Durer Portraits

These are some more of Durer's portraits. They don't present the figure front on, they are all on an angle. I love Durer's drawing style and the detail he puts into his drawings. 

Portrait of a Girl, Albrecht Durer, 1515, charcoal. 

Portrait of  Willibald Pirckheimer, Albrecht Durer, 1503, charcoal.

Portrait of a Venetian, Albrecht Durer, 1505. 

Theodore Gericault

Theodore Gericault’s “Portraits of the Insane” series is fascinating. Usually classical portraits are commissioned by high ranking nobles and the rich as they can be quite expensive. Here, Gericault has flipped the genre of portraiture and included mentally unstable people, people that usually cannot afford to have their portrait painted, people that are outcasts in society. 

The figures in the portraits seem to invite both our detachment and our engagement simultaneously. 

Portrait of a Child Snatcher, 1822, oil on canvas, 65 x 54cm.

It is an examination of suffering. He is a man who has no "right" to have a portrait made, a man utterly removed from the respectable world.

 The Woman with a Gambling Mania, 1820, oil on canvas, 77 x 64cm. 

Portrait of a Woman Suffering from Obsessive Envy, 1822, oil on canvas, 72 x 58cm.

https://romanticportraitsblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/theodore-gericault-and-the-portraits-of-the-insane/

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2000/nov/04/art

Gillian Lambert

Self-Deception Portraits

Self-Deception is a series of illustrated self-portraits by Gillian Lambert, who recently graduated from Kenyon College with a Bachelor’s degree in Studio Art. “I have always found something beautiful in the grotesque– the repulsive, the awkward, the vulnerable, the psychologically enigmatic.” she says about this series of self-reflective works.

I like the materials she uses in her works and the grey/black/white colour palette. The expressions in her portraits are impressive and I like the realism in them. 

String. Graphite on Paper. 22" x 30". 2011.

Hands. Graphite on Paper. 22" x 30". 2011.

http://www.gillianlambert.com/

Raphael

Raphael created some interesting portraits of women. They follow similar portraiture conventions to Durer and have beautiful colour palettes. These portraits were of particular women who could afford to have their portrait painted. They were also carefully constructed and filled with symbolism. Their poses almost mimic the poses of Durer's self-portraits. 

Maddalena Doni, 1506, oil on wood, 63 x 45cm. 

This is my favourite portrait from the Renaissance. I love the absurdity of a tiny unicorn being held by a noble woman. I would love to see this hanging in a gallery.

Young Woman with Unicorn, 1506, oil on panel, 65 x 61cm.  

Etchings

This week we had a guest artist (Lila Insúa Lintridis) come in and talk to us. We created some etchings based on our memories at uni. I drew over one of the benches outside the library and I drew one over the studio door of The Cave, drawing's old home. 

At uni we do a lot of sitting, in lectures, in class and bus trips on the way to uni. It can be quite uncomfortable and is annoying memory for me. 

The Cave, 1.29 was drawing's home. All our classes used to be in here and it is where I met my good friends at uni. It is a very memorable place for me. 

My poses

Unedited photos that imitate the poses seen in Albrecht Durer's self portraits. 

Michael took these for me ,with my direction, in our apartment. The green sheet was used to mimic a hospital gown. The other photos are in my regular clothes, styled to look a little more classical. The background makes it very evident that I am posed in a domestic setting, a Queensland house. I have chosen to use the final three images in my digital collages. 

These are the original portraits by Albrecht Durer. Each portrait was specifically created to portray a certain identity. The hair, the clothing and the posing of the body are all posed in a certain way. Durer sought to elevate the status of himself as an artist to the same level as a doctor a lawyer. At the same time, his poses were an imitatio christi, imitation of Christ. Durer knew that he was talented and believed that he was better than a lot of other artists. All of his portraits were an attempt to solidify his status, 

 Study for Self-Portrait, 1500.

 Self-Portrait at 26, 1498, oil on panel, 52 x 41cm. 

Self-Portrait, 1500, oil on wood panel, 66.3 x 49cm.

Self-Portrait, 1493, oil on vellum, 56.5 x 44.5cm.

Anatomy

In the Renaissance the best way to learn human anatomy was through dissection. Artists at this time used scientific tools to make their art more life like. Leonardo was very interested in the human form in art. He wanted to create the perfect and exact human form. 

Vitruivan Man, Leonardo da Vinci, 35 x 26cm, 1490. 

Skeleton sketch, Leonardo da Vinci

Anatomical sketch, Leonardo da Vinci

I am interested in the use of skulls or anatomical sketches. Skulls represent death and mortality and I like the idea of making them seem metallic and futuristic. Kind-of like a cyborg. 

Ex-Machina

Following on from anime and mecha, I also love the robots in Ex-Machina. An amazing movie that questions what it means to be human, and what 'artificial' means. I love the see through aspect of the robots, their design is also quite similar to the mecha suits in Neon Genesis. 

 Concept art from Ex-Machina, 2015.

Concept art from Ex-Machina, 2015.

Anime

I have always loved anime and I particularly love mecha anime, with cyborgs and androids. The idea of continually altering our physical bodies to make ourselves better. Or normal humans inhabiting the body of a robot.  

Ghost in The Shell, film, 2017

Ghost in The Shell, film, 2017

Ghost in The Shell was originally an anime in the 1990s. I used to watch it on SBS growing up. The concept of a body being rebuilt when someone has lost most of their original body was fascinating. The main character was continually being upgraded to help her on her missions as a detective. It was a futuristic anime that really appealed to me.

Ghost in The Shell, anime, 1995

Ghost in The Shell, anime, 1995

I like the look of the suits from these mecha animes; very futuristic, functional and smooth. These suits are created for a specific purpose. 

Neon Genesis Evangelion, anime, 1995-96

Neon Genesis Evangelion, anime, 1995-96

Mind maps

This week was about working through our ideas for our projects. This is my mind map of influences and concepts I want to play with. 

Vernon Ah Kee

Emmalyn and I went to the Brisbane Museum to have a look at the exhibition and we saw a Vernon Ah Kee portrait hanging. It is such a detailed and beautiful portrait drawing, I really love it. 

Previous project

My previous project in drawing #3 (Not me, but me) was a large scale drawing that merged together my self-photographs and ultrasound images. It was semi-successful, I want to expand on these ideas in my next project and maybe turn towards more digital creating.