Friday, May 1, 2015
on the GJ Book club, we study chapter 5, "mass Drawing," classic 1917 Harold Speed practice and science drawing.
The following numbered paragraphs cite key points in italics, followed by a brief comment of my own. If you want to reply to a specific point, please precede your comment with the corresponding number.
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In the last chapter, Speed discussed the aesthetics of art focused on the outline. He stressed the innocence and imaginative appeal that this work may have, and he acknowledged that the linear quality in non-Western and European painting earlier. In this chapter, it focuses on a more impressionistic tone or genre of visual expression, which he calls "the mass drawing" Here is its definition.
1. This form design is based on the examination of flat appearance on the retina, with the knowledge of the forms of felt objects for the moment forgotten.
Speed Harold, who was born in 1872, lived through two revolutions in how we make the visual experience of the world. one was photography which was more accessible to all, and the other was Impressionism, which revolutionized painting.
for me, it's really interesting to see how it was streamlines this shift in consciousness. the explanation of the speed of this change in vision is one of the most articulated in an art instruction book, and I find it still inspires today.
2. Las Meninas by Velazquez
Speed acknowledges that the mass drawing not an entirely new idea, and he attributes Velazquez with the creation of a "painter image" from this point of view. I do the have not seen the original, and I wonder if some of you would agree with his analysis of the impact of painting.
3. the Impressionist movement produced images mainly inspired by the real world of visual phenomena around us, the point of view old production of most of the images that draw their inspiration from the glories of the imagination, the mental world the mind of the artist.
I think this is largely true in his day, but the two ways of seeing and painting are not mutually exclusive. There have been many artists who have reconciled the two; that is, they painted imaginative images with the sense of Impressionist light and color and edges.
Illustrators N.C. Wyeth, É.A. Abbey, Tom Lovell and Harry Anderson, I have discussed a lot on the blog, come to mind. early historical images of Ilya Repin did that, too.
4. Art has acquired a new perspective
Speed recognizes not only a new way of painting, but a new range of subjects was considered "ugly" by the older generation.
And it is quite right that the impressionist way of interpreting things allows artists to fight against the extremely complex lighting effects or a profusion of small forms such as "sunlight through the trees in a wood." Once you free yourself to think to make solid forms, and think instead of capturing the visual appearances, everything can be reduced to a retinal impression.
At the time of the rate in Britain, many ideas came Impressionist artists who went to the mainland to the French training. The "French look" does not go over too well at first. The old guard of the Royal Academy of Great Britain, as Poynter andLeighton, were more concerned with the material and the methods of traditional painting, while the Newlyn School and Glasgow School were more under the influence of the sensitivity of the golden mean of Bastien-Lepage.
4. comparison Michelangelo / Degas
Speed said in Michelangelo, "all muscles and bones was mentally realized as a concrete thing and the fact drawing is an expression of this idea," while Degas was created with a sense of mass forms.
According Speed, drawing by Michelangelo is more of an idealized kind, while Degas captured more than a particular person in a particular time. So for speed, it is not superficial distinctions on the technique or method, but a different way of seeing the world.
I welcome your thoughts, and I enjoyed the discussion last week
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Practice and Science drawing is available in various formats :.
1. Inexpensive paperback Dover (by far the majority of you reading this format)
2. Fully illustrated and formatted for the Kindle.
3. Archive.org edition online free.
4. Project Gutenberg version
Articles Harold Speed in Studio The Studio Magazine, Volume 15, "The work of Harold Speed" by A. L. Baldry. (XV No. 69.. - December, 1898) page 151.
and The Windsor Magazine, Volume 25, "The Art of Harold Speed" by Austin Chester, at page 335. (thank you, अर्जुन )
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GJ Book club Facebook page (Thanks, Keita Hopkinson)
Pinterest (Thanks, Carolyn Kasper)
original blog announcing the GJ Book club
-----
Practice and Science drawing is available in various formats :.
1. Inexpensive paperback Dover (by far the majority of you reading this format)
2. Fully illustrated and formatted for the Kindle.
3. Archive.org edition online free.
4. Project Gutenberg version
Articles Harold Speed in Studio The Studio Magazine, Volume 15, "The work of Harold Speed" by A. L. Baldry. (XV No. 69.. - December, 1898) page 151.
and The Windsor Magazine, Volume 25, "The Art of Harold Speed" by Austin Chester, at page 335. (thank you, अर्जुन )
------
GJ Book club Facebook page (Thanks, Keita Hopkinson)
Pinterest (Thanks, Carolyn Kasper)
original blog announcing the GJ Book club
7 comments:
4. I understand that you have provided a little more background on the different schools of thought in the speed of time was written (the Royal Academy against the Newlyn School and Glasgow Boys). Sometimes in this chapter, I found own speed artistic biases have tended to overshadow the heart of the discussion, but knowing more about the historical background is useful in understanding its views and reasoning.
3. However, I find the underlying concept of this fascinating chapter. The fundamental distinction between speed sets the line drawing and mass drawing as a matter of "Touch" and imaginative observation vs translate "flat appearance on the retina" of a subject is brilliantly explained. It is useful to also read the notes on particular artists whose work challenges this duality.
2. I am also fascinated by the analysis of the speed of Velazquez as an example of mass drawing, in which "all sense of design is lost." I was a bit surprised to read this bit of analysis, but it is an interesting challenge to see the work that Speed see and understand in this kind of setting.
Universal Gurney -)
2. example of mass drawing Velazquez escapes me a bit. understanding. what I know is that Manet and all the Impressionists deeply admired Velazquez. Watch Closeup Las Meninas, I always admire her hand holding the brush, rendering what may perhaps serve as an example of "drawing massive".?
(the other hand holding his palette is worth considering as well, just for the fact that there is such a small number of colors there, almost B & W with some red and yello)
Live painting person years ago on a study abroad trip, and would have been exposed to speed ideas! I would have taken a closer look:)
http://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Detail_of_girl_in_Las_Meninas,_by_Diego_Vel%C3%A1zquez.jpg
Second, despite my education and love of art, until more recently, I do not think I really understood the concept of art - real art (granted, I guess it's still something of a subjective thing). Maybe not so much a lack of understanding because it was a lack of desire to really think about it too deeply. As this was not important for me to know why some consider a work or great (or not), I have just been satisfied by the experience of getting lost in something and enjoy it for what it is to me without having to think about why. As far as I'm concerned, if I enjoyed it, it was good or great, regardless of what the experts or the experts thought.
What I like so much about speed is his ability to explain things in a way that not only logical, but is easy to follow while maintaining my interest. Curiously, even with styling by-gone to speak or language (in fact, he announced to the charm). It's the same thing I liked about your book on light and color James
I think it boils down to is that what we give our attention is what is most important -. There is only so much time in a day - and at this point in my life these things are important to me, but I'm a little sad that I spent a lot of time in museums, galleries and books over the years without really understanding what I was watching, both in terms of the subject and why they chose and how they did it. That's the beauty of learning something new, even at a later age. Assuming (hoping) that I have many more years ahead of me, I look forward to new and deeper experiences, even if it is to see old friends.
As always, thank you all for your comments and thoughts.
'early formula could never break free of the object as something solid, and therefore had to limit his attention to the beautiful. .. But the new view ... nothing is ugly when seen in a beautiful appearance of light ...
This sounds very true when I can find a "beautiful scene" in a rotten pile of long, or dine in these signs next to the road, I saw you draw James, where the profane (awful word!) can be seen as boring or ugly until they see someone painting .
Whatever the academics behind it, being able to see the "beauty" in a scene certainly makes life much more enjoyable :). And this is not limited to high art (or even art at all), I work in the fantasy / fiction illustration and can inspire the colors and the play of light passing through a painting quite independently of the content.
speaking of illustration, however, its previous comments on the use of the line (or images set I guess) to highlight objects is a very useful way of seeing things, especially when your customer demand clearly show a, B & C in your otherwise painting "beautiful";)
Thank you for this great series of messages, really enjoy
When the speed mentions Degas disciples become mechanics, I think there is a setting useful custody there. Some styles, such as Degas, have a more nuanced theme. It will be helpful for us to seek what is, when we adapt similar methods, we keep the heart and "feeling" of this living style.