Artist research

Keith Haring

An alarmed stick figure (below), reminiscent of those found on street-crossing signs and bathroom doors, serves as a hoop for a pack of spotted dogs. Painted in an engagingly cartoonish style with bright, wet-look paint on a vinyl tarpaulin, this early work of Haring's means nothing more than what it conveys: pure exuberance.

Haring employed his crowd-pleasing style in the service of political causes and to support the fight against AIDS, the disease that eventually took his life.

He was part of a Pop renaissance in the 1980s that included artists such as Kenny Scharf and Basquiat, and which was allied with break dancing and hip hop music. Haring began as a graffiti "tagger," drawing his trademark figures on empty advertising boards in the New York City subway. Haring wanted his art to be accessible to all: His Pop Shop in New York City still sells t-shirts, posters, and other affordable goods featuring his much-loved designs. 

Source: http://www.leninimports.com/keith_haring.html

This image is depicting a man with a large hole through his torso as three cheetahs/dogs jump through his body. Keith Haring used a few different materials as his artwork progressed and developed. These included pencils on paper, paint, markers, oil pastels, crayons and clay.

 Some techniques Keith used included screen printing (A technique whereby a mesh is used to transfer ink onto a substrate.), Lithography (The art or process of producing a picture, writing or the like on a flat, specially prepared stone with some greasy oily substance and of taking ink impressions from this as in ordinary printing), and graffiti.

This image that I have chosen is very bright around the edges. the bright yellow and red is very eye catching and draws you towards it. When the brightness has drawn your eye you begin to notice the stark contrast of the pure black figure against the lightness of the background and the animals jumping through them.

My interpretation of this piece of work. Despite the bright and happy colours, I cant help but to feel that this is a very negative painting. I feel this because of the colours and actions of the characters included. With the main focus of the image being a pitch black on a bright yellow background this could be a way of representing the isolation that comes with depression and other illnesses.

 This could also explain the dogs in the image. The dogs may represent the people that want to help him but as they jump to help him he feels as if all their efforts just fall through him. this is why he has a large hole in his torso.

 One last piece is his arms. they lines that come from his arms seem to suggest he is waving or banging on the picture itself. This could symbolise that despite his sadness he is trying to get attention, so that he doesn't have to feel isolated.

what I like about this piece of work is the amount of expression and emotion a faceless figure is able to convey to the viewer purely by using colour and a few wavy lines.

Keith Haring's work relates to my project as he uses stick-figure like characters similar to the ones I am planning to use. 

Gregory Silva

This image is called 'Sunset Knights'. According to the description this was an image a Photoshop experiment that Gregory created whilst training in metal surface painting.

The Image depicts a series of Warriors/Knights, all of which are surrounded in shadow, behind an armoured woman who is the main focus of this painting.

To create this image the artist has used  Photoshop. For a lot of this picture he has used quite a soft brush. I can tell this because a lot of parts of this image have been blended together to create a very shiny and smooth texture on the armour and sword. At a few points however the brush must have been quite hard. This is most obvious on the breast plate. Here we can see how deliberate the brush strokes were. Despite this rough feel to the plate it does not take away from the realism of the image, but adds to it. The strokes make the plate seem very reflective as it would be in real life. Another feature the artist has used is possibly the pen tool. I think this may be the case because the shadow on the shoulder plat is a very definite line which is obtained using the pen tool.

In this piece of art it seems to show a group of Knights preparing for battle with an unseen enemy. I believe this is the case because the main focus of the image is wearing her armour and the people in the background are carrying flag poles, which was typical when heading into battle. I think the reason the artist wants us to focus on the main character is to show us exactly how he has worked the metal to be as realistic as possible.

The thing I like most about this piece of work is how the artist has worked the reflections into the metal, therefore giving us a true sense of where the lighting is in the image.

This relates to my project because one of my characters is a knight.

Denis Borodin

This image is titled as 'Warriors'. This image is depicting three Viking warriors in their battle gear. The image was created in Photoshop and the main focus is the three warriors in the centre. 

The artist here appears to have used quite hard brushes. If the image is zoomed in you can clearly see the brush strokes the artist has used to get a really rough and beaten up texture to the armour, and the roughness of the material the scarf and and clothes would have been made of. There is a definite sense of light in this image, as the light reflects off of the helmets and the shield.

In this piece the warriors seem to be hanging around, not really alert. This suggests that perhaps they are not in a battle but maybe on guard duty where ever they may be stationed. The focus of this image is clearly the people in the centre. this is because the background is entirely blank.

My favourite thing about this piece is the minute details.From the flow of the fur to the scratches and dings on the armour.

Yoon Lee

This image was created by the artist Yoon Lee. It is titled as 'Middle aged Knight.'

The painting was produced through Photoshop and depicts a Middle aged knight clad in armour and holding his sword to his side.

The program that the artist has used is Photoshop. It looks to me that he has used quite a hard brush. I believe this because on the cloth parts you can clearly see the brush strokes and how the light and dark are separated. The lighting in this piece highlights the colours of the materials used and gives the character depth.

I believe that this person is standing around preparing for a battle. I think this because he is carrying his complete armour and weapon and looks very serious.

Rastislav Le

The image above was painted in Photoshop by the artist Rastislav Le. The painting is called 'Samurai Viking' and depicts a Samurai Viking.The Samurai appears to be ready for battle as he is clad in a cross between Samurai armour and Viking battle wear. he also has his shield raised and his Katana at his side.

Rastislav has used Photoshop to make this unusual creation. He appears to have used a very hard brush as the strokes are very rough. This however appears to be his style and is present throughout all of his pieces. It also adds a lot of texture to the painting, from the roughness of the wooden shield to the fur.

There is also a clear sense of where the light in this image is coming from which is helped by the shadow to give the character some depth.

I think, in this image, it is depicting this Viking getting ready for a battle. it is relevant to my work because it kind of crosses over two elements that would not normally meet. In this case, Scandinavian Vikings and Japanese Samurai.