WHAT ALICE MOLLON UNDERSTANDS ABOUT INK
ILLUSTRATION ART
by David Apatoff
5d ago
There's a long tradition of wars with-- and about-- ink:  (The Ink Battle by Utagawa Kuniyoshi 1843) Ink has left a trail of rivalry, braggadocio, hostility and sometimes just general commotion. Ink as a weapon can be flung, spattered and scrubbed; it can be a tool for slapstick and a tool for marking rivals with an indelible stain.   (Toshikage, 7 Gods Fighting with Ink, 1888) (The Ink War) There's no denying the yang in ink. Even when it's not literally ammunition, it frequently serves as metaphorical ammunition. It settles scores.  It inflic ..read more
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WHAT ALICE MOLLON UNDERSTANDS ABOUT INK
ILLUSTRATION ART
by David Apatoff
6d ago
There's a long tradition of wars with-- and about-- ink:  (The Ink Battle by Utagawa Kuniyoshi 1843) Ink has left a trail of rivalry, braggadocio, hostility and sometimes just general commotion. Ink as a weapon can be flung, spattered and scrubbed; it can be a tool for slapstick and a tool for marking rivals with an indelible stain.   (Toshikage, 7 Gods Fighting with Ink, 1888) (The Ink War) There's no denying the yang in ink. Even when it's not literally ammunition, it frequently serves as metaphorical ammunition. It settles scores.  It infli ..read more
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WARRING WITH TROLLS, part 11
ILLUSTRATION ART
by David Apatoff
2w ago
 "To live is to war with trolls." -- Ibsen Anthropologists tell us that primitive cultures believed art had supernatural properties. Prehistoric tribes thought that striking a drawing of an animal on a cave wall would give them luck in the hunt.  Diorama from the Field Museum in Chicago Apotropaic images were believed to contain protective magic. Ancient Egyptians believed that images had the power to connect them with the gods, and that carvings in tombs would come alive in the afterlife.    They also believed that a person would be destroyed if his cartouche ..read more
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MY TWO GRIPES WITH "IDEA" ILLUSTRATION
ILLUSTRATION ART
by David Apatoff
1M ago
I like Tomi Ungerer's drawing about the nature of men and women: The lines may appear light and slapdash, but the ideas have genuine weight.  It's an excellent example of conceptual or “idea” art, which transformed the field of illustration in the latter part of the 20th century.  This type of art abandoned the traditional, literal approach to picture making in favor of visualizing ideas using metaphors, symbols, visual puns and word play.   The great Saul Steinberg said, "drawing is a way of reasoning on paper."   Steinberg explains, "The vulnerable ..read more
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WARRING WITH TROLLS, part 10: VIOLATING THE SPACE TREATY
ILLUSTRATION ART
by David Apatoff
1M ago
"To live is to war with trolls." -- Ibsen The United Nations Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space strictly forbids "harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies." It explicitly prohibits placing weapons of mass destruction in outer space. Despite this prohibition, sculptures by marketing con artist Jeff Koons landed on the moon yesterday in the NASA-funded moon lander Odysseus.  Koons now crows that he created "the first authorized artwork on the moon."  As if this act of extraterrestrial vandalism wasn ..read more
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A HUNDRED ARTISTS ON THEIR BACKS
ILLUSTRATION ART
by David Apatoff
1M ago
When I first saw the ceilings of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, I was gobsmacked by their ornamentation -- nearly a hundred galleries dense with weird figures, mysterious symbols, grotesque creatures, bizarre landscapes and mythological tableaus, stretching as far as the eye could see.  (Virtual tour courtesy of Google Maps available here ).    The ceilings on the Uffizi corridors were painted by teams of artists starting in 1579 and took hundreds of years to complete. But the ornate style originated in the ancient palace of the Roman emperor Nero, the ins ..read more
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THE QUESTION IS PERMANENT; ANSWERS ARE TEMPORARY
ILLUSTRATION ART
by David Apatoff
2M ago
 In my recent post admiring a painting of a tree, someone commented that artists have been drawing trees for 30,000 years, and suggested that there could not be much new to say.  But as William Irwin said, "the question is permanent; answers are temporary." Trees may not have changed much in 30,000 years but nevertheless here are some innovative pictures of trees that I think are absolutely marvelous: The brilliant draftsman Robert Fawcett draws tropical trees outside a hut: Note how he drags a drybrush along their winding forms, then rounds them with shadows of leaves: The brill ..read more
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NATHAN FOWKES PAINTS A TREE
ILLUSTRATION ART
by David Apatoff
2M ago
 I love this little study of a tree by Nathan Fowkes. Fowkes is renowned for his mastery of color but even in this simple grayscale sketch his keen powers of observation shine through.   Look how he's able to convey the weight of that tree and the structure of that receding branch with such a lively, fluid touch.   Fowkes ain't in the business of painting individual leaves with a 00 brush.  He has too much admiration for the universal and ageless qualities of water.  Note how he records his observations with a loaded brush at lightning spe ..read more
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THE END OF 2023
ILLUSTRATION ART
by David Apatoff
3M ago
Milton Avery (1893-1965) was famous for simplifying forms.  He refined and refined them in search of their poetic core. I love his painting of a spring orchard: Here are two of his paintings of the sea shore at night: Through his simplification process, Avery discovered lyrical forms that no one else saw.  For example, this is his painting of an industrial gas tank on the island of San Tropez: When it came to painting the human figure, Avery simplified the clothing right off them:  In this preliminary drawing, Avery explored where to draw the line ..read more
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A TRIP TO THE SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS
ILLUSTRATION ART
by David Apatoff
3M ago
 Every time I visit Manhattan I make a beeline for the Society of Illustrators which, pound for pound, remains one of the most interesting galleries to visit in the city.  Many pictures there are not to my taste, but I never fail to learn from and be inspired by their varied assortment of art on display. Here are some particularly excellent images I want to point out to the world: This huge, juicy watercolor by the talented Bill Joyce reminded me that I don't revisit his work nearly enough.  Up close the painting just glows in ways that printed books-- or your computer monitor ..read more
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