Date: Friday, October 21, 2016
Source: http://lilysnowdenfine.com/Hiding-in-the-Leaves
Critique: Lily Snowden-Fine, a second year OCAD student (and friend of mine), created a series of watercolour paintings that revolve around the relationship between greenery and the human experience. In the piece above titled “Small Forest,” Snowden-Fine wanted to embody how people and nature can symbiotically live amongst each other. Any plant enthusiast should find pleasure in Snowden-Fine’s use of soft, pastel colours to create a gentle tone to the piece. This uniform use of colour palette aids in communicating the idea of humans living within nature peacefully. Her manipulation of different outlines (thin on the leaves, thick on the girl) add depth to the image. While the girl is fairly colour blocked and simple, the leaves are highly toned. Stretching from dark mud-greens to light cream-greens, the various tones and hues allow the view to move in and out of the piece. She mainly uses cool-toned colours (green, blue, and yellow), to add a sense of unity to the painting.
Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Source: http://marvel.com/comics/issue/6968/avengers_1963_113
Critique: Rich Ruckler designed the cover for the 113th edition of “The Avengers” in 1963. In very typical comic book fashion, the cover consists of a huge array of colours, which are all very bold and bright. Mainly reds, yellows, blues, and greens are used, while there are greys, pinks, and browns here and there. This use of bright colours conveys power and strength, which are attributes that are much related to super heroes. During this time, comic books were displayed in comic book stores on racks, so bright colours were needed to attract Marvel-fanatics to buy each edition. Also, the bright colours are used to communicate who the super heroes are, compared to the dark coloured villains. Movement and shading is visible on the cover through the use of line in order to preserve the characteristics of the bold colours. Text is also used effectively on the cover, as bold, easy to read typefaces cover the page. Using typefaces that have thick, consistent line weights and smooth edges allow the reader to easily navigate through the text that is on top of bright colours.
Date: Friday, October 14, 2016
Source: http://www.yoshinori-mizutani.com/tokyo-parrots
Critique: In his photo series, “Tokyo Parrots,” Yoshinori Mizutani wanted to invoke a sense of invasion and over-take. His came across these birds in huge swarms with fear initially, and decided to track their flight patterns. Along the way, Mizutani learned of their origin in India, and considers them as “wild,” invaders to Japan. He uses colour juxtaposition to direct all of the attention to the birds, and almost makes the viewers, particularly other Tokyo natives, uncomfortable with how brightly coloured the birds are compared to the Tokyo sky. This uncomfortable emotion mimics the feeling that Mizutani had during his first encounter with the birds. He also uses solid colours, giving the photographs a pop-art aesthetic. He utilizes adjacent colours (blue and yellow) to complement each other. However, he uses a highlighter yellow on top of a darkened navy to enhance the juxtaposition, making the image scary and frightening. On top of the colour juxtaposition, the detail in the feathers and features of the birds highly contrasts the plain colour block of navy for the background. All of these different juxtaposing features of the bird effectively communicates this feeling of being taken over, as if the birds have come from another work of art and are invading the photographed sky.
Date: Friday, October 14, 2016
Source: http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/jonas-wood-mosaics-anton-kern-gallery
Critique: Jonas Wood created a series of paintings that “transform ordinary suburban living spaces into playful, almost fantastic mosaics,” including the painting above, “Schindler Apts”. Wood intended to bring out a playful vibe to an otherwise mundane scene, and effectively did so by using a combination of textures and colour palettes. With closer inspection of the foliage, different lines, shapes, and textures are present throughout, giving the appearance of thickness. This allows the viewer to move in and out of the painting, traveling from the apartment in the foreground, to the apartment in the background, and then to the brick building in the middle-ground. Additionally, Wood left the texture of the buildings very plain, which balances the painting, and directs the movement to leaves. The use of a colour palette is also present, as Wood uses variants of green on the leaves of the trees, and a muted red ochre on the roof of a building. These complimentary colours are pleasing to the eye, and the use of muted beiges on the buildings allows for the greens and red to come through. The most impressive aspect of “Schindler Apts” is Wood skilled use of solid colours. Every colour is solid and strong, with no application of gradient or blending. Even where texture is evident, the lines are very crisp and clean. This aids in creating the playful aesthetic that Wood intending, and results in an overall eye-pleasing piece.
