#ryanshultzartacademy

[laurasartdumpster]

I'm done with this ear now

[laurasartdumpster]

Revised sketch

Revised as of 9.3.20.

Just need to erase gridlines and will be ready for imprimatura @ryanshultz​

[laurasartdumpster]

Screenshots: -the shower head from Psycho. I love black and white photography and film. I love the symmetry of this shot, and how Godlike the shower head is; like an all-powerful alien looking down at our fragile humanity. -there are SO many shots from Goodfellas that I love. Scorsese is my favorite director, and this is my favorite film. In a lot of ways, he's like Caravaggio with the lighting and the subject matter. He was asked why his films have such graphic violence, and he replied that the people the characters are based on are really that violent. -Do the Right Thing. All of it. I think Scorsese was one of Spike Lee's professors at NYU, and it shows. He's different, though. I love how he plays with perspective and how he shows the beauty of an urban landscape. Also his color palette (might be more the cinematographer than him, but anyway) -The opening boardwalk scene from Mildred Pierce (can't find a shot of it, but it's typical noir like Casablanca). See comment above re: B&W. Also, gimme a good film noir any day. So much gorgeous light and shadow, and MOOD. -The Great Wave off Kanagawa. I love a bold line (reminds me of tattoo flash) and those "oh shit" expressions on the boat passengers. -Andre Derain, London Bridge. I have a soft spot for the Fauvists:  as much as I love B&W, I love bold unnatural colors too. I would gladly hang this one in my home. -anything abstract expressionist. I'm sorry. -I don't why I'm so embarrassed to admit this, but I love Roy Lichtenstein. Is it really art? I don't know. I love how he took these comic images and text and called it art (Warhol too, but I'm not a huge Warhol fan). Pop art is great because it's kind of a fuck you to society and pretentiousness, and I like that.

I'll try to come up with six more.

[laurasartdumpster]

writing assignment 1 (art school)

What I hope to get out of these classes:

-I really am doing this more as a form of therapy that anything else. I've had a rough year (not just pandemic related). I've done traditional therapy, meditation, yoga, journaling, deep breathing, etc. A friend of mine is studying art therapy so I thought I'd give it a go. -I'm trying to get back to something that once brought me joy. I was drawing before I could talk. I was drawing before I found other interests that distracted me (music, theater, writing, fitness, martial arts, yoga)  and my drawing disappeared. -I need to learn better technique. I'm basically self-taught, and never learned things like perspective, shadowing, color mixing, etc. -It's not my primary goal, but if I end up selling my art to make some money I wouldn't be mad about it. Not at all.

Questions for Ryan:

-can I start by focusing on drawing first? -should I always start from a photo? -how do I clean brushes (never used oils before) -how much physical space do I need? Should I start looking for studio space? -what's a good site to share my work? -what's Chicago like?

I don’t know what my idea painting would be, because it’s not in my consciousness yet. Something very unique and innovative, I hope.

[laurasartdumpster]

Simon Shama's The Power of Art: Caravaggio.

In 1600s Europe, according to the Protestants, art in churches was "a distraction". Oh, the Protestants. Always calling the cops on the party.

Bullet points/takeaways from the Caravaggio doc:

-I loved how ballsy he was; actually thinking that the church would be into those bold images. Gotta roll the dice when you're an artist -I liked how his later stuff used more of the chiaroscuro, but the poses of the figures were more dramatic and less natural, which I wasn't crazy about. Example: the boys playing cards ("Cardsharps") was definitely like a candid photo, even though there wasn't as much deep play in the shadows. The Beheading of John the Baptist seemed histrionic, but the lighting was incredible. -Question: so when he did those paintings, did he paint the canvas all black and then add color on top? Or was the black added in later? -I 'm embarrassed to ask this, but how do you know where to put the light? I've always struggled with this. -random: so you can actually roll up a painted canvas? Won't that ruin the paint, as oils take so long to dry? -Yeah, he was definitely a genius. How someone can paint like that so realistically and so prolifically without painting from a photo is mind-blowing.