Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Like / Dislike : Illustration Now!

Like: Maira Kalman (p.154)

The use of this illustrator's color and composition really struck
out to me when I looked through this book. Kalman's use of shaped
color tones and simple brush strokes really brings out the mood and
the atmosphere in which the illustrations are set. Each one of her works
that are shown in this book seem to represent a nostalgia; a long
lost memory or thinking. The setting of the room (155) where the whole page
is set in a tone of pinks and oranges bring out a sense of warmth and
"filled" feeling which contradicts the rolled up and covered furniture.
Just the way how Kalman expresses her thoughts through simple
techniques in color helps me develop as an artist.

Dislike: Herr Mueller (p.206)

As I looked through all the artists in this book, it seemed to me that
Mueller as well as a few others came out as an artist who I simply could
not understand. His queer works of mainly disturbing (personally) images
seemed to end in just "scaring" the viewer. Although there were other
pieces of work in the book that did present some unpleasant images, at least
they had a deeper meaning in which the viewer (I) could conclude to. But
in Mueller's pieces they just seemed to be random thoughts and arrangements;
the piece Tiger conveys no meaning what so ever. The pair of running tiger shoes,
the foot that tries tripping his pathway, the crowd cheering in the background,
and the stitched up rabbit doll in the corner seems all random and misleading.
It just disturbs me how in Mueller's work the meaning / message that the artist
is trying to express is fully not understood.

1 comment:

Kali Ciesemier said...

Hey Jane, you've got some good thoughts here but I just wanted to give you a heads-up that it looks like this is 300 words total, instead of 400. You might want to write a bit more.