Drawing a Moment: Illustrating Questions about Authenticity, Narrative and Subjectivity through the Contemporary Medium of Drawing
A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Illustration Department in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Fine Arts in Illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design
Robert William Hadley Savannah, Georgia
Š May 2019
Linda Warner Constantino, Committee Chair Ron Spears, Committee Member Hsu-Jen Huang, Committee Member
DEDICATION
To JanĂŠe, my partner in crime. Words alone cannot express my love for you, so I draw.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge a number of individuals who helped make this thesis a reality.
To my thesis chair, Linda Warner Constantino, who believed in me, guided me and stuck up for me during tough times. I cannot thank you enough for the immense amount of time you invested in my work. I am incredibly grateful for our friendship.
To Ron Spears, who encouraged me to go outside and draw from life. Thank you for all of your feedback and encouragement to discover my own authentic, compelling style.
To Hsu-Jen Huang who encouraged me to study at SCAD all those years ago when we met at Miami University’s Architecture Program. Thank you for all of your support and feedback.
To my parents, thank you for your endless love, support and encouragement to follow my dreams, do what I love, and be a part of something greater than myself.
To Holly Metzger, my incredibly gifted artistic aunt who I love to brag about. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and encouraging me to pursue art since I was at least seven years old. You showed me it was possible to create a professional career in art and wake up every day to do what I love.
To Daniel Powers, thank you for your guidance and wisdom. You were the first person to introduce me to Franklin Booth and other Golden Age Illustrators my first quarter at SCAD.
To professor Steve Knudsen, thank you for introducing me to new perspectives in drawing that opened my eyes to a world of possibilities.
To Debora Oden, thank you for introducing me to and showing me how much fun printmaking processes are.
To my Illustration Professors who aided me along the way, specifically Dove McHargue, Meghan Berkheiser, Chuck Primeau, Ted Michalowski and Kurt Vargo, thank you.
To my friends who were a source of encouragement, feedback and support as I developed my ideas for my work. There are too many to name, but I would specifically like to thank Steven Roberson, Dennis Robinson II, Nate Rose, Qianwen Tu (Rita), Xiaoyu Li (Remi), Amalia Restrepo, Mruna Mistry, Casey Nelson, Caryn Wheeler and Sarah Cherry for the excitement you showed in my project.
To my Patrons, thank you for your incredible support and appreciation for my work which allows me to do what I do for a living.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES
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ABSTRACT
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INTRODUCTION
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BODY AUTHENTICITY
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NARRATIVE
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SUBJECTIVITY
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CONCLUSION
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APPENDIX A: ARTIST STATEMENT / MARKETING PLAN
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B: LIST OF IMAGES
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C: IMAGES
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Sense of Atmospheric Perspective
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Figure 2: Close-Up of Mark Making
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Figure 3: Dynamic Grid
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Figure 4: Composing with a Dynamic Grid
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Figure 5: Pen and Ink Advertising
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Figure 6: Pen and Ink Mural Art
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Figure 7: Robert Hadley after Franklin Booth
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Figure 8: Robert Hadley after James Montgomery Flagg
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Figure 9: Mixing Brush and Nib Tools
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Figure 10: Currents of Lines
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Figure 11: Robert Hadley after Vincent van Gogh
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Figure 12: Repeat Pattern 1
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Figure 13: Repeat Pattern 2
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ABSTRACT
Drawing a Moment: Illustrating Questions about Authenticity, Narrative and Subjectivity through the Contemporary Medium of Drawing
Robert William Hadley
May 2019
Drawing a Moment discusses practical and philosophical considerations for artists who want to develop their own authentic, compelling style and create more meaningful work. This research explores visual problem solving solutions with solely line-based ink art. Art theorist Emma Dexter defines drawing as “a mark-making process used to produce line-based compositions.” This research defines a moment as an exact point in time. 1
Drawing a Moment is about directly observing reality in order to learn to see things differently. Artists who see things differently learn to express things differently and produce authentic, compelling work. This research addresses questions about authenticity, narrative and subjectivity as they relate to practical and philosophical considerations for teaching artists to see differently. Authenticity begins with artists going to the source to capture direct observations with drawing media. Narrative continues with considerations for creating rhythm and composition as a means of expressing an artist’s overarching set of values. Subjectivity is about expressing personal ideas that exist only in an artist’s imagination. The topics of authenticity, narrative and subjectivity teach artists how to have a heightened awareness of their interests, their work and the world around them. Drawing a Moment aims to help artists understand ways to create more unique, compelling work.
Key Terms: Drawing a Moment, Authenticity, Subjectivity, Narrative, Direct Observation, Notan, Dynamic Principles, Calligraphy, Contemporary Ink
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Kantor, Jordan. Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing. Phaidon Press, 2005. 5.
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INTRODUCTION
There are definite strategies for creating a calligraphic line language inspired by the Golden Age of Illustration that address contemporary issues facing authenticity, narrative and subjectivity and help artists and illustrators create more meaningful work. This research explores visual problem solving solutions with solely line-based ink compositions which address questions about authenticity, narrative and subjectivity as they relate to practical and philosophical considerations for drawing a moment. Art theorist Emma Dexter defines drawing as “a mark-making process used to produce line-based compositions.” This research defines a 2
moment as an exact point in time. ‘Drawing a Moment’ is about directly observing reality in order to learn to see things differently. Artists who see things differently learn to express things differently and produce more authentic, compelling artwork. Authenticity begins with direct observation and going to the source with readily available drawing tools that capture the intensity of our thoughts in a way that feels almost second nature. Art theorist Jordan Kantor explains, “Drawing is part of what it means to be human—indeed, it would be ridiculous to apply this statement to other, more specialized media, but somehow applied to the medium of drawing, the idea is easier to grasp.” Authenticity explains best 3
practices for leaving the comfort of an artist’s studio and heading out of doors to capture the intensity of a moment with their drawing tools of choice. This process of collecting authentic direct observations creates meaningful experiences which feed an artist’s inspirations. Narrative continues with creating a natural back and forth rhythm and approaching composition as a means of expressing an artist’s overarching set of values through an image. 2 3
Kantor, Jordan. Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing. Phaidon Press, 2005. 5. Kantor, Jordan. Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing. Phaidon Press, 2005. 6.
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Making marks is one of the most natural ways to process the visual information that informs the moments of our lives. Composing this information in a meaningful way helps an artist clarify what is most important to them and directly transfer the meaning to the viewer. Narrative discusses important considerations for thinking about composition using universal principles such as Notan and Dynamic Relationships. Notan is the basis of all design and helps us understand how establish the natural rhythm found in narrative. The principles of Notan also help an artist see negative space as an element to compose and balance with positive space. Narrative concludes with considerations for using Dynamic Rectangles based off of mathematical phenomenon to help the artist compose important elements of their narrative around natural rhythms. Subjectivity concludes with the choices an artist makes in regards to their personal feelings, tastes, opinions and a view of the world that exists only in their mind which creates their own personal style. There are certain considerations for creating an original style that is inspired by other artists’ that resonate with an artist and helps them create their own authentic style. This research focuses on creating a calligraphic line language inspired by the Golden Age of Illustration as an example of how an artist might go about it in their own way. Specific tools were chosen for this thesis which demonstrated integrity, craftsmanship and tradition. The past informs the present and an artist’s cultural traditions often influence their personal identity and the way they perceive, understand and leave their mark on the world. The topics of authenticity, narrative and subjectivity help artists learn to have a heightened awareness of their interests, their work and the world around them. Drawing a Moment will help them understand ways to create more unique, compelling work. The insights
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from this research about cultivating a deeper more meaningful understanding of the world around us helps artists to create more meaningful work and inspire future artists.
AUTHENTICITY
Authenticity is a major component of an artist’s style. It is a requirement for an artist to make art. An artist cannot really create art that resonates without a sense of authenticity. For most artists however, it is unclear what is authentic. The search for authenticity can be found by going to the source with tools that immediately and expressively capture the intensity of thought in the moment when it occurs. The research for this paper starts with directly observing nature. The Plein Air Convention and Exposition is an example of a community of artists that gets together and goes outside to discover their own authentic mark making by observing nature directly. This community illustrates a bigger, more important trend in the art world because not more than a decade ago these communities did not exist on the scale they do now. One explanation for this trend may be it is a direct response to a heavily digital world fueled by social media and artists are leaving their personal technological search engines and going to the source of inspiration in nature. The resurgence of calligraphy which will be discussed in Subjectivity is another example of people going back to the source in search of authenticity. An artist who has worked in the studio for prolonged periods of time using only photographs or ideas in their heads as their inspiration causes an artist to begin to lose their creative edge. To illustrate this idea as a metaphor, it is the difference between a free flowing stream and one that has been dammed up. The stream represents the free flow of ideas that are
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the spark for inspiration. The stream that is free is continually being cleansed with new thoughts and inspiration while the dammed up stream becomes stagnant and cut off. An artist who is cut off from the world is like a dammed up stream without direct access to new and inspiring ideas and observations. All an artist needs to do to increase the flow of ideas and inspiration is to go to the source with tools that will capture the intensity and immediacy of their experiences. In short, an artist is the sum of their experiences. Directly observing the natural world and capturing the intensity of their experience with drawing media shapes an artist’s perception of the world around them and increases the flow of original ideas. An artist who goes outside to experience the world in the moment is exposing themselves to the intensity of direct, sensory experiences. These experiences teach an artist to express these moments in their art by learning to focus and make decisions about what tools and processes are most important to them. In the studio the artist is prone to become distracted and not create their best work. An artist need only grab their sketchbook and a pen and go out doors to start developing a heightened awareness of the world through direct, authentic experiences that will help them create more original and inspired artwork. The Plein Air Convention and Exposition is an annual event for members of the Plein Air Magazine community now in their eighth consecutive year. The word “plein air” comes from the French phrase “en plein air” meaning in open air. This phrase captures the French Impressionist movement of the nineteenth century that started the plein air movement, one of the longest ongoing movements in art history. This research studied Plein Air Magazine’s 2018 Plein Air Convention and Exposition in Santa Fe, New Mexico which provided insights into this trend. The attendants at the convention could be categorized as novice, experienced or advanced artists. Novice artists were individuals who were either new to working outdoors or hobbyists who just
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wanted to try something new but were not really interested in becoming advanced artists. Experienced artists were those involved in other plein air communities and who were returning to the convention after having previously attended. Advanced artists were mainly the ones teaching and volunteering to assist with the outdoor painting events. The focus of this research was on the experienced and advanced artists in attendance. Most of the advanced artists were making direct observations in their sketchbooks with drawing media and taking documentative photographs. This work was mainly created as warm-ups and reference material to prepare them for creating the final work back in the studio, a traditional way of creating art. Very few attendants at the Plein Air Convention, if any, were meditating on the power of a simple drawing as the final product to express the intensity and complexity of the moment they were trying to capture. Twentieth century artists opened the doors to creating final work with new and underrecognized media whose inherent qualities captured and expressed ideas relating to this thesis more effectively than many traditional media. Drawing with its inherent qualities of simplicity, relatability and integrity make it an ideal media for capturing and expressing a moment. Everyone in the world has access to something that can be used to create marks or in other words to draw with. This is because it is essential for humans to share ideas and drawing is the simplest and quickest way express and share these thoughts and ideas. As art critic Jean Fisher explains, “the act of drawing makes possible the magical identity between thought and action, because to draw is the quickest medium and can therefore protect the intensity of thought.� Accessibility 4
and familiarity leads to relatability; because everyone at some point has used drawing tools share ideas, they are more willing and able to understand art that is created with this process. Most
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Kantor, Jordan. Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing. Phaidon Press, 2005. 8.
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everyone already has a drawing or two hanging in their homes from some of the most important artists in their lives, their children. As Christian Rattemeyer points out, “the ubiquitous children’s drawings (is) so often brought up as the paradigm of accidental meaning.” These 5
qualities make drawing a medium that is full of potential as a contemporary process for capturing a moment. There are definite considerations for documenting and capturing a moment directly from the source and developing an authentic style. Moments are fleeting and it is necessary to use drawing media that quickly and efficiently captures an artist’s observations. In the process of documenting their observations with notes, sketches and photographs an artist is able to revisit a moment any time they are in need of inspiration. Over time, an artist starts to develop a reference library of their own unique design to use however they like and may be made public or kept private. It is a data base of information and experiences that an artist can reference details from for their future work. This visual reference library becomes a source for original ideas and observations that develop into an artist’s own unique visual language and authentic style. In order to make authentic, meaningful work an artist must learn to become an active observer and engage with the data and input they receive from observing the world and consciously filter through it to find meaning. As the Austrian philosopher Egon Friedell described, “Observation of the first kind projects its own light on to things and can, therefore, only touch their surface; all it does is render its objects invisible. That of the second kind projects light into things and makes objects luminous in themselves.” Becoming an active observer means engaging all of one’s senses. Bothwell and Mayfield, co-authors of the book Notan, describe this active process of observing as “feel-seeing.” They explain, “We all came
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Kantor, Jordan. Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing. Phaidon Press, 2005. 6.
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into this world with the doors of perception wide open. Everything, at first, required the slow, loving touch of our hands. Touch by touch we built up our store of tactile impressions, keenly sensed in minute detail. Later on, this tactile sensing was transferred to our eyes, and we were able to “feel” through the sense of vision things beyond the grasp of our hands. This kind of seeing was a slow, uncritical examination of depth. None of us have lost our store of tactile memories. All that has happened is that we have substituted identifying and labeling, which can be done very rapidly, for the tactile sort of feel-seeing which requires much more time and concentration. When we take all the time we need to really “feel” what we see—when we are 6
able to do that—that universe opens up and we catch our breath in awe at the incredible complexity of design in the humblest things. It is only when this happens that we regain our sense of wonder.
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In order for an artist to be authentic they need to listen to their instincts. “Feel-seeing” is a means of tapping into an artist’s intuition. Over time an artist progresses from simply documenting the world around them as they think they should to actively engaging their thoughts and intuitions and intentionally expressing them in their work. An artist who expresses their own authentic ideas and feelings in their work is saying something original. Being authentic is about aligning one’s thoughts and actions in order to say something original. Authenticity is a level of understanding with one’s self that helps an artist make decisions that are in line with their values and principles. Drawing a Moment is not about capturing an exact likeness of something but rather the exact essence of it. As Emma Dexter puts it, “…drawing is not a window on to the world, but a
6 Bothwell, Dorr & Mayfield, Marlys. Notan: The Dark-Light Principle of Design. Dover Publications, Inc, 1968. 75. 7 Bothwell, Dorr & Mayfield, Marlys. Notan: The Dark-Light Principle of Design. Dover Publications, Inc, 1968. 77.
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device for understanding our place within the universe.� Innovative art does not simply 8
reinterpret reality, but helps us understand our place within it by seeing ourselves in it. The approach that this thesis takes is to augment our experience of reality over top of our perception of reality. Capturing a moment as it pertains to this research is similar to how a camera would capture a moment with a sense of light, form and atmospheric perspective. However, with a drawing the lines that seem to define reality are blurred. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate how in one moment the viewer is observing a familiar sense of place somewhere in the natural world and in the next they are observing an imagination of a sense of place captured in simple, repetitive marks. It is similar to the feeling of reading a book where the viewer is reading the marks on the page but seeing the mental images that the words conjure up. This back and forth perceptual shift between two realities captures the essence of a moment, endlessly suspended between what an artist sees and what they feel.
Fig. 1. Sense of Atmospheric Perspective
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Fig 2. Close-Up of Mark-Making
Kantor, Jordan. Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing. Phaidon Press, 2005. 6.
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The human condition is a split reality weaving back and forth between inner and outer worlds. Drawing a moment is a natural way to process and express this tautalogous existence. This natural back-and-forth rhythm is expanded on in the next section of Narrative. When an artist learns to see and understand this phenomenon they may begin to search for meaningful ways to express it. This leads to another component of creating authentic, compelling work; the ability to compose direct observations into meaningful narratives.
NARRATIVE
Authenticity was about having something original to say, Narrative is about understanding how to say it with considerations for thinking about composition. As artist and art teacher Arthur Wesley Dow explained, “Composition is the greatest aid to representation because it cultivates judgement as to relations of space and mass. Composition does not invite departure from nature’s truth, or encourage inaccuracies of any kind - it helps one to draw a finer way ” There are certain considerations for an artist to effectively express their direct 9
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observations as a clear, unique narrative. The primary considerations this research focuses on are understanding and expressing a set of values, creating a back-and-forth rhythm, and composing using dynamic relationships that create a sense of balance and hierarchy. There are important moments in an artist’s life that shapes their narrative and establishes their overarching set of values and beliefs about their reality. Drawing and reflecting on these
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Dow, Arthur Wesley. Composition: A series of exercises in art structure for the use of students and teachers. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1918. 29.
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important moments helps an artist learn what is most important to them and their work. Good stories are based on important values communicated visually with the aid of organizing principles that are proven to be effective. Let us imagine for a moment the narrative potential of design’s simplest component, the line. The line begins with a point, an exact point in time. A line is the story of a point going on a journey. As artist Paul Klee once stated, “An active line on a walk.” A group of lines therefore 11
is a story about going there together. The same as how a viewer reads words on a page they also scan the lines of a drawing, following them around the piece. Movement is line, or line equals movement. A drawing is a moment constantly retelling the story of its creation, or as Emma Dexter describes, “forever describing its own making in its becoming. In a sense, drawing is nothing more than that, and in its eternal incompletion always re-enacts imperfection and incompletion.”
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Different civilizations base their writing and drawing on their different choices about movement and direction around a page. Drawings have the ability to cross cultural boundaries 13
in ways that words and phonetic symbols cannot. An artist who understands how to draw effectively is able to communicate simple ideas with anyone around the world similar to the way that the earliest hieroglyphic alphabet did. These simple ideas are often the main ideas in a narrative. It is the artist’s job to clearly communicate the main idea through the choices they make about composing an image. Using universal guiding principles to help organize and compose the main ideas visually gives an artist the best chance at successfully communicating ideas.
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Klee, Paul. Pedagogical Sketchbook. Frederick A. Praeger, Publishers, 1953. 16. Kantor, Jordan. Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing. Phaidon Press, 2005. 6. 13 Bothwell, Dorr & Mayfield, Marlys. Notan: The Dark-Light Principle of Design. Dover Publications, Inc, 1968. 53. 12
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We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel; But it is on the space where there is nothing that the utility of the wheel depends. We turn clay to make a vessel; But it is on the space where there is nothing that the utility of the vessel depends. We pierce doors and windows to make a house; And it is on these spaces where there is nothing that the utility of the house depends. Therefore, just as we take advantage of what is, we should recognize the utility of what is not.
This poem, attributed to Lao Tse, was written about two thousand years ago in China. It is a poem about Notan, the basis of all design. Notan is the interaction between opposing forces in harmony with one another. Nothing exists in a vacuum, everything is in constant opposition with something. Every morning when artists stand up out of bed they oppose the forces of earth’s gravitational pull. This idea of Notan is easy to grasp and is almost always used with narrative to create a back-and-forth rhythm. Western cultures attach moral values of good to the positive, of bad to the negative, or they seize upon the positive as the only reality and dismiss the negative as invisible or nonexistent. The idea of dark and light, or positive and negative in western cultures commonly plays out in narratives as good versus evil, think of Star Wars and the dark side of the
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force versus the Jedi order. With Notan, opposites complement, they do not conflict. The back14
and-forth rhythm that carries the narrative is the essence of Notan. The process of drawing illustrates this balance between positive and negative space. The art historian Norman Bryson explains, “The white background acts as a reserve, a blank space, from which the image emerges, its blank space being “perceptually present but conceptually absent.” The reserve therefore functions as a device to keep at bay the desire for obvious structure, composition, and totality, the forces that painting is subject to. As a pencil moves about the paper, its path is local and confined; freed from the need to consider the totality, it can respond immediately to “where the hand is now in praesentia.” Each mark forever frozen in place expresses a moment, an exact point in time, and a story about what happened. This special relationship between drawing and a moment illustrates the narrative potential for this process and helps to explain on a philosophical level why drawing is so prevalent of a process for illustrating stories. Notan is not only the basis of all design but also a mindset for observing the world around us. This thesis explained in the beginning that this research is about seeing things differently. An artist needs to learn to see the forest for the trees in order to see the big picture. When an artist looks for Notan they start to see not trees against a blank sky but currents of air flowing between branches. As American Architect Charles Moore explains, “…so it is when there comes to us the excitement of realizing that musicians everywhere make their sounds to capture silence or that architects develop complex shapes just to envelop empty space.” It goes 15
with the old adage that what one cannot see is just as important (if not more so) than what one can, both in capturing a moment and drawing. As one of the last surviving American Illustrators 14 15
Bothwell, Dorr & Mayfield, Marlys. Notan: The Dark-Light Principle of Design. Dover Publications, Inc, 1968. 6. Tanizaki, Junichiro. In Praise of Shadows. Leete’S Island Books, 1977. Foreward.
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from the Golden Age of Illustration, Everett Raymond Kinstler explains, “I consider working in pen and ink, successfully, is like having the ability to draw white paper… knowing what to leave out…” When this is discovered, the negative space will no longer be “empty,” but, instead, 16
there will be Notan. When an artist learns to see Notan and see the negative space as a 17
compositional element to balance the positive space with then they may start to create more compelling illustrations. Now that the artist recognizes Dark-Light rhythms and relationships of Notan they must take into account considerations for composing these elements around a mathematically dynamic, underlying structure in order to tell a clear and compelling narrative. Art that lacks meaning lacks substance and integrity. Composing an image around dynamic relationships is a traditional method of organizing ideas in order to strengthen the purpose or main idea of the work. All of these elements and mathematical relationships are not intended to be used in exact ways but rather as a starting point for thinking about composition. Western Cultures developed structural systems for organizing a picture plane using Dynamic Rectangles. Dynamic Rectangles, which include Root Rectangles and the Golden Rectangle, grow from a Square’s geometry and are harmoniously linked to one another. The theory is that this mathematical phenomenon which can be found in nature is also an innate part of our nature and that humans are naturally drawn to dynamic designs which are organized around this mathematical harmony. This innate relationship is theoretically why people who are not formally trained in composition are still able to recognize inharmonious design. Harmonious design is intuitive and often relates in some way to dynamic relationships. The underlying
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Kinstler, Everrett Raymond. Impressions and Observations: The Sketchbooks of Everett Raymond Kinstler.Westtown Publishing, 2017. 21. 17 Bothwell, Dorr & Mayfield, Marlys. Notan: The Dark-Light Principle of Design. Dover Publications, Inc, 1968. 8.
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structure of a work of art should not be seen but felt. It is a mathematical or rhythmic “vibration” that resonates with all living things. On a scientific level of understanding, our thoughts and feelings are the result of nerve endings firing, incredibly complex currents of energy responding to input from the external world. Certain rhythms and vibrations are more pleasing to us, they just feel “right.” For thousands of years artists have used dynamic rectangles to organize their thoughts because the rhythms feel natural. It is still as relevant today as ever before. The primary dynamic rectangles that will be discussed in this thesis include a root 1 rectangle (the square), root 2 rectangles and golden rectangles (1:1.618). Root 4 (Double Square) Rectangles and scroll formats are also discussed briefly. This research focuses on considerations for composing images using Dynamic Relationships that directly relate to the Golden Section and Dynamic Rectangles so that the artist may have a greater chance of success. The important terms to know for determining dynamic relationships for dynamic rectangles are the “Baroque Diagonal,” “Sinister Diagonal,” “Corresponding Dynamic Armatures,” and “Eyes.” The Baroque Diagonal is the main diagonal that connects the bottom right corner of the rectangle with the upper left corner. The Sinister Diagonal is the opposite, connecting the bottom left corner of the rectangle with the upper right. It is important to establish these two lines first. Next, there are the four corresponding “Dynamic Armatures,” two which intersect with the Baroque Diagonal and two which intersect with the Sinister Diagonal. These points of intersection are called “Eyes,” of which there are four in any dynamic rectangle. In order to find these points of intersection, or eyes, align a square tool along one of the diagonals so that the ninety degree, perpendicular edge of the tool intersects the adjacent corner of the dynamic rectangle, then draw a line from that corner through the diagonal across to the opposite side of the picture plane, then repeat to find the remaining three. Any elements that respond to
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these imaginary lines and intersections in a work of art are in rhythm with a mathematical phenomenon found in nature and are considered to be pleasing to the eye. An artist who chooses to create tension may intentionally try to oppose these rhythms but in either case, they should be taken into consideration.
Fig. 3. Dynamic Grid
Fig. 4. Composing with a Dynamic Grid
A square’s geometry is the foundation for all dynamic rectangles. Square designs have a strong emphasis of center because the main diagonals called the Baroque Diagonal (bottom left to upper right) and the Sinister Diagonal (bottom right to upper left) are also the dynamic armatures. This makes a square composition the simplest. By using a square shape and a compass tool an artist can find other dynamic rectangles. Since a square’s dynamic armatures do not intersect with its main diagonals, the most common approach that this research used to divide the square format was to divide it into four overlapping root 2 rectangles. Figures 3 and 4 are examples of how a square format can be divided by overlapping dynamic rectangles in order to 17
find definite points of intersection to compose a work of are around. This can be done by anchoring one end of a compass tool, aligning the drawing point of the tool with the adjacent corner of the square and drawing an arc across the center of the square. Where that arc intersects the primary diagonal line from corners to corners is one of the “eyes.” Now take a “square tool,” line it up plumb with the edge of the paper so that the perpendicular side of the tool runs parallel with the “eye” and draw a line across from edge to edge. This creates one root 2 rectangle within the square. Repeat this process this the remaining three sides to divide the square into four overlapping root 2 rectangles. Notice that the resulting shape in the middle that is formed by the four eyes and their corresponding sides is a square. This is the nature of dynamic relationships, armatures and eyes. They repeat themselves. This establishes a pleasing rhythm, this feeling of repetition, scale, balance and rhythm. The root 2 rectangle is the basis of standard European paper sizes and most other western systems of dimension. This division of the root 2 rectangle is where the “rule of thirds” appears to derive from because the root 2 rectangle when divided by the armatures and eyes comes close to being equal divisions of thirds. The “rule of thirds” does not appear to be based in any sort of mathematical logic and likely has its roots in the dynamic relationships of the root 2 rectangle. This is relevant because most people have some sort of familiarity composing pictures, mainly cropping photographs, based on the “rule of thirds” and the resulting eyes and the counter balancing of primary elements within the picture. This basic understanding is how this research approaches composing with dynamic rectangles by playing with compositions that counterbalance around these dynamic rectangles, armatures and eyes. It is the starting point for thinking about composition in a way that is in sync with natural rhythms for a greater chance of success in an artist’s work.
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A Golden Rectangle is the only Dynamic Rectangle whose geometry relates to the Golden Section. Euclid, a Greek Mathematician and the Father of Geometry, first identified what is known as the Golden Section in the Mid-Fourth Century BC. Leonardo da Vinci first illustrated the mathematical relationship between the Golden Section and human anatomy in his work of “The Vitruvian Man� around 1490 AD. The golden rectangle is the only dynamic rectangle whose longer side (a) divided by its smaller side (b) is equal to the sum of (a) + (b) divided by (a), which both equal 1.618. In order to find a golden rectangle by using a square an artist must anchor one point on their compass tool in the center of the bottom side of a square, directly in between the two bottom corners. Then align the drawing end of the compass with the upper right corner of the square and draw an arc down outside of the square. Extend the base line parallel with the bottom of the square outward until it intersects with the arc, which becomes the corner point of the golden rectangle. Then complete the rectangle and find the corresponding dynamic armatures and eyes. The last dynamic rectangle, the root 4 rectangle, is simply a double square. Dynamic rectangles that extend beyond this start to relate more to a scroll format. One possible approach to dynamically composing a scroll would be to divide it into repeating squares or one of the other dynamic rectangle shapes previously discussed. Now that an artist understands composing with dynamic armatures the remaining relevant considerations are about a work of art’s scale in relation to its context. Art for books or advertising commissions will likely correspond to industry specific standards. Art for gallery and limited edition prints depends on the desired impact the artist wishes to create. People tend to think of gallery work as monumental which it often times is but it is smart to play around with scale. Figure 6 illustrates how large works of art have a heightened sense of drama while small
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works of art, such as in Figure 5, have a heightened sense of intimacy. One is not better than the other and scale should be determined by the desired effect and the anticipated context. Narratives today play out across all different kinds of contexts from gallery to books to public art. Context is an important considerations when crafting a work of art and determining scale to ensure that the final product resonates with the context it is in. Another important consideration for creating authentic, compelling work that resonates with the context is the subjective decisions that an artist makes in regards to the art’s aesthetics. The style and craft of a work of art influences the context in which it may be best suited. This and more will be expanded on in the next section of Subjectivity.
Fig. 5. Pen and Ink Advertisement Fig. 6. Pen and Ink Mural Art
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SUBJECTIVITY
Many of the previously discussed ideas about going to the source for inspiration, learning to see and respond to natural rhythms and composing an underlying structure were mainly objective considerations based on universal principles. Subjectivity is about the choices an artist makes in regards to their personal feelings, tastes, opinions and a view of the world that exists only in their mind and informs their own personal style. The choices an artist makes about tools, materials and inspirations inform their own personal style. However, Arthur Wesley Dow cautions, “While the knowledge of a ‘style’ may have a commercial value, it has no art-value unless the designer can make original and fine variations of it, not imitations.” It is important to 18
be inspired by the work of past artists but only original work creates an authentic, compelling style. This research uses the author’s own influences and body of work to illustrate this example. Specific tools were chosen for this thesis which demonstrated integrity, craftsmanship and tradition and are based on the author of this thesis’s preferences and tools for which he has an affinity and thus a subjectivity. Choice is the initiation of subjectivity. As Emma Dexter points out, “Drawing is a feeling, an attitude that is betrayed in its handling as much as in the materials used.” An artist’s drawings and mark-making decisions are as unique to them as their 19
own signature. This was the inspiration for the aesthetics and drawing process of this thesis and is a starting point for thinking about subjectivity in an artist’s own work. The past informs the present and an artist’s cultural traditions often influence their personal identity and the way they perceive, understand and leave their mark on the world. This
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Dow, Arthur Wesley. Composition: A series of exercises in art structure for the use of students and teachers. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1918. 36. 19 Kantor, Jordan. Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing. Phaidon Press, 2005. 6.
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research focuses on subjective considerations for drawing a moment that resonate with the author’s US American Illustration heritage. This research focuses mainly on tools and styles used by artists and illustrators who were trained in both calligraphy and draftsmanship and who used calligraphic tools to create their final drawings and illustrations. These artists and illustrators were living and or working between the 1880s to the 1940s. The focus of this research was to reexamine and discover lost tools and traditions and the potential to make them new and relevant to contemporary values. Drawing a Moment focuses on specific tools with inherent calligraphic qualities including both straight and oblique pen holders, Leonardt Principal extra fine nibs, Sumi ink and Khadi handmade cotton rag paper. There was a considerable amount of testing of tools and materials before this limited few were chosen. Limitations foster creativity. The straight pen holder is used mostly for drawing while the oblique pen holder is mostly for writing. The Leonardt Principal extra fine nibs are made from a brass alloy and have a significant amount of flex so that they are highly responsive to pressure. This makes these nibs work well for both writing and drawing lines from fine hairlines to broad shades. Sumi ink is basically pine soot mixed with water and is the calligraphy ink of choice in eastern cultures because of its rich, matte deep black color. It can only be used with dip pens because it has a slight oily residue in it which makes it clog up cartridge pens. Sumi is a permanent, pigment based ink which makes it create lines with crisp edges that do not bleed into the paper. This also depends on the paper however. Khadi cotton rag paper is handmade, thick, natural toned paper with a deckled edge that complements hand drawn images and takes the sumi ink well. These tools and processes have not changed significantly since the Golden Age of Illustration.
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The Golden Age Illustrators at the turn of the last century were the generation in US America who were writing and drawing with dip pens. This research studies the work of these artist’s pen and ink drawings and ways to evolve the calligraphic aesthetic they developed into a body of work that is relevant to contemporary values. This relevancy to contemporary values and art markets will be expanded on at the end of Subjectivity. A calligraphic drawing as defined by this research is a drawing that captures the essence of a calligraphic style of writing in the marks that are created for a drawing or illustration. US American Illustrators such as James Montgomery Flagg, Franklin Booth and Charles Dana Gibson are examples of artists who were trained in US American calligraphy and were drawing their final images using the same calligraphic tools and principles they used to write with. Figure 7 is an example of a master copy by the author of a work of art by Golden Age Illustrator Franklin Booth.
Robert Hadley after Franklin Booth
Fig. 7. Robert Hadley after Franklin Booth
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Today calligraphy is starting to experience a revival as artists are going back to the source in search of inspiration similar to the aforementioned plein air movement. Calligraphy used to be an everyday form of expression similar to drawing. Today calligraphy is often misinterpreted as decorative handwriting. Subjective ideas about style and aesthetic in this research do not concern the idea of decoration. Aesthetic value comes from being authentic which is derived from an inward search for answers. Decoration is just the opposite, it is about covering up or hiding the true nature of something in an attempt to make it more appealing. Decoration is not relevant to the idea of being authentic and should be disregarded. If our culture understands the purpose of calligraphy as a form of creative, meaningful expression rather than decoration then everyday people, not just artists, will learn to express themselves in meaningful ways through the every-day task of writing. As Golden Age Illustrator Franklin Booth explains in the introduction of the book “Drawing with Pen and Ink,” “ handwriting becomes and is, as it were, the sign of many unseen and unconscious things within the character of the writer and hence is thought to be instinctively or esoterically controlled wholly.” If people adopt calligraphy and 20
drawing once more as they did in the Golden age then it offers opportunity for a renaissance for the expressive potential of this art form. In order to understand this idea of calligraphic drawing used by Golden Age Illustrators it is necessary to understand how artists were trained in this calligraphic system of writing. Illustrators from the Golden Age of Illustration along with everyone else who attended public schools were taught as a part of school’s curriculums to write in Spencerian Script, a uniquely US American form of calligraphy. Students had to spend 30 minutes per day at a minimum
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Guptill, Arthur L. Drawing with Pen and Ink: And a word concerning the brush. Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1930. XI.
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completing handwriting exercises. The Spencerian system of writing developed by Platt Roger Spencer in the 1830s took advantage of new industrial processes for mass producing interchangeable metal nibs which replaced quill pens made from bird feathers as the new standard. Platt Roger Spencer as inspired by rhythms found in nature near where he grew up along the shores of Lake Erie and from the United States’ founding documents. Spencerian 21
calligraphy became the standard because it was designed first and foremost to be efficient. Any letter, small or capital, could be created using one or more of only seven principles making it the fastest form of writing ever developed in the days before the typewriter. It thrived because of its simplicity and adaptability, designed to be able to be embellished depending on the penman’s personal preferences. It became a part of the United States’ heritage that was the primary system of handwriting taught to elementary school kids for over 150 years. It reflects a distinctly US American spirit and resonates with the Golden Age pen-and-ink illustrations. At the time of the Golden Age of Illustration, line-based ink art was in high demand. As Guptill explained nearly one hundred years ago, “Perhaps this popularity of pen work for advertising purposes has come about partly because reproductions of pen work harmonize so beautifully with the type matter of the printed page - due largely to their scale, their linear quality, and to the fact that they are printed on the same paper with the same ink. And this harmonious quality is undoubtedly one of the main reasons why pen illustrations for books and magazines and all sorts of similar press work are in such great demand.” Printing processes 22
were mainly black and white line-based designs that could easily be transferred into print. Even to this day the versatile, transferrable qualities of line-based compositions give it an advantage
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Spencer, Platt Rogers. Theory of the Spencerian Penmanship. Mott Media, 1985. Preface. Guptill, Arthur L. Drawing with Pen and Ink: And a word concerning the brush. Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1930. 5. 22
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over other mediums with its ability to easily be transferred into vector based art that can be adapted more easily across different printed or digital platforms. In the Golden Age, Illustrators’ calligraphic ink drawings harmonized with aesthetic and rhythms of the vernacular Spencerian form of handwriting which added to their appeal in printed material. Printed sources were the primary form of entertainment and spreading information and illustrators who captured the essence of every-day life through their ink art became famous.
Fig. 8. Robert Hadley after James Montgomery Flagg
Fig. 9. Mixing Brush and Nib Tools
There are certain identifiable considerations for crafting calligraphic line-based drawings using the tools and principles developed for illustrations during the Golden Age. For example, cross-hatching is one of the most common ways to build tone but at the cost of a sense of direction and movement in a drawing. Cross-hatching could be used but it should be done sparingly and with intention. Figure 8 is a master copy by the author of a work of art created by Flagg in which cross-hatching was used in the background to build tone and direct emphasis to 26
the more delicate lines used in the figures. This thesis focuses on creating line-based compositions that use density and shade (the width of the pen stroke) to communicate tone while emphasizing direction. For areas of a drawing where solid black tone is desired, a calligraphy brush may be used. James Montgomery Flagg blended the use of nibs and brushes in an incredibly effective way. Figure 9 is an original work by the author to experiment with brush techniques refined by James Montgomery Flagg.
Fig. 10. Currents of Lines
Groups of lines that are close together but not overlapping possess a heightened feeling of movement and vitality, like a current. Figure 10 expresses this notion of groups of lines moving in currents. The perceived speed, energy and direction of a line or group of lines is relative to the surrounding ones. No line is an island because nothing exists in a vacuum; everything is 27
interconnected. The linework is composed in a way that encourages the viewer’s eye to travel faster through certain currents of energy and to linger in others, particularly the edges. Edges and areas of transition are where the viewer expects to discover something new. In the final body of work created for this research, lines often shorten at some rate of speed as they approach an edge depending on whether or not the desired effect is to be gradual or more sudden. Areas of sudden transition create contrast and are a magnet to the eye. Each work takes a slightly different approach to these compositional elements in order to understand what works better. One of the greatest draftsmen to capture this feeling of swirling energy in line-based compositions was Vincent van Gogh. He avoided the trap of creating art that could be considered too exact and technical by masterfully balancing skill with intuition. Vincent van Gogh was a contemporary of Howard Pyle, the father of US American Illustration. In a letter to Theo dated September 11, 1882, Vincent van Gogh informed his brother of the impression that Howard Pyle’s work left on him: “Do you know an American periodical called Harper’s Monthly Magazine? – there are marvelous sketches in it. I don’t know it very well, I’ve only seen six months of it and have only 3 issues myself, but there are things in it I find astounding. Among them a glass-blower’s and an iron foundry, all kinds of scenes of factory work. As well as sketches of a Quaker town in the old days by Howard Pyle.” Styles have a tendency to change 23
over time yet Vincent van Gogh’s drawing style remains relevant to today’s contemporary values nearly 140 years after his death. Figure 11 is a master copy by the author of a drawing by Vincent van Gogh.
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Rice, Danielle. Howard Pyle and Vincent van Gogh: Reflections on Changes in Taste. Town Square Delaware, February 28, 2012. Accessed May 6, 2019. https://townsquaredelaware.com/2012/02/28/howard-pyle-andvincent-van-gogh-reflections-on-changes-in-taste/.
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Fig. 11. Robert W. Hadley after Vincent van Gogh
Irregular marks and small lines that curve around on each other may be perceived as particles riding the currents. These elements in the author’s work represent natural anomalies. These anomalies are meant to create a perceptual shift causing the viewer to pause for a moment and question reality. Swirling clusters of lines with a blank center heighten the concept of infinite space. Another important concept in this body of work is the idea of repeat pattern, illustrated by figures 12 and 13, which heightens the aforementioned qualities of openness and rhythm. Repeat pattern is used to represent this idea when depicting “solid� objects such as trees and ground. With repeat pattern, these seemingly solid objects appear open and full of direction and movement. Repeat pattern is a form of abstraction that establishes a line language and tonal mass similar to a calligraphic work in which a column of text appears as a solid tonal mass but is full of holes and movement.
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Fig. 12. Repeat Pattern 1
Fig. 13. Repeat Pattern 2
This research identifies a new category within the global art market defined by Sotheby’s in 2013 as Contemporary Ink as an opportunity to infuse calligraphic ink art with today’s contemporary values. Sotheby’s describes this new category as being comprised of “artists working in global contexts (whose work) provokes a dynamic dialogue with tradition, challenging viewers expectations about the nature of ink painting; blurring geographical boundaries and formal definitions of ink art; demonstrating the versatility of a simple medium with complex applications; grounded in traditional ink painting and calligraphy; that draw on the rich medium of ink.” Most of the artists in the category at the moment are of eastern descent 24
expressing eastern calligraphic processes in a way that reflects on the rapid disappearance of their culture and identity due to the last few decades of growth and modernization. In western cultures this transition happened more gradually over time and as a result the disappearance of
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Sotheby’s. “Contemporary Ink Art.” Sotheby’s, 2019. Accessed February 2019. https://www.sothebys.com/en/departments/contemporary-ink-art.
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traditions and heritage that relate to western culture and calligraphy was all but unnoticed by the general public. The loss of this calligraphic mark making to western culture is just as significant to us as it is to eastern cultures which people are just starting to realize. American Penmanship is coming back from the edge of extinction thanks to the dedicated work of the few remaining Master Penman in the US. Soon a master penman certification program in partnership with the International Association of Master Penman, Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting (IAMPETH) will be re-established and the traditions of US American calligraphy will continue. The author of this thesis attended IAMPETH’s annual convention in Milwaukee, WI in 2018. It is an organization that seeks to preserve the art of US American Calligraphy created with dip pens. This research’s first-hand observations from the convention noted that the focus is on the calligraphy lettering arts and has yet to fully embrace calligraphic drawing processes. There is potential for this research and style of illustration to be added to their curriculum as a focus of study. At the time of this writing, the author was unable to identify any other contemporary western artist creating calligraphic drawings with metal nib dip pens and ink that meditate on ideas about authenticity, subjectivity and narrative in order to create a new contemporary style. As a contemporary artist working in a globally influenced, culturally diverse and technologically advancing world it is important to the author to capture the ethos and heritage of US American Golden Age pen and ink illustration and to provoke a dynamic dialogue with it through his contemporary calligraphic drawings. This work is important to the field of illustration and to the heritage of US American Illustration.
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CONCLUSION
There are few forms of communication today, or ever before, that directly and immediately connect with people like drawn marks on a page. An artist’s drawings and handwriting simultaneously capture their thoughts and feelings in a moment. It offers artists the most extraordinary range of possibilities to be able to express ideas about authenticity, narrative and subjectivity that help them connect with their most authentic selves and the world around them. This direct, authentic form of expression is the inspiration for this thesis, developing it into both an illustrative style and a process for meditating on life’s most important questions. As Emma Dexter explains, “A drawing can be highly controlled and delicate, an act of homage, redolent of personal memory, history or desire, or it can be automatic, responding to irrational elements or chance encounters of materials, moving again from being an instrument of the divine to something outside of the human.” Drawing is a line connecting artists with their past and 25
extending onward into the indefinite future. As Sibyl Moholy-Nagy observes in her endnotes to Klee’s Pedagogical Sketchbook, “The dot, extended into a graphic curve, cannot come to rest on the last page of the Sketchbook. It urges on to further explorations, both in space and spirit.” Drawing chimes with the needs of the moment, allowing us to dream an endless dream.”
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Kantor, Jordan. Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing. Phaidon Press, 2005. 10. Kantor, Jordan. Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing. Phaidon Press, 2005. 10.
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APPENDIX
A: ARTIST STATEMENT / MARKETING PLAN
In a digital age of virtual and augmented realities, art that inspires direct, sensory experiences with the real world has never been more meaningful to me. Through the process of developing this thesis I have found such an appreciation for how important direct connection is for me creatively and how it inspires empathy and forms authentic bonds with people and the world around me. Simply stated, it is the feeling of receiving a thoughtfully handwritten letter. This is the inspiration for my work. For the past three years my wife Janée and I have been actively involved in Savannah’s Architecture, Art and Design scene. In March 2018 we opened the doors of Tandem Co, a local Art and Design business located at 415 Whitaker Street. We restored and renovated two historic homes and were the youngest designers nominated for the Historic Savannah Foundation Preservation Award. In Tandem Co.’s showroom we have sold over 12 of my original works, 35 limited edition prints and 5 commissions since I became its featured artist 6 months ago. Tandem Co.’s Mission Statement reads: The notion of working in tandem – of growing, learning, sharing, evolving, experiencing, connecting in tandem – formed the fabric of Rob and Janée’s relationship. The business was simply devised to be a brick and mortar embodiment of this quality, created by two people with a drive to unite and showcase others who share their passion for art, design and culture, and create a community of individuals who are working toward a common goal of doing what they love and sharing their passion with the world.
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Janée, having earned an MFA in Architecture from SCAD in 2014 is our company’s design director while I take on the role of the art director of the company. They have plans to move in the next year back to the Great Lakes region of the United States where they are both from. Tandem Co. will relocate and grow with them, creating new connections while maintaining ones in Savannah as SCAD Alumni. My thesis is focused on original work for interior spaces which resonates with the values and craftsmanship that define Tandem Co. Tandem Co.’s showroom located at 415 Whitaker Street serves as an example for this young couple’s future potential. I plan to continue selling original art, limited edition prints and taking commissions with the intention of expanding into the commercial sector by building relationships with designers and galleries. My aspiration is to partner with designers to create large scale works that heighten design and capture the local character of an area’s unique qualities. In addition, I have a deep interest in writing and illustrating books that encourage valuesfirst conversations that are important to Robert and Janée to pass on. Throughout this thesis I have conceptualized ideas for stories and images that harmonize with handwritten words. The target market would likely be elementary school kids, around the age when they are learning to write in maybe fourth or fifth grade. In the future Tandem Co. would like to approach Chronicle Books, a San Francisco based publishing company who invests in high end printing processes. Robert imagines his pen and ink work printed using modern letterpress techniques which deboss the design into the paper and heighten the tactile quality of the work. Lastly, I have experience creating branding packages for companies and has been approached by some to license his designs for their businesses. My interest is to continue to explore these avenues.
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B: LIST OF IMAGES
Drawn to Dream Solo Exhibition – November 29, 2018 1. Up and Up. Pen and Ink. 37 x 53 in. 2. Drawn to Dream. Pen and Ink. 37 x 53 in. 3. Fountain in the Folly. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in. 4. September Song. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in. 5. Out for a Walk. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in. 6. Five Star View. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in. 7. North Beach. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in. 8. Head in the Clouds. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in. 9. Savannah Live. Pen and Ink. 12 x 12 in. 10. Pepe. Pen and Ink. 12 x 12 in. 11. Three West Gordon. Pen and Ink. 12 x 12 in. 12. View from 315. Pen and Ink. 12 x 12 in. 13. Savannah Series. Limited Edition Woodcut Printmaking. Commissions 14. View of Cathedral. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in. 15. Jodie’s Fountain. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in. 16. Complimentary Cloud. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in. 17. Hadley After da Vinci. Pen and Ink. 12 x 24 in. 18. Mimi’s Present. Pen and Ink. 8 x 8 in. 19. Gift for Betty. Pen and Ink. 8 x 8 in. 35
Silver and Ink Exhibition – April 18, 2019 20. First Light. Pen and Ink. 37 x 53 in. 21. Lift. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in. 22. Flow. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in. 23. Infinity. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in. 24. Ethos. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in.
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C: IMAGES Drawn to Dream Solo Exhibition November 29, 2018
Up and Up. Pen and Ink. 37 x 53 in.
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Drawn to Dream. Pen and Ink. 37 x 53 in.
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Fountain in the Folly. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in.
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September Song. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in.
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25. Out for a Walk. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in.
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Five Star View. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in.
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North Beach. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in.
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Head in the Clouds. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in.
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Savannah Live. Pen and Ink. 12 x 12 in.
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Pepe. Pen and Ink. 12 x 12 in.
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Three West Gordon. Pen and Ink. 12 x 12 in.
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View from 315. Pen and Ink. 12 x 12 in.
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Savannah Series. Limited Edition Woodcut Printmaking.
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Commissions
View of Cathedral. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in.
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Jodie’s Fountain. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in.
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Complimentary Cloud. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in.
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Hadley After da Vinci. Pen and Ink. 12 x 24 in.
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Mimi’s Present. Pen and Ink. 8 x 8 in.
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Gift for Betty. Pen and Ink. 8 x 8 in.
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Silver and Ink Exhibition April 18, 2019
First Light. Pen and Ink. 37 x 53 in. 56
Lift. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in.
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Flow. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in.
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Infinity. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in.
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Ethos. Pen and Ink. 27 x 27 in.
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