Every once in a while I come across some art on the web that absolutely blows me away. This morning it was a comment from
Uber Luciano Gatti on one of my
flickr images (well, he added it as a favorite) which sent me to his
flickr site. Here are a few images from Uber's "Faccio Facce" set:
I was reminded of
Tina Bering's "100 Girls on Cheap Paper". I refer to her
book a lot for inspiration, even though I don't draw faces very often, and it is one I recommend for my
Sketchbook Practice class. Not a how-to at all, just pure inspiration. A couple of images:
What I love about these pieces, both Uber's and Tina's, is the degree to which the process and material are evident. The abstract aspects of them are as in-your-face as the expressive quality of the faces. Learning to draw a perfect likeness of a face is as skill that can be learned with practice. But this individual, idiosyncratic interpretation of a face is so gut-wrenchingly expressive. I think it comes with just working and working and working, and gradually finding your own way with materials, techniques, imagery, and ideas.
I just adore Uber's second last face, the black & white one. How dramatic!
ReplyDeleteI love those faces too Jane! Thanks for sharing! Now I need to find him and you on flickr. : ) I like the face book too so I've pinned this post on my reference site on Pinterest so I can find that book later. You are such an art encyclopedia. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThese are so much fun to see - all of them. They are also terrific portrait pieces. I really love Bering's faces - I love being able to see process in the finished pieces. They are also gentle and feminine, in a good way. Since I haven't really wanted to draw faces, that's the only one of the recommended sketchbook books that I didn't have or buy. Mistake! Back to Amazon! Seeing these makes me think I might need to rethink. Uber's pieces are dramatic and cheeky. Thanks for sharing them. Oh - and I've been trying to catch up on flickr, too. You have some wonderful new things there. No wonder you're a favorite!
ReplyDeleteCould you please tell me something about the 'bloggers etiquette' when it comes to posting work from others?
ReplyDeleteI always love discovering new artists through blogs, but I am hesitant to post other people's art on my own blog.
Do you let them know?
Thanks for sharing these!
Anita
My feeling is that if you post the work of other artists you credit it LOUDLY, and also link to their site, blog, or whatever. I always love it when my work is posted elsewhere in the blogosphere. One can, of course, ask in advance if it's OK, and I do that in some contexts. For this kind of post where the main point is LOOK HOW FABULOUS THIS IS, I just go ahead and post the images and make sure I link directly to the artists.
ReplyDeleteThank you for answering my question!
DeleteI love both of these artists work! I am not on the level of either artist but it did inspire me to experiment with a drawing I did of myself. I'm going to play some more but I have the first experiments on my blog. Trust me, I love your work, as well. I have both of your book and I'm trying to decide which class I should take. Thanks for sharing these two artists.
ReplyDelete