Swing Low, Sweet Chariot!

I realize I am a bit behind on this...but I am very pleased with how this turned out.

12"x12" Acrylic on canvas

This is a portrait of Paul Robeson, inspired by his version of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." I was very impressed and inspired by Paul Robeson's history as the son of a former slave. As a man with a humble upbringing, he pretty much conquered the world. As an athlete, scholar, performer, and social activist, he was an inspiration to all.

This painting is meant to depict Robeson looking upwards, waiting for his "chariot." I painted this from a photo, in which Robeson was wearing some fancy-looking clothes, but I changed his attire so it looks simpler, and placed him against the background of a field and a blue sky. As the song by which this was inspired was originally a slave song, I wanted to depict Paul Robeson in the role of a slave, embodying the pain that he expresses so poignantly with his voice.

This is a quick pencil sketch I did of him--he has a wonderfully drawable face.

Things that inspire me: Egon Schiele

I hope no one cares that I am going to make some unrelated posts in here. This is a post dedicated to my favorite artist--Egon Schiele, an expressionist painter who lived from 1890-1918. I want to post some paintings of his that I love.

Brace yourself for creepy, twisted, naked people.

Why I like this painting: (1) Why are the legs and arms pink? (2) The harshly defined black lines, especially on her right elbow (3) The bluish color on the ribs and stomach 

How can I find these things consistently beautiful even if they aren't necessarily meant to be aesthetically pleasing?

This was my desktop background for awhile--total mistake. I would end up staring at it forever and getting nothing done. Please. The skin colors are so strange and amazing. The reds and blues are unrealistic, but they tell me so much about these two people. And I love the perspective on the woman's face.

I don't care about landscapes. They bore me to tears. This landscape is different. It's stylized and there are distinct lines visible in the sunset. One tree is almost bare while the rest are leafy. He paints the sky with the same care and attention he gives to painting skin.

This could go on indefinitely. I'll stop now.

Egon Schiele--The Complete Works

Spirituals

I listened to the three spirituals last night to find inspiration for my next drawing, and the one that affected me most was Mississippi John Hurt's "Since I Laid My Burden Down." I had to listen to it a few times because I liked it so much, and I made my roommates listen to it too. It gave me some mixed emotions but really made me think about death, which led me to draw this, which is supposed to be a dead version of me.

I like that it looks kind of peaceful, as the song made me feel peaceful yet unsettled at the same time. I might add more to this piece in due time...

First Post

Hi, I'm Taylor and this is my first post for Visual Studies 185X. I just finished my first piece for this class, and I based it off of our first song, "You Are My Sunshine." I decided to paint a portrait of my best friend Eliza, because she is pretty much my "sunshine." We share a room, so we see each other every day, and her face is more familiar to me than my own. I've been using her as a subject for my artwork since high school, so she is used to posing for drawings and seeing my creative interpretations of her.

That is the finished product. I think it looks moderately like her, not that it really matters, as I don't tend to strive for realism. It looks kind of cartoon-y, which I like. I used acrylic paints on a 24"x24" canvas. I was really unhappy with the painting when I started; I first sketched Eliza's face from life, and once I put down some color, the skin tone was all wrong and I had to rework it by painting over the whole face. This is the point where I started to feel good about the piece:

I really like the hands in this "in-progress" shot. 

Also, the background is meant to be a not-so-subtle display of sunshine-y colors, with yellow emanating from behind Eliza's head.

As I mentioned, I initially drew her from life, but I also took a photo of her for reference, because she would not have been able to sit for me for the many hours it took me to paint this. Here is that photo:

She's my favorite :)