Favorite artist: Chuck Close

My favorite artist is Chuck Close. I really do love abstract art. I like that his art is abstract, but also very realistic. This painting is called "self portrait 2015". From afar, this is spot on perfect. It depicts the artist's self portrait exactly. Looking closer, it is filled with mini abstract paintings inside each square. I think that is so interesting. I like that he used different bold colors. For my project doing the grid, I wasn't bold enough to choose bold colors. But seeing the way it came out, it really does work. It doesn't make the painting look odd or childish.

Monet - The Garden of Monet at Argenteuil

Monet is one of my favorite artists. I love Impressionism, which is the style he used for most of his works. The use of brushstrokes and color is genius. I chose this painting mainly because of the contrast of the bright, vivid colors in foreground compared to the more subtle colors in the background. The bush in the front is also the main focus, due to the composition in addition to his use of color. The detail adds more to the work and allows the viewer to look at it longer and still notice something new.

Favorite Artist: Vincent Van Gogh

Although we learned about many artists throughout the course of this class, my favorite artist when we started and my favorite artist now is still the same--Vincent Van Gogh. I love the versatility in his paintings. He did not commit himself to one subject matter, but painted landscapes, portraits, still life, etc. I have also loved the way you can visualize each brush stroke in the paintings, but it is not excessive where it takes away from the overall scene. This painting in particular is Starry Night Over the Rhone. In this painting in particular, the water is what makes it so beautiful. It is immensely difficult to paint water, and he manages to do so perfectly without sacrificing his style of painting. Throughout this class, I have grown to appreciate Van Gogh more than I ever have.

Frieda and Diego Rivera by Frieda Kahlo

the above painting is done by the artist Frieda Kahlo, and it depicts herself and her husband about two years after they married. I chose the painting because my friend recommended I do my blog post on Frieda as she is my friends', favorite artist. I chose this work in particular as it seemed a little tamer than the majority of her works. my friend told me that Frieda is her favorite artist because of her bad luck. I think the fact that as a child she had polio and then shortly after she was able to walk again was impaled by a metal rod is wild to me. some of her most famous paintings were painted from a hospital bed. 

Painting Final Slides

Chuck Close: Leslie Watercolor, Scott Blake: Manson

This is Leslie made by Chuck Close, It is a watercolor painting. It was made between 1972 and 1973. It is a watercolor on paper mounted on canvas. It is 75.2 x 57 inch. I picked this painting because I really love how the photograph captured her blue eyes. I also picked it because I am very interested on how detailed it looks for a watercolor painting. 

This is Manson by Scott Blake. It is barcode art. It was created on September 20,2003. It is made of 50 by 32 barcodes. I picked Charles Manson because I think the story is really insane and I watched a movie recently called "Once upon a time in Hollywood". This movie made me read up on the story and It is insane how one man can create so many deaths without directly doing them. 

Chuck Close and Scott Blake

This was done by Chuck Close. Her name is Kara Walker. Out of all his art, I chose this one because he did a lot of white people so I liked to see a person of color represented. I think it is different because it is different than all the ones that he has done before, and shows different techniques for not only skin color but also hair textures. I really liked how it was done. 

This one was done by Scott Blake. I chose it for similar reasons that I picked Chuck Close's image. I liked that he did Oprah which represented a different race, and challenged different ways of doing it from other times before. It is very similar to Chuck Close's work but I like that it is rectangles instead of circles like Close's. The only thing that I do not like is that it is black and white. 

Chuck Close and Scott Blake

Chuck Close is a contemporary American artist. He paints massive images, usually portraits of either himself, his family, or acquaintances. His story is one of overcoming difficulties, first his face blindness, and second, the fact that he is a quadriplegic. His paintings are composed using a grid, which he then fills in with miniaturized abstract paintings which ultimately make up the face of whomever he is painting. The painting that I chose is titled "Emma."

Scott Blake is another contemporary American artist. He often does pop art, but he is most well known for the pieces he creates using only barcodes. This picture of Marilyn Monroe is one of these. His style is very minimalist and clean looking, while simultaneously having a lot of activity upon closer inspection. This artwork is titled "Marilyn Monroe."

Chuck Close and Scott Blake

The first painting is a painting of Oprah Winfrey by Scott Blake. He made this piece in 1999. He actually made it out of barcodes which I find fascinating. Something so plain and usual can make something so beautiful. Plus it is so realistic. The second painting is by Chuck Close. This painting is called Lucas 1. He painted this painting in the late 1960’s/ early 1970’s. I love how realistic this picture it. It’s so colorful but yet so dull. And his eyes are pinpointed at you that makes you want to stare at them. It’s a harsh look, almost intimidating.

Chuck Close and Scott Blake

 

I like these portraits because of the attention to detail and how realistic these artworks turned out. The artists are able to capture raw emotion in the paintings. By manipulating the way the art is created, the artists provides a different perspective and puts a creative spin on the process. I admire both artists’ work and their effort to make the art their own. 

Chuck Close: Self Portrait ll, 2016 - Scott Blake: Oprah Winfrey

Chuck Close is an American artist. He is most known for his large scale portraits. He contructs his paintings through a grid system. Chuck Close struggled with dyslexia and facial blindness all throughout his life. He also became paralyzed and wheelchair bound later in life. I think it is amazing that he was able to adapt to his new disabilies and still find a way to create such amazing artwork.

Scott Blake is an American artist. He has a similar style of artwork to Chuck Close. He primarlily uses barcodes to create his portraits. His barcode artwork quickly became an internet meme. Blake had an altercation with Close because Close claimed Blake was stealing his artwork. I think it is great that Blake is able to continue to create the artwork he wants in his own unique way. 

Chuck Close and Scott Blake

Big Self Portrait by Chuck Close was done from 1967-1968. It is 107 by 83 inches and is currently in the Walker. He explained that this was done when he was still trying to find himself as an artist, making himself looker tougher than he believes himself to be. He continued to paint self portraits throughout his life that are still on the larger size. 

Ecstasy Self Portrait is a self portrait of Scott Blake that is made out of ecstasy pills. It is composed of over 256 photoshopped ecstasy pills. Scott Blake is known for making art out of other items such as clocks, barcodes and book covers.

Chuck Close and Scott Blake

Chuck Close was born July 5, 1940, today he is 79 years old and a well-known painter. Chuck Close is well known for his style consisting of individually painted squares that when looked at up-close look like random colored squares and then from afar they come together to create a whole photo. Most commonly Chuck Close creates portraits using this style such as the self-portrait depicted above.

Scott Blake was born on October 20, 1976, today is 43 years old and is a well-known artist. Scott Blake is most well known for his use of barcode art, a popular trend in art that uses barcodes to create an image. This technique is similar to Chuck Close as up close the image would look only like a jumble of barcodes but take a step back and one can see that it is, in fact, an image. The above work of art is an image of the famous woman Marilin Monrow.

Chuck Close and Scott Blake

Chuck Close is an American painter, artist, and photographer. He specializes in massive-scale photorealism. He is also known for his many abstract self-portraits. This painting in particular is titled "John." It is a 100 x 90 in work that was completed in 1972, it was one of his first paintings. It was completed using acrylic on canvas. I really like this painting because the attention to detail is beautiful, it looks like a photograph. All of the different colors in John's hair and each individual hair was painted flawlessly.

Scott Blake is an artist who is known for creating artworks out of barcodes. Although this is not a barcode piece, I really like it because it was done in the gridlike style of Chuck Close. I really love the detail in the hair and the patterned abstract in the background. This painting has a lot going on but Blake still managed to keep it cohesive.

Chuck Close--Big Nude, Scott Blake--Maria Raquel Cochez

Chuck Close is an American Artist born in 1940 and is still alive today. He painted this acrylic on canvas, Big Nude, in 1967-1968. This is an amazing, huge, painting that is 117 x 253.5 inches. This is a photorealistic painting, the only painting he completed that was this large. What drew me to this is how detailed it is, and how accurate. He even painted her tan lines, which are often glossed over when trying to paint somebody as beautiful.

Scott Blake is an American artist, who is 43 years old. He creates barcode art--in which he takes barcoke and arranges them to make a portrait. This portrait is of Maria Raquel Cochez, his friend from college. What drew me to this piece is how it is not a famous, well recognized person as he usually does, and the fact that he stated that he used the barcodes from the foods Maria ate in Panama as a child. This portrait struck me as much more personal than his others.

Chuck Close and Scott Blake

Chuck Close crates lifelike portraits. Close got into art to help him with his learning disability. He eventually started to get art lessons. I pick this painting because because I liked the detail in this painting it almost looks like a photo. 

Scott Blake is mostly know for making art out of barcodes. His work has been shown in many galleries and magazines like The New York Times, FHM, and Adbusters. When Blake crates his art he will will use barcodes that have to do with the person he is creating. when making this painting of Marilyn Monroe he uses barcodes from her movies. I picked this painting because I like how you can recognize that this painting is of Marilyn Monroe right away. Using only barcodes Scott Blake still adds detail in his artwork.