The Final Three

Gustave Caillebotte was born into an upper-class Parisian family in the 1848.  At the age of 12 his family moved to the country where he began drawing and painting.  After intently studying the arts, he joined the impressionist movement and entered his work in the second Impressionist Exhibition of 1876.

*Gustave Caillebotte and the fashioning of identity in impressionist Paris


The one painting that really inspired me to use Gustave was his masterful attempt at rendering every day scenes in such an emotionally appealing way.  He captures a specific moment in each painting, whether it is the moment before the two on the sidewalk collide or the next raindrop will fall on the rippling creek.  As a response to his involvement in the impressionist movement, Gustave dabbled in the school of Realism.  This is where he found himself and his talent.  I don't even need to explain. Just look at these photos of some of his most impressive realist paintings....

Hopefully you saw the common theme of water and its beauty that is reflected upon in every day life.  For this artist I plan on creating an illuminated letter that also uses this precise rendering of the wetness of an object or water itself. 

Roy Lichtenstein was a prominent american pop artist of the late 1900's who worked with artists like Warhol, and Jasper Johns.  He was not taught much about art and design as a young boy but he truly loved jazz and often found himself at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.  Then he went to art school and studied but was interrupted by WWII.  When he got back  he studied more in Ohio then moved back to New York. 

*Roy Lichtenstein: pop-paintings, 1961-1969, Roy Lichtenstein : drawing and prints / with an introduction by Diane Waldman

During his lifetime, he studied within many schools of art... from cubism and expressionism to abstraction to pop art and surrealism.  His interest in cartoon and comic strips show in his late pop art paintings.  These images show his interest in bold colors and thick outlines.  

Robert Smithson was born in 1938.  He is famous for his American land art exhibits.  He began his career in the minimalist movement.  The he wandered outside of the two dimensional and practiced with glass sheets and tubing to explore visual refraction and mirroring of light. 

*Robert Smithson and the American landscape




His mature works bloomed from an odd interest in dump trucks and their ability to move earth (rocks, concrete, dirt and more).  He often combined his natural elements in galleries with mirrors and glass.  One of his other noticeable characteristics was the need for temporary, or ever changing art.  This theme brings out the stage of his earthworks.  

The Illuminated Letter

An Illumination is an embellishment, or additional decoration that enhances the pges of a written, or manuscript page.  The term, illumination comes from the term illuminate, or to fill with light.  This effect is achieved with the applications of gold leaf to the letters and images, which reflect light and appear to glow.  An illuminated letter was usually the first letter of a page or paragraph.  It was always enlarged and in color iwth gold applied in areas, while the rest of the text remained black.  The images used to enhance the letters include animals, plants and mythological creatures.  These images were modified to fit into or around the letter, or in some cases took on the shape of the letter itself.  

The modern counterpart to the illuminated letter is known as a drop cap.  The first letter of a paragraph that is enlarged to "drop" down two or more lines, as in the next paragraph. Drop caps are often seen at the beginning of novels, where the top of the first letter of the first word lines up with the top of the first sentence and drops down to the four or fifth sentence.

So this next project involves creating an illuminated letter/drop cap that represents a person who has a recognizable artistic influence.  The following are 6 artists that I have chosen to study in order to recreate a drop cap with their initials.

Fillipo Brunelleschi: Italian architect of the early 15th century.  Dome of the Florence Cathedral, sacristy of the church of San Lorenzo in Florence

Gustave Caillebotte: french painter late 1800's, Paris Rainy Day

Roy Lichtenstein: american pop artist 1960's.  Oh Jeff!

Bradbury Thompson: american graphic design of the early 21st: washburn bible

Robert Smithson: american land artist of the mid 1900's.  spiral jetty

Georgia O'Keeffe: 20th century american painter: red canna

oohhh yeah!

those freshmen in design 1... GOOD JOB!

These guys did an awesome job of building and placing their super cool letters around campus.  sorry if you didnt get a chance to see them. they were great!

hmmmm fall :)

just a quick lil thing i needed to make because i really love leaves! I adore this time of year and especially today since we just TURNED IN OUR VISCON POSTERS!!!!

vacation from page layouts and paragraph breaks

my first go at motion graphics... from Noel Rivard on Vimeo.