Linda Levin’s work was all made recently over the past couple of years. Most of her pieces have been influenced by the city she lives in, NYC. She sees a picture of a building or a park and manipulates it into boxes and lines and you can hardly tell what it was before. She uses mostly black and white and then some basic colors depending on what she’s painting.
A piece of hers called “Central Park West Before Down” incorporates all of the elements; it has colors and black lines and some gridded areas. You can tell it’s a sky with buildings but only after you know the title and her inspiration. Continuing with the New York City theme, she creates something called “City With Footnotes VIII.” Levin uses black and white as her main colors and finds ways to add a pop of color. I want to find a way to add color into my art, but make it very subtle. Artist Website Timothy Cross’s work is all made over the past couple of years. He even has some photography and incorporates it into pieces with paint. He either has a picture with geometric shapes on top, or a very simple with background with something drawn in black lines with multiple layered patterns.
One of his works titled “Dots” is one of my favorites. The background is a picture he took himself, but blurred just to give you dots. He made geometric shapes using harsh, white lines. I like how the background is soft and the shapes are sharp and vary. Another work of his called “Gondola” sticks out to me too. I like how he uses black and white and multiple shades of green, but it doesn’t look busy. He’s formed different patterns and layered them all. Artist Website I wanted to continue using nails in my work, but was getting bored of the basic nail. While looking for some in my garage, I came across these oddly bent nails and decided to use them. It took me awhile to figure out what I was going to do with them and then had an idea of doing repetition in rows. My idea was to create something visually pleasing at any angle while staying simple. I struggled a bit with the rows and having nails out over the edge, some rows would be longer than the other.
Some helpful feedback I got back from my peers were about creating bigger work, keeping it simple, trying new ways to use nails and trying out color. My favorite comment by far was when Meg Bosse said my work was the “most sellable of the class.” Peers said to paint the nails and then use them and keep the background a clean white. In the future I’m going to continue using nails and make bigger pieces. I want to make this one more 3-D and hammer the nails into the wood. I thought about painting the nails but I like the look of rustic and real on top of solid white. One night I was going through my dad’s shelf of nails and screws and decided to do something with them. There were different colors, different types, different sizes, different brands- the amount was endless. Instead of hammering each nail down, I took an easier approach by gluing them which backfired because it still took multiple hours. Even though the colors were unplanned, I like how it’s a neutral pallet because I didn’t want it to take away from the overall design. My wish is for people to look at this and want to hang it up in their home.
Peers like the direction I’m going in with a new take on nails. I was told to make some nails rusty and plays with their colors. They also liked having a plain background, nothing to distract from the nails. For my next piece I want to make a pattern with nails. I like repetition in a large scale, something to make you feel lost. My plan is to make something more 3-D where it looks different at all angles. I ventured off from my summer work, I just wasn't happy with what I created. Masonite was a difficult surface to draw on or use watercolor so I switched to wood and paper. Through these works I found out that I like to stick to neutral colors, nothing too bright or bold unless it’s a single color. I tried things from realistic drawings, to watercolor, to paintings but I just haven’t had that piece that I’m really excited about.
Peers thought that my piece with nails was the most interesting, it’s definitely darker and different from what I usually create. I was also told to keep going with the tight detail over the watercolor. Another person said to continue my style of drawing. I had the most fun hammering nails and I liked the outcome of that piece the most. I think I could create something visually pleasing with nails. I want to work on a bigger piece of wood and use neutral colors. I ventured off from my summer work, I just wasn't happy with what I created. Masonite was a difficult surface to draw on or use watercolor so I switched to wood and paper. Through these works I found out that I like to stick to neutral colors, nothing too bright or bold unless it’s a single color. I tried things from realistic drawings, to watercolor, to paintings but I just haven’t had that piece that I’m really excited about.
Some feedback consumed of how rushed and inconsistent my work looks. The black and white piece along with the elephant were the most liked. I was told that my work seemed a little flat and it needed something else. My future plans are all about experimenting. Obviously I haven’t created anything I’m passionate about and want to continue with. Maybe I’ll play a little with lines and drawing with a black sharpie. I created these pieces after losing the life of a family member, I felt disconnected. I liked the idea being able to connected the cords and then take them apart, these are my first pieces with meaning behind them. While I was making this I didn’t like it and to this day I still don’t. I found out that painting on Masonite isn’t for me and it felt flat. I let other things get in the way of neatness, technique and the outcome.
Not a lot of positive feedback was received. Some people liked my colors and the fact that it was three pieces taken apart. The up-close black sharpie detail caught some people’s eyes. For the future I don’t want to make any more work like this. I didn’t feel confident about it. I want to experiment with new ways to make art. |
Kaylyn RiceThis blog to present my thoughts of each work. Archives |