Brian Knapp Art 2

This was my first piece from juxtaposer, and I'd say it was relatively successful but there are definitely areas that need improvement. There is a lot going on, and the colors are a bit too much. Next time I will try to focus on the areas of rest.

When thinking of what to do for this project, I knew it had to do with nature so I thought of an animal. One of the animals that came to my mind right away was a fox. I knew a fox wouldn't just suffice so I thought of the fox running. Wind seemed like a good symbol for running, so to implement this other aspect of nature into the piece, I made the fur turn into wind. Before the first critique, I had a couple of ideas for a composition and after the suggestion was to combine aspects of all of them together. So in my final combined the gradient ink in the background, the reddish color to light blue color, and the different ink strokes in the background.

Lino cut print Fox idea

This is Ronald

I chose to research father in depth of the Nepalese culture, specifically the Thangka style of painting. Nepal is big on religion and worshiping their religious deities. They often expressed this worship through art. One style is thangka painting. It is essentially painting on cloth. They would paint their deity on the cloth and either hang it on a wall or use it as a type of rug to express their faith. Being on cloth, it made the paintings easy to transport. They would often be transported to Buddhist monasteries. When thinking of what I wanted to do, I thought just to have their common deity on a piece of cloth, then add some western objects around it. When thinking even more, I needed a way to make it even more western. I did this by changing the deity into a person to depict the 'average' American.

Brian Knapp Art 2 Da Vinci 1/17/14 Da Vinci Leonardo Da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in Anchiano, a town near Florence. When he was 15 he had already mastered skills in the fine arts and was sent to Florence to work as an apprentice for Andrea del Verrocchio. In 1472 Leonardo was accepted into the painter's guild of Florence. Leonardo worked under Verrocchio until 1477, at this time Verrocchio was hired to paint The Baptism of Christ. Verrocchio had Leonardo paint the kneeling angel in the painting, and it was so good that it shadowed the rest of the work done by Verrocchio. Leonardo stated that "poor is a pupil that does not surpass his master." Verrocchio was so embarrassed at he gave up his career as a painter. Leonardo still lived in Florence, even after leaving Verrocchio, until 1481. During this time he was hired to paint two paintings. The first was The Adoration of the Magi, the second was to be the Altar of St. Bernard Chapel in the Palazzo della Signoria. Da Vinci never completed the first, and never even started the second. This is because he noted to move to Milan. After he moved to Milan he to went work for the city's duke, Ludovico Sforza, and gained the title of painter and engineer of the duke. While in Milan for 17 years, Da Vinci was believed to created at least six works. Among these were the famous paintings of The Virgin of the Rocks and The Last Supper. Da Vinci went back to Florence in 1500 because of the struggles he had in Milan, he had been accused of sodomy which hurt his reputation.While in Florence before leaving to Milan again, wealthy Florentine merchant wanted a portrait of his wife, Mona Lisa, so he hired Da Vinci, in 1503, to paint a portrait of her. During the Renaissance period Da Vinci had rival painters such as Michelangelo and Raphael. In the 1500's Leonardo was slowing down in terms of paintings while his rivals were still working hard. This could partially be due to the fact that Da Vinci was fascinated with biology and the human anatomy and went into extensive research about it. The Mona Lisa, also referred to as ‘La Giaconda’, is considered to be one of his most famous works art. It's really known for its subtle details, the most recognized one being the faint smile, and for Mona Lisa's gaze. Because of this detail, it really fits the style of Da Vinci and the Renaissance movement, which is famous for its realistic style. You can't really see Da Vinci's struggles and accomplishments in this piece because it's a portrait he was hired to paint, but if you look at the smile you could say that it could represent his feelings of his life. Like he wasn't too disappointed yet he wasn't too happy so just a slight smirk, but that's stretching it a little. In terms of proportion and balance I think it really shows how good of an understanding he had of how put what he saw on canvas and also his understanding of human anatomy from his research. Since this time was known as the rebirth period, the clothing in the painting could allude to the fact of prosperity because it looks of nice quality. Overall, the painting is very well done, If it wasn't it wouldn't be so famous. I'm not sure how Da Vinci, himself, thought about it however. This is because he didn't finish the painting when he was hired to, he spent 3-4 years on it, but left it incomplete. He picked up where he left off in 1516, and finished working on it shortly before he died in 1519.

Leonardo Da Vinci Rough Draft

Outline ~

I hope to improve my drawing skills to the point where it looks realistic.