The Technique Example vs. the Portfolio Piece

Pretense
Watercolor Monotype example

Recently I was faced with a perplexing decision. Do I put my very large and imposing portfolio piece in a group show meant to show teachers' (my) work along with students' work? Or, do I show less strong, smaller pieces intended mostly to show what is possible with the class technique that I have been showing to my students? Which is better to attract new students to a generally unfamiliar printmaking technique?

Rift
Watercolor Monotype example

The class I teach is Watercolor Monotype which differs considerably from traditional monotype in both technique and the look and feel of the final print. Though my more accomplished piece does exhibit the qualities of watercolor monotypes, I felt it didn't show a wide enough range of techniques that this versatile medium offers. I also didn't want to overshadow my students' work which was much, much smaller in comparison. So I opted to show a couple of small pieces that for all intents and purposes did not reflect my current work very much but were merely examples of what could be done. That is what is shown here. Any thoughts?

I am not sure if the decision was the right one but it is an interesting dilemma to face as a teaching artist who is trying to attract students to a new medium.

Today is Toulouse-Lautrec's birthday

Jardin de Paris, May Belfort, 1883
Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec
Lithograph

I probably don't need to write this as it is probably not news to anyone but Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was one of the greatest lithographers of all time. He fully embraced this printmaking medium and maximized its potential for illustration and poster design. He was among the artists who took the relatively new printmaking medium of lithography (in the late 19th century) and became one of the world's most famous lithographers. His masterful use of simplified color fields and expressive, painterly line compositions are as powerful today as they were in the 1800s.

Late 19th Century/Early 20th Century Lithography Timeline

The timeline above (click to embiggen) is a slide I made in grad school for a presentation on the history of lithography. You can see that Toulouse-Lautrec has a prominent spot on this timeline and yet he was accompanied by many other talented poster artists who exploded on the lithography scene in Europe and the U.S. near the close of the 19th century. Jules Cheret, who invented the 3-color lithographic process, paved the way for the other artists listed here including Toulouse-Lautrec.

If you are of the mind to look them up, these other artists include: Pierre Bonnard, Théophile Steinlen, Maxfield Parrish, Leonetto Cappiello, The Beggarstaffs, Lucian Bernhard, Eugène Grasset, Edward Penfield, William H. Bradley, among others. And in the early 20th century, the work of printmaker, designer, illustrator, painter and typographer, Cassandre became well known as his iconic lithographic travel posters of grand ships and advertisements for Dubonnet were produced and subsequently distributed internationally. In fact, designers in the late 20th century to the present, continue to draw inspiration from Cassandre's work. See Paula Scher's Audiophile promotion for CBS Records in 1980. And compare it to Cassandre's seen below. This is just one example, and there are more current ones where designers and illustrators continue to draw inspiration from Cassandre as well as other early lithographers.

L’intransigeant, 1925
A.M. Cassandre

With that all said, Happy Birthday Henri!

Hurricane Sandy

I hope you, dear reader, are safe and comfortable where you are now. I just got to my studio for the first time since the hurricane and luckily I have power and internet here in Peekskill, NY. Unfortunately, my house is still without power, hot water, etc., but we did not sustain any damage beyond a blown-off house shingle.

The streets here in Westchester County are full of downed trees and power lines making it difficult to get around. No one knows when life will get back to normal here. I especially feel for those in New York City and New Jersey which are both dealing with flooding and damage that is unprecedented.

I look forward to when some kind of normalcy will return to life and I can post more about my creative journeys without the distraction of the devastation around me. But for now, stay safe everyone.

Expressive Watercolor

Watercolor Sketch by Kiah Kiean

I frequently check out the Urban Sketchers Blog for inspiration since I find the work to be so fresh and unassuming. In doing so, I came across the work of artist, Kiah Kiean, whose work has qualities that are so luscious, they inspire me to sketch more, myself.

In my watercolor monotype class, I encourage my students to experiment with the natural properties of watercolor: the way the pigments in the paint interact, the way the water acts on the work surface (in my class it's plexiglass), and effects that can be achieved only with water-based media.

The work above is not a monotype, rather it's an example of one of the most expressive street sketches that I've seen, full of energy, movement, vibrancy and texture. I find this work to be very inspiring as I'm drawn to the contrasts in color and tone while being engaged by the intensity of energy and willingness to use unexpected color splashes for excitement which adds even more to the scene.

In my class, we are experimenting with powdered natural pigments mixed with gum arabic in addition to watercolor paint applications to the monotypes. Some of the effects seen in the sketch above are achieved with the "pigment washes" that we create. If interest is indicated, I can discuss the pigment experiments more fully in a future post.

UPDATE: If you're interested in splatter illustration art, you should check out the work of Ralph Steadman who is a pioneer of this technique.

Halloween's coming

I love some of the innovative things people do with paper.
The artist is Peter Callesen.
from Juxtapose Magazine

Art of Democracy Show coming up

Detail from "Sweet Land of Liberty"
Monotype, © 2012 Elana Goren

In November, Sacred Galley NYC will exhibit "Art of Democracy," a show curated by Marshall Arisman, a very well-known illustrator and printmaker who heads the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay program at the School of Visual Arts in NY. Marshall was one of the first contemporary illustrators to blur the line between illustration and fine art, succeeding in bringing a fine art aesthetic to alot of his illustration work. He is an artist that I have looked up to since my early college years and have been inspired by since. I am honored to have my work included in an exhibition that he is curating.

The work pictured above is a detail of the monotype that will be included in the show. Please stop by the Sacred Gallery for the opening on November 3, 8pm - 11pm. "Art of Democracy" runs from November 3 until November 30.

For show info, visit the Sacred Gallery website.

New e-book

I have converted my printed book, Speciesism, to an e-book which is now available on the Blurb.com website store. You can see it at http://store.blurb.com/ebooks/296789-speciesism.