#paninting

Ann Garett

3600 x 3600

300 Dpi

Seamless

Task two: 

Draw an accurate version of your surname from a digital font, then add the typography anatomy to your name.

Digital font used: Allura designed by Robert Leuschke

By Noah Charney and Jaša

We find ourselves in a strange moment in time, one that requires us to remain isolated. And while the world as we know it is on standby, we must still fill our days and try to earn enough money to get by. Some people are fortunate enough to do their work from home, others have been furloughed until normalcy returns, while many have been laid off entirely. Creatives find themselves in an odd position where they can, at least in theory, continue to produce art in the spaces in which they live. The internet is full of suggestions on what to do while self-isolating, how to pass the time, though the myth of the artist suggests that creatives are quite used to being isolated, and are minimally affected by it. The truth in where this perception stems from is actually far more interesting than the fable of the tortured, reclusive artist that it spawned.

Voluntary isolation has been a good way for artists, historically and today, to find peace to create, away from the rumors, bureaucracy, and general “noise” of life. Renaissance architect and artist (and the godfather of art history) Giorgio Vasari liked to go to a monastery in rural Tuscany where, as he wrote, “I could have found no better place to know myself.” It was on one of his first visits there, a period of two months, that he painted a Virgin and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Jerome and this led the monks to commission a whole altarpiece from him.

During this time, those who were able were leaving the crowded cities where a plague was quickly spreading. Retreats to farms, monasteries, and rural settings, away from groups of people, was one of the best preventative measures against disease—doctors, at that time, were ill equipped to recommend other proven measures of protecting oneself. In cities, water and vinegar were considered antiseptics. Transactions at stores were confined to placing coins in a bowl of water or vinegar and sliding the coins through a slot in a shop door, after which the shop owner would slide goods back to the purchaser. Fierce prayer was also considered a good defender against illness.

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The authors of this essay have written a book called Making It: The Artists Survival Guide.