" meaning "glue".^[1] This term was coined by both Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso in the beginning of the 20th century when collage became a distinctive part of modern art.”]

You may remember from our quick lesson in cubism that Pablo and George were very aggressive and liked starting movements and genres and techniques…nuff said. I wonder if both their egos fit in the same room? You don’t see me complaining. I’m so glad they met!

There is just so much information to give you on this subject, like that the ancient Chinese and Japanese used it, and that a lot of collage exists in the form of large scale installation art, and that Kurt Schwitters, a well-known collage-er (hehe) utilized various woods in his collages! Neat!!! The techniques and uses are as wide as the ocean and can be humorous, serious, political, non-sensical, abstract, breathtaking and more…whatever you can imagine (or randomly place!)

So hold your heads proud collage artists! You are not cottage crafters, you are in good company! If you are a collage artist, you will find yourself in good company with a boatload of artists of great fame, especially these (and, again more that are too numerous to mention)

David Hockney
Pablo Picasso
Kurt Schwitters
Marcel Duchamp
Henri Matisse
Nick Bantock (the writer—remember, The Griffin and Sabine Trilogy?)
Click to learn more on Collage art.

…and now for something completely different
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Terry Gilliam, whose animation genius depended on cutouts for creating the treasured and immortal Monty Python! –Not exactly “fine art” to hang, but you wont forget it!

So, ready to go try one? If nothing else, it lets you have a little fun!
See you later.
Mar7

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#7 Pointillism; 31 days of Rhinos

Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rebecca Salcedo, Rhino art, Smellyrhinostudio, abstract, art history, drawing, humor, impressionism, painting blog, pointillism, smelly rhino
#7 Pointillism; 31 days of Rhinos
India Ink on Paper

A thousand points of light! Ok, a lot more than a thousand. I sat through the entire Academy Awards tonite putting tiny dots all over the page, beginning with the lightest tone and graduating to a hint of black.

Welcome to Pointillism!

When I think of Pointillism, I think of George Seurat, the founder of Neo-Impressionism who really changed the future of modern art. He first used Pointillism at the disdain of critics, who mocked him when they coined the term. Thank goodness no one ever listens to critics! So give him a hand. Everyone knows Seurat from his most famous painting, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. George was cool and liked Science (like me)! He believed that if you forced the viewer to combine the dots of color instead of mixing the pigments with your brush, the painting would have a certain luminosity…and that light could control emotion in the viewer by the way you used light and color in a painting. He named it Chromoluminarism. Well, he sure knew what he was talking about! Hooray for Science!

About this art history, If you have already started to notice that some periods seem to overlap, I think that is a testament to the flow of creativity, and how influential these great artists were on each other. Their art was a reflection of what was happening around them. All these great artists in one place sitting in coffee houses and discuss the world, no wonder they influenced each other! Art imitates artists…he he. (ok, we copy each other)

What’s neat about pointillism is that it is easy to explain in our highly technological times by comparing it to a computer screen or tv, with pixels. Pointillism is created with dots of color instead of interconnecting strokes. The dots of color exist independently from one another, and depend on your eyes to put the colors together. The more dots there, the clearer the picture becomes. In a pointillist panting, it’s best appreciated to walk up closely to the painting to view the intricate system of pixels, then, step backward and view at greater distances until you see the full picture clearly; that is where your eyes connect the dots!! It’s very cool.

If you have the opportunity to go the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, I believe you will still see another great Modern artist and pointillist, Chuck Close, whose photo realism on enormous, no, gigantic canvases is best appreciated from the next room over!!!!

Paint and ink are best for pointillism, but I challenge you again, to imagine what other media works for you! I know of other artists who come near the genre by utilizing cut paper to achieve photo realistic collages, but that may have to be another rhino!

Artists who were best known for pointillism:
- Georges-Pierre Seurat
- Paul Signac
- Henri-Edmond Cross
- John Roy
- Maximilien Luce
- Vincent van Gogh
- Camille Pissarro
- Théo van Rysselberghe
- Chuck Close
- Georges Lemmen
Do yourself a favor and read a little more about Neo-impressionism in your spare time, as I think it is the most important push toward a provocative change in art in the last century! It’s kinda like the internet. It changed art! Stay home, free eaters!

[Wikipedia excerpt, Pointillism is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of pure color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term Pointillism was first coined by art critics in the late 1880s to ridicule the works of these artists and is now used without its earlier mocking connotation.[1]

Still sick here, and I’ve been couch bound all day, drinking liquids with alternating Law and Order episodes and steamed honey lemon water.

I know my brother, Tim, will enjoy this Rhino, so it is for him.

(Picture credits: Baby Rhino pic comes from the Weblogs of the Baltimore Sun.)
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!)