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Hey so this is a reflection on a Lunchtime Lecture given by Amanda Adams, curator at the VMFA, about the traditional aesthetics and styles of art the Japanese culture values. She spoke about how the culture of countries in the east and west changed greatly after being impacted by the "agreement" reached between Commodore Mathew Perry and Japan that made Japan finally open its doors and spread its culture and products to the rest of the world. I really enjoyed learning more about wabi sabi and yugen as well as the ideas of Tanizaki. I already knew a little about wabi sabi, which is about recognizing the beauty in the ordinary and a melancholy feeling or sensitivity to things, but the concept of yugen, which represents mystery and a sense of lingering emotion, was completely new to me and something I found to be very intriguing. Tanizaki was a Japanese author who wrote a book called In Praise of Shadows mourning the Japan of the past that valued all of these concepts before becoming more westernized and changing their traditional ideals of beauty. I think that it's important to always keep in mind the importance of recognizing imperfections and instead of trying to get rid of them, embracing them to the point that they are considered beauty in almost a purer form. I want to try to keep this in mind when creating art because I feel that a lot of the time, we focus on trying to make things perfect and stress on a single line that may not play a huge part in the drawing as a whole, but to the artist, it could mean the world has caught fire and is slowly being burning away to a crispy potato chip floating in outer space. I think this concept will play an important role in the upcoming unit on abstract art because it isn't about capturing a form exactly, it's more about the essence of an object or feeling and putting it in a way that it can be visually understood. The lesson of wabi sabi and yugen had a connection to this style of art and are concepts that I personally will try to utilize when creating my art. If you would like to learn more about Tanizaki and his book In Praise of Shadows, visit this link: www.brainpickings.org/2015/05/28/in-praise-of-shadows-tanizaki/ I would highly recommend watching this video that does a great job of summarizing parts of Adam's lecture on wabi sabi and how it is being impacted in present day Japan: I'm not sure if you can really tell, but since the last update I lightened up some of my lines so they hopefully won't show up as much in my final drawing and I shortened the mouth and grave it a little more of an angle. I also added/refined some lines on the right side of the hair to make my life a lil bit easier when I go in with conté. about his life and art he's so talented like wow ------------------------------------- Leonardo di ser Pierdo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 and died on May 2, 1519, making various accomplishments during his lifetime in not only art, but also science, math, and anatomy, just to name a few. He was the illegitimate son of notary Pierdo da Vinci and peasant, Caterina. da Vinci studied in Florence, Italy under the esteemed painter, Verrocchio and later under the artist Ludovico Sforza in Milan. de Vinvi lived in a variety of locations during his lifetime, allowing for influences from other artists, in very art- focused cities such as Rome, Bologna, Venice, and France. The Virgin of the Rocks, also known as Madonna of the Rocks, actually is the title for two pieces which are very similar and both painted by da Vinci. The one on the right is the second of the two and has a slightly more finished appearance due to its vibrancy in color and high level of preservation.
more information Here is a link to a detailed breakdown of the artwork, focusing mainly on the composition of the study- aboveboards-art.blogspot.com/2011/08/study-for-angels-head-virgin-of-rocks.html About the differences between both "Virgin of the Rocks"- www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Virgin-of-the-Rocks.html Links to information about da Vinci's mentors (you don't need to read these for the questions, they're just here) - www.britannica.com/biography/Andrea-del-Verrocchio www.britannica.com/biography/Ludovico-Sforza -----below is a brief video talking about the symbolism and composition of one of the finished pieces----- Questions 1. In the Study for the Angel's Head, what does da Vinci use to create the illusion that the left eye is more prominent than the right? 2. Why are there two Virgin of the Rocks? Which, in your opinion, is the better one and why? 3. Who do the figures represent, and how does the composition add to the content and religious allegory? bibliography
useum.org/artwork/Portrait-of-a-man-in-red-chalk-Leonardo-Leonardo-da-Vinci-1512 www.leonardo-da-vinci.net/self-portrait/ www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/high-ren-florence-rome/leonardo-da-vinci/a/leonardo-virgin-of-the-rocks www.leonardoda-vinci.org/ aboveboards-art.blogspot.com/2011/08/study-for-angels-head-virgin-of-rocks.html curiator.com/art/leonardo-da-vinci/head-of-a-young-woman-study-for-the-angel-inthe-virgin-of-the-rocks So a lot has happened since the last update. First off, I made the mistake of not researching the material the study was done in at the beginning of the project and discovered halfway through that it is, in fact, not conté like I thought, but silverpoint, which requires an opaque wash to be painted on at the beginning of the process. At this point, Mrs. Mosley and I have decided to just go with the conté due to time restrictions, but it will alter how the piece is supposed to look, something that was to be avoided at almost all costs :( . A friend also pointed out that I had drawn the eyes a. waayy too high up and b., disproportional to the actual artwork, with the left eye being almost 2x too wide. I also ended up fixing the lips and some of the lines creating the illusion of a hairstyle because they were not super accurate to the drawing. |
AuthorNatalie Kim is a senior at MLWGS who likes to do art, take pics, and pet puppers. Archives
May 2020
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