I've written about The Art Academy before. It is a hidden gem of the Twin Cities; a unique place to learn traditional drawing and painting techniques that have been improved and streamlined by modern pedagogy. I love this school, and the owners have become dear friends.
The Art Academy has been hit very hard by the COVID pandemic; they are unable to hold classes without compromising the safety of students and staff. If you have the means, please consider supporting the school as they try to weather this crisis. 100% of the proceeds of this fundraiser are going to staff salaries and recurring business expenses. Thank you!
A while back, I participated in an online discussion about the relative importance of high culture versus popular culture. In the discussion, there were some arguing that high art has a special place above mere "popular" art. I made the point that much of what we consider today to be "high art" was made by craftsmen working to please a patron for a payday, and that renders the distinction between the two less clear than it may seem.
As strange as it sounds, a production artist on a movie or in an advertising house works under virtually the same constraints as Michelangelo: he is paid to deliver a certain piece in a certain medium by a date specified by someone else. And once one understands that "high art" and "popular art" in western culture have almost always shared a commercial motivation, enforcing boundaries between the two categories become more difficult.
I paint at an art school that teaches traditional and Renaissance drawing and painting methods; Bistre & Verdaccio underpainting as well as direct painting. But the school also teaches manga, superhero comics, illustration, origami, and has even given classes on miniatures painting. The director of the school told me that a student once complained to him that someone was painting a cowboy in one of the Renaissance painting classes. "Why is he painting that in this class?" His reply: "he just likes cowboys."
Here is a person who has every reason to look down at pop art, a person who has spent his whole life immersed in classical Western tradition and has forgotten more about Renaissance painting than most anyone will ever know, waxing enthusiastic about cowboys and "mere" comic book artists. It changes one's perspective.
I am in favor of standards, just not standards that depend on the age of a piece or an arbitrarily determined list of classics. Sure, Michaelangelo is great: but not because he's old; it's because he spent a lifetime honing and mastering a craft, and his work shows that. So does the work of Bernie Wrightson.
Right now is truly a unique time to be alive -- the luxury of leisure time has allowed large numbers of people an opportunity to both consume and even produce art in incredible quantities -- far more than a single person could ever absorb in an entire lifetime. Let's celebrate the skill and passion, and not worry so much about creating a canon.
The new Star Wars movie is going to be good - like, really good. Maybe even great. At least, that is my hope and belief. My feelings are based on more than a just a fan's optimism, however. Here's why I think it will succeed where the prequel trilogy failed so miserably.
Reason One: female characters. Out of six Star Wars films to date, not one of them passed the Bechdel Test.* I don't think any of the movies save Return of the Jedi even had two named female characters with speaking parts. Along comes the latest trailer for The Force Awakens, and by itself, the opening voiceover passes this classic litmus. A small fact, to be sure, but this alone sets the new film apart from anything that's come before. I think that this is a very good sign, and I'm a big fan of stories with interesting and engaging female characters.
Reason Two: visual style. In some ways, the first Star Wars movie is the best: George Lucas was just out of film school, where he had studied luminaries like Akira Kurosawa and spent time with people who would become some of the great American directors of our time. That first film reflects an almost silent-movie ethic, in which the visuals and the editing are the central storytelling mechanisms. The subsequent films, however, moved away from that style of cinematic expression.
Now consider this short sequence from the trailer that gives a vignette of exploration - it is remarkably similar to Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.
It's a simple setup, but it suggests a command of visual storytelling that was sorely lacking in the prequel trilogy. And its clear parallels to an artist like Miyazaki is cause for hope and celebration.
Reason Four: genuine loss and emotion. George Lucas has never had a gift for dialog, nor has he ever been known as an "actor's director." The best-written Star Wars film to date is Empire Strikes Back, written by Lawrence Kasdan based upon Lucas' story. In that film, Kasdan and director Irvin Kershner conjured real humanity and feeling out of the light-hearted space opera.
So having Lucas out of the picture gives an immediate boost to the prospects of the film having a good story with well-written characters. More deeply, the latest trailer has some tight, expressive dialog and voice acting that give me chills. Finally, the themes of the three The Force Awakens trailers seem to be fear and menace, family and home, and the search for a history and an identity. These are powerful and timeless themes that fit well within Joseph Campbell'sHero With A Thousand Faces. If the filmmakers can deliver on the promise, the movie could surpass all expectations.
Reason Five:insiders, and especially the actors in the film, are already fans of this movie. Of course actors are professionals who are under contract to pitch the movies in which they star. But they don't do things like this or this when they aren't excited about the results of their work.
*UPDATE: several smart people have pointed out that A New Hope does have two named female characters (Leia and poor Aunt Beru, who I had forgotten), and that Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones actually do pass the Bechdel test (though only just barely). I will simply point out that apart from Princess Leia, none of the female characters in the first six movies had much to do or much screen time. And with the exception of Leia, none had any character development whatsoever. So, however we score the previous films on the Bechdel test, from the trailers, The Force Awakens looks to be a big departure from the glaring lack of developed female characters in the Star Wars film franchise. Thanks to my old friend the Dutchman and to Manny Kant over at LGM for pointing out my omissions.
Last week was hell. The shock is slowly wearing off, but a cloud of sadness and melancholy still hangs over our household. On top of Hercules' untimely death, a close friend lost his cat that he adopted from me almost 23 years ago. That cat lived an epic life, but it is still sad to see him go. I started a post with some more reflections on the nature of grief, but I think I need a diversion.
After the satisfaction of my initial success, I've been slowly making progress on a new oil painting. While I like the results so far, I'm struggling with it more than I'd care to admit, and I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew this time.
It's a large format piece (about 36"x20") on gesso board,
which is a more challenging surface on which to paint than one might
think. Its smoothness prevents the paint from adhering in the same way
it does to canvas, and I'm constantly having to wipe off sections and
doctor areas that have become too gummy with the walnut oil alkyd medium. Still, under the guidance of my outstanding teachers, I suppose that it will probably turn out just fine.
Very pleased with the result of my first attempt at an oil painting - I finally finished it after putting it in mothballs for a few years. Now to pick a subject for my next piece...
I saw Avatar yesterday afternoon, and while visually it was absolutely breathtaking, and I appreciate the film's (albeit preachy and simplistic) message, unfortunately there was nothing original about the characters or plot: I guarantee that you have seen every character in this film before, and a child could have written the outline of the story.
The two modestly novel ideas that film possessed did not justify the film's three hour runtime. The clownish 'villains' uttered painfully cliche dialog, and the central treasure of the alien world was called "unobtainium." WTF? My fiancee quipped that it was probably a placeholder name that was never replaced, and that as movies are akin to software development projects, one could label that absurdity "going live with a known defect."
One other comment: my experience of the film was also hindered by the 3D glasses, which were extremely heavy and bulky and pressed my eyeglasses down upon the bridge of my nose until I had a headache. I think that was unnecessary.
I can't beat down this movie too much, though. It was a spectacle of entertainment. And as I mentioned earlier, visually, it is a never-ending feast. When I was a boy I used to gaze wistfully at Roger Dean's fantasy art for hours, immersing myself in his fantastic worlds. Apparently James Cameron, and the art designers for the film, had a passion for his groundbreaking art as well - this movie is his art realized in a motion picture. Sitting in the theater with my friends as the credits rolled, I wondered out loud whether Dean had worked on the film. He did not, but I just looked at Roger Dean's personal website, and it appears that I'm not the only one who spotted the rather striking similarities between the film and his work. Not sure what to say about that.
On Wednesday I snapped this picture with my camera phone to document the progress I've made on my first oil painting ever. I'm pleased with it so far, even if it is a little primitive compared to some of the amazing work my classmates are doing. I chose an N. C. Wyeth painting as my subject, because he has a strong, dynamic, yet simple style. I love his work. And who doesn't love knights and dragons?
I've probably sent my safari pictures to everyone I know, plus all of their friends, relatives, hairdressers, post officers, and dog groomers. But if I somehow missed you, and you are interested, have a look.
While in Africa I became completely obsessed with taking wildlife and nature pictures. It was so much fun! In retrospect I was probably pretty goddamn obnoxious. Oh well. That's what a passion can churn up.
I've been working on a painting of Nausicaä the Warrior Princess for almost a year. I finally finished it this evening. I am very pleased with the results! Have a look...
If you live in the Twin Cities area, and you're interested in improving your drawing and/or painting skills, I highly recommend The Art Academy. My daughter has been taking classes there for more than four years, and she and I have been attending classes together for over a year now. She and I have learned a lot, and it's a lot of fun!
The teachers fuse the time-honored methods of traditional art instruction with modern educational theory. The result is fantastic: every session I walk around the room and marvel at my fellow students. Get out there and paint a picture!
My daughter had a school project for history due today - build a model of a castle. Why is this such a big deal, you may ask? Well, here's a little background: I am a nerd. I am passionate about history, and I have fairly extensive experience in making crafts and building models. So when my son had this exact same project three years ago, I coached him into building a fantastic fortress. It was well-proportioned, intricately detailed, and meticulously painted and landscaped. By many accounts, it was easily the best one in the class. According to the teacher, however, it lacked certain minor features that we felt were unrealistic for a castle of that size and era. And there was no room for those features, given the project's recommended scale, which we used! He ended up with a mere B+ on the project. That really chapped my ass.
Fast forward to now. My daughter and I, both informed and enraged by this eariler outcome, were determined to outdo that castle. My daughter in particular, currently maintaining a better-than-4.0 GPA (due to the weighting of honors classes), wanted to ace the project. But she was hampered by design-anxiety, because the castle could be no greater than 14"x18," yet it had to possess a great deal of detail. The instructions suggested a scale of one inch for every six to ten feet, or about 1:108 scale. If you've made any study of models, that scale should be a red flag - it's for smaller things, like ships and rockets, not a large castle or fortress. Again, my son used it for his model, and look where that got him. So we abandoned that in favor of a more reasonable one inch to twenty-five feet, or about 1:285 scale.
Finally last Wednesday she had more or less finalized her design, and Thursday night we visited Home Depot to purchase our materials. We spent two hours there, browsing everything imaginable to find the right objects from which to build the castle. We spent more money than I'd care to mention. Damn kids, taking up my resources!
Anyway, I spent the entire weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, coaxing her through the process of building the model. I helped her with some of the key details - the gatehouses, for example. I also cut the wood with the chop saw from her measurements (if it weren't so last-minute, I would have taken the time to teach her how to use the saw safely herself). Anyway, after many discussions, modifications, disagreements, failures, tears, and hugs, not to mention much hard work, the castle is complete. Click below for a larger image. And if she doesn't get an "A" on this project, I invite you to come kick her teacher's ass with me. It'll be my last act! My daughter made me promise that if she didn't get an "A," I'd commit seppuku.
