90 Days - Discovering Artistic Styles - Pin-Up Art

Discovering Artistic Styles

Pin-Up Art

In my continuing effort to learn more about art and its history and styles, I'm going to share some of the things that I have learned about art.  I'm going to start with an artistic style known as pin-up art.  Pin-up art is a literal form of art, in that it is a low-cost, mass produced work that is meant to be "pinned on a wall" for display.  Old advertisements, postcards, paintings, photos, and sketches could all be considered pin-up art.

The most popular pin-up art, starting as far back as the 1880's is pin-up girls.  Usually of famous actresses or other stars of the day (think Marilyn Monroe), they were used to sell just about everything from soap, orange juice, and war bonds.  They were very popular during the 1940's-1960's.  Some of the more popular pin-up girl artist include Alberto Vargas, Rolf Armstrong, and Hajime Sorayama.  You can Google these artist, just be aware, some of the art may be risque and not quite appropriate for work.

In modern times, we now have band and movie posters, show playbills and even fine art calendars.  Remember, no matter the cost of the art, the most important part of art is how it makes you feel.  You might be moved by looking at the Mona Lisa but you could be just as moved as looking at a wonderful, antique postcard that you found at a swap meet.

The next time you see a picture that you like, pin it to the wall!

A Winning Combination

by Rolf Armstrong, 1945

http://www.thepinupfiles.com/armstrong.html

Photo 365 - Day 263 (Photo of a Portrait of a Gentleman)

Day 263 (March 23rd, 2011)
Title: Photo of a Portrait of a Gentleman

Continuing with a few of the artist that I spotted on our last trip to the Legion of Honor, today I am showing Tiziano Vecellio (more commonly known as Titian) painting "Portrait of a Gentleman".  I really like this painting, because it reminds me so much of a photograph.  Something that today, you might say to your friend, "Say Cheese!" and poof - you've got a portrait.  But, back in 1550 when this was done, it took Titian hundreds of hours to paint this. 

Again, as I mentioned yesterday, try and get to the Legion of Honor and enjoy all of their wonderful art.

Enjoy!

Photo 365 - Day 262 (Saint Jerome)

Day 262 (March 22nd, 2011)
Title: Saint Jerome

We recently visited the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, which is a wonderful museum by the way, for Theresa's birthday and while walking around I found a few new "friends". 

This first one is Saint Jerome, by Diego de Siloe (c. 1560), carved out of walnut.   Here is a bit more info on him (ala Wikipedia), if you are interested.  

As a bonus, while we were visiting they had on exhibit an original 1217 copy of the Magna Carta. This document literally changed the world in ways that could never have been imagined.  If you have the chance to see it, do it!  It's worth the price of admission alone (as well as the Roman Mosaic in Gallery 4, right behind the Magna Carta). 

I could go on for a while about all the great things to see there, so I will instead just say: Take a day off and go there! 

Enjoy

(Ps: Yes, I do get the irony of following up yesterday's "Cheezeballs" photo with this one is a bit... well... me actually).  

Photo 365 - Day 210 (Rivers)

Day 210 (January 29th, 2011)
Title: Rivers

This photo nearly got me kicked out of MoMA (New York).  There is a giant embroidered tapestry on one wall with a list of the 1000 longest rivers.  It's big.  And I was having a hard time getting a good picture of it.  So, I just walked up, put my camera *nearly* on it and shot is from a really low angle.  The lovely security guards were not so happy about my "nearly" touching it.  In the end I really enjoyed how the shot came out.  The way it was made, it makes it look like old computer print outs (who remembers Dot Matrix or Punch Cards). 

Enjoy

Photo 365 - Day 176 (Negative Killer)

Day 176 (December 26th, 2010)
Title: Negative Killer


Completing my "fun with modern art" trifecta, I saw this display.  I'm not really sure how I feel about it, because in essence I think that projecting photographs is good and I generally appreciate anytime a photographer gets featured in a museum.  Conversely, I'm not sure I can count Mr. Buckingham as a photographer, because most photographers that I know (not mixed-media artist mind you), wouldn't create an exhibit which sole purpose is to destroy the photograph over time. 


Basically, Mr. Buckingham took a photo of a man on horse (via slide film) and placed it into a slide projector.  That's been on for nearly 10 years now, with the purpose of using the light (which is quite strong) to slowly destroy the image.  When I saw the exhibit, the image is nearly impossible to identify. 


I'm not really going to say one way or another whether this is "art" or not (or perhaps it started as art and has now changed).  I'll leave that judgment to each viewer, but I will say, sometimes a horse is just a horse.  Even when its not. 


Enjoy

 

Artist of the Day - Day 2 - Bernini

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Marble Ninja (Sculpture)

Bernini is to me, the greatest sculpture of the Baroque period (and perhaps just the best ever!).  His carvings are beyond lifelike (he was carving in HD!), and have a inner-glow and realism that I haven’t seen in other statues.  When we were in Italy, I remember just staring at the Bernini’s in the Borghese Museum with such awe and reverence that I had to be dragged away from them (I remember saying: “Do you think the guards would notice if I put it under my coat!?”)  My particular favorite, by only a slim margin is Truth (“Truth Unveiled by Time”).  Bernini did this sculpture for himself and it shows his amazing ability to blend multiple carving techniques and seamlessly blend unfinished and finished surfaces together to show off the contrast and give a ‘living texture’ to the whole piece.  It’s not his most famous piece, but it’s certainly one of his most engaging.

 

(Image swiped from Yahoo Image Gallery)

If you want to learn more, Wikipedia Link is here. 

Enjoy! 

Ps:  to my friends on the East Coast, The Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) in New York has a Bernini on display – See it, it’s worth it! 

Photo 365 - Day 143 (Bird Lift)

Day 143 (November 22nd, 2010)
Title: Bird Lift

Alt title: Worlds Strongest Bird Competition.

We recently went to the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco, and outside in the parking lot there is this strange red/orange sculpture made of I-Beams.  I saw some birds sitting on top of the structure, just relaxing, enjoying the view of the city, and suddenly one of them flew off.  I just happened to catch the little guy right when he took off and was lucky enough to get a shot where one of his claws is still on the bar.  With a little creative cropping and a bit of imagination it looks like, to me, that the bird is carrying that beam away.  I can't imagine what kind of nest he is going to make, but I feel darn sorry for that tree!

Enjoy!

Photo 365 - Day 107 (Stained Window)

Day 107 (October 18th, 2010)
Title: Stained Window

We stayed in this little, run down, hotel for one night and the room was basically as bland as you could get it.  Beige walls, white sheets and blankets, gray counters, white shower-curtain, etc.  Drab.  Blech.  But, I thought for one night, its no big deal.  Cheap rooms don't need art or any sort of expression.  I was pleasantly surprised when I went to take a shower - upon moving the curtain, there was this amazing stained-glass window staring at me.  The sun was shining through it, giving it a great "glowing" effect.  That one little thing changed the whole room, quashing the drabness!  (That's right, it was so neat that I actually used the word "quashed" to describe it!)

I hope the next time you are in a situation that seems, bland or gray, you take a moment to search for that one tiny thing that adds a spark of beauty and light.  And if you can't find one, perhaps you can add your own!

Enjoy!

Photo 365 - Day 104 (Chalky)

Day 104 (October 15th, 2010)
Title: Chalky


First, let me go ahead and give you the answer to yesterdays last "Name That Thing" spice, it was: CINNAMON!  I hope that everyone enjoyed that little trivia fun, because I know I sure did!  I've already got the next contest lined up!


For today's picture, I wanted to do something simple and fun.  Recently, a friend's daughter had her 4th birthday and a HORDE of folks came.  Now, there were many, MANY games and contests to be had (both for the kids and the adults).  One of the games was an art-based game on decorating a kite (which was just a blank, white, plastic kite).  A table was covered in kite-making stuff, and a box of artsy stuff, including pens, more pens, bigger pens, small pens, and did I mention pens?  Also in the box was a small tub of colored chalk.  I, in my genius way, thought: "Heck, with all these pens I should totally use chalk because THAT would be cool and different.  'True' artist are different!  Yeah!"  So, I began my kite-beautification-ritual using the multi-hued goodness that was chalk.  I'll go ahead and skip the next hour and a half "fun" that was me attempting to write on, what was essentially a snazzy plastic bag, WITH CHALK!  Only later, our friend mentioned: "Oh, sorry about that chalk, that got put in the box by mistake.  That's for drawing on the sidewalk.  Here, try some pens, they work great!"


It seems 'True Artist' means 'complete moron'.  Still, at least the photo of the chalk (pre-me-trying-to-grind-it-into-plastic-mode) came out well.


Enjoy!

(Click picture for larger view)

Ps: for what a COOL like looks like, here is what Theresa did:

(Click picture for larger view)

Photo 365 - Day 98 (Firelines)

Day 98 (October 9th, 2010)
Title: Firelines

I got this picture on the way home from Santa Cruz, and I thought it reminded me a lot of yesterdays photo, but yet different enough that I would give some "prime-blog-time".  I really enjoy the abstract of this photo, which is a strange because normally I'm not a fan of abstract paintings (now and then an abstract sculpture will really catch my eye, but I generally prefer impressionism, realism, surrealism and even baroque art).  But, with abstract photography, its interesting to me because a) you know it came from a 'real' source of some kind, but that photographer is manipulating the medium (aka camera/film) to give an effect of a non-real (re: abstract) situation. 

In this photo, we were driving home and I decided to just stick the camera out the window and take shots of the cross traffic.  I knew I wouldn't be able to get a clear shot of a car, but I was hoping to get some sort of abstract effect like I did.  Many of the shots were just blurry without any form or function to them, where as some of the others had enough 'real' elements (a tire or other car part in focus enough to take the viewer out of the 'abstract' mindset) that I couldn't use them.  This one, to me, has enough form and is defined in a way to preserve the 'abstract' concept I was going for, but was still able to avoid any of the 'real' elements that helped create it. 

Enjoy!

(Click picture for larger view)

Photo 365 - Day 87 (de Young)

Day 87 (September 29th, 2010)
Title: de Young


I shot this on our trip to the de Young (a great museum in SF - highly recommended!), to see the Birth of Impressionism exhibit.  Firstly, it was a MAD HOUSE.  I had never been in a museum with so many people.  They made people queue up in groups of 50-60, then ushered them into small rooms to look at the pictures for approximately 12 nanoseconds.  After which, you would be ushered into the next small room to "experience the grandeur of Monet, Renoir, and Manet." 


Clearly basking in the glory of the art and beauty could have been hazardous, because by the time my eyes focused on a painting and I nearly was able to actually discern a shape of so, a person, house, or goat, we were shuffled into another room of beauty and amazement. 


Being tall, I was able to actually see some of the paintings well enough that I actually got to say "Wow, that Monet was really... OUCH, stop prodding me with that stick!  I'm moving!"


It was a lovely experience.


Enjoy


Ps: It actually WAS a lot of fun - the painting were amazing.  If you have a chance go to go the current Post-Impressionist Masterpieces exhibit, I would highly recommend it.

Weekly Hindsight and Photo 365, Day 22 (Metric Rocks!)

Day 22 (July 25th, 2010)
Title: Metric System Rocks!

Largest centimeter ever!  I'm really enjoying the macro lens. 

Weekly Hindsight (Week 3)

I though I would also throw in my "Weekly Hindsight" comments with my Sunday photo, just to save having to create a new post!  Go me being all efficient (re: slacker)! 

This week, at least artistically speaking, has been a bit chaotic.  I started with a nice black and white scenery shot and was originally thinking, "Hey, not just macro's all week!", but or course that plan was quashed with the next few shots.  I did get a nice nighttime moon shot mid-week that I personally really enjoyed.  For my other project that I was working on this week, I fell a bit behind.  I was supposed to practice my photoshop skills a bit more, but other than the one selective coloring project I am behind in my weekly projects.  I did start working on my new video, and while its still in "rough draft" form, its nice to have something to work with.  Lastly, I did make some large format prints (13"x19") of two of my daily photos (Fireworks and Craps) and I think they came out well.  The Fireworks print will soon be hanging on my wall and the Craps print is going out as a gift. 

This week I really noticed that I've been focusing on macro-type photography.  I know I just recently got a new macro lens and I want to play with it, but I think it is more than that.  I really like showing how the small things in life have a lot more complexity and depth than we might give them credit.  It's probably also because without my glasses, that's how I see the world.  Anything past around 2 feet becomes just a blurry colored blob, but up-close I have very strong "macro" vision.  I'm not going to stop taking macro photos by any means (because as I mentioned, I do like them), but I am going to make a conscious effort to take at least 2 photos each week that are non-macro.  I think this is important, because one of the key elements for me with this project is trying to expand my photographic skills and stretch my comfort level in the types of things I shoot. 

For this coming week, I have a few things I am going to work on:

1) Try and complete 3 photoshop projects (including a collage using layers, getting a better upstanding of masks, and another selective color photo).  I'm doing another selective color photo, because its always important to practive what you just learned so you won't forget it (like I am very prone to do)!

2) Create and map-out the complete timeline for my video and try and get many of the materials (re: photos and sound effects) organized. 

3) Update the anttree.org website with more photos and information! 

I think that should keep me busy this week and provide me a good jumping-board for some more long-term projects as well. 

Some interesting "tidbits" about the blog for the last 21 days, which I find quite fun:

• Over 650 views during the first 21 days
• My AntTree_Art twitter feed has gotten up to 7 followers, none of which I actually know!  Go random people!  
• The most viewed photos are: Fireworks (Day 1), Meeting Morimoto (Day 12) and Painting 1 (Day 5).  

I hope to share some more facts as this project continues and I hope you all have enjoyed the last 21 days as much as I have!  Only 343 to go! 

Anthony

Weekly Hindsight (Week 2)

This week was a bit hectic, but also quite a bit of fun in regards to my photos.  I started the week with the intention of focusing entirely on games, but, as with all good plans, things went "narky".  The first three days came out quite well (Domino #1, #2, and Card Trick), and I still have some great ideas for the other missing four days (including: Craps, Poker, Scrabble and one other random game).  Unfortunately, I was unable to "complete the plan", because we had some crazy events that happened that just HAD to be in the project. 

First, Thursday we got crazy-lucky when our friend invited us to go with them to the grand opening of the new Morimoto Napa Japanese restaurant.  I'm not going to call it a sushi restaurant, because it was soooo much more!  If you can afford it, I would *highly* recommend going at least once.  It was, hands down, the best Japanese food I've ever had (and that sentiment was echoed by the whole party we were with)!  And if you are lucky, you can meet an Iron Chef!  What more could you ask for!

This weekend was also very crazy (in a good way) and as such it altered my desired photos for the end of the week.  On Saturday, we visited two museum's, California Academy of Science and the de Young museum.  The CAS was a lot of fun, just to see all of the fish and animals, but WOW was it packed full of yelling, screaming, crying, children... I tell ya, at one point I was thinking; "I wonder how many kids I could fit in the octopus tank?"  I was able to get some good shots without using a flash using my f1.4 lens.  I really wish everyone else would read the signs that *clearly* state no flash photos because the flash scares the fish.  But, ever two seconds, "flash, flash, flash".  I wanted to walk up and shine one of those 1-million watt lanterns in their eyes and see how they felt about getting "flashed", but I just walked away shaking my head instead. 


After the CAS, we headed over to de Young for the "Birth of Impressionism" exhibit (May 22-Sept 6, if you are interested.  Web site is: http://deyoung.famsf.org/).  It was a nice exhibit, GO MONET, but way too many people.  I thought the kids at CAS was bad, this was much worse.  Hundreds of people being rushed through tiny rooms with large, intricate paintings that deserved more time and contemplation.  Still, since most of these works are housed in Paris, this might be your only chance to see them "in person".  I would recommend a weekday rather than a weekend to see them, if you can manage it.  Also, be aware if you aren't a member its $25.00 to see the exhibit (and there are no bathrooms in the exhibit hall itself, so use them before you get in line to see the works!).  Lastly, unlike the CAS, they will not allow you to take any pictures (flash or otherwise) in the exhibit... they are quite strict on this and they have many a guard in each room that will remind you of that fact.   
Saturday night, on our trek home from San Fran, we decided to stop at Best Buy to pick up some small things and as it goes with trips to BB, I decided to look in the camera section, only because I was sure there was something there I needed to drool on.  And by golly, there was!  They were selling a Canon 100mm USM Macro lens.  As soon as I saw it, I was nearly attacked and beaten to death by our Best Buy credit card in an attempt to purchase it.  To protect both Theresa and I, I had no choice but to but it and begin drooling. 

Sunday morning we made the trip to Santa Cruz (some family fun time!) and well... Macro lens + flowers = woo!  Ever since getting my first real macro lens in 2005, I have been in love with macro photography.  This lens is quite a bit more impressive than my older lens, but I think with a bit of practice I'll start getting some good pictures again. 

For next week, I do want to do at least one or two game shots, but I also want to explore the macro world a bit!  I'm also going to start investigating some lighting kits so I can work on both my staging and portraiture skills.  I found a few on Amazon, but the cost and quality varies quite a bit so some more research is in order. 

I hope everyone has a great week and finds something artistic everyday!  And advise or comments you have are welcomed and appreciated! 

Thanks again!

Anthony

Weekly Hindsight (Week 1)

My first week of “Blogging” has come and gone and I have to say, so far so good!  I’ve started a few different photo projects (Photo 365 and Photo Games), which I don’t think I would have started without knowing that I *HAD* to post my daily update.  Some of the pictures were (trying to keep a positive outlook here), “weaker” than others, but all in all I was pleased with this week’s photo’s.  

My particular favorite was Fireworks (Day 1), only because I never could have planned to get that shot.  It was just total luck (“dumb” or otherwise!) that allowed me to capture that perfect moment of a firework exploding in focus while creating what I call “stunned light fish” with all the other lights.  I think I took about 500 photos that night, and only about 15-20 were salvageable, and only 2-3 were “keepers”.   I hope that every week I’ll get at least one shot that I feel as good about as I did with that first one.

A few other fun things that came out of this week (at least related to my blog/art work):

1. After the first week, I had 300+ views on the blog, which means either a, people are actually looking at my work or b, spam-bots have already found me and I’ll soon have 2.1 million emails regarding the billions of dollars that I need to claim from my 4^th cousin in Zambia. 
2. With the start of my blogging I also started “tweeting” and within this first week, I got 4 followers and started stalking 30 people who I find interesting! 
3. I feel very motivated to get out there and just shoot, shoot, shoot!  I’ve even dug out my smaller cameras just so I can make sure to always have one with me, in case the opportunity comes up that I need to shoot something.  In fact, two of this last week’s photos came from such opportunities (Day 3 – Black Cherry and Day 4 – Irony Sign). 
4. I’ve enjoyed some lovely art-related conversation with my friends on Facebook.  It is nice to reconnect with them and talk art again. 
5. Because of all the positive reaction in getting back into the world of art, I’ve decided to set a bit of a big goal for myself in the next few months (not to say that the Photo 365 project isn’t big, but it is very “open” and doesn’t really have any guidelines).  I am going to try and submit my work to at least two different photo competitions that are happening later this year.  I don’t expect to win anything, but I am more interested in the process and procedures that one much do to enter such a event.  

Well, that just about does it for me for this first week.  I want to thank everyone who’s had a chance to look at my work and a special thanks to those of you who have commented (both publically and privately) on what I’ve done so far.  I hope my future works will be just as fun, interesting and enjoyable!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Anthony