Illustration blue 4 1 compressed by soo hyun KIM

BLUE

ILLUSTRATION

BLUE

일러스트레이션 블루

ILLUSTRATION

BY C0MPUTER

BY HANDS

MICHAEL CARS0N

HSIA0 R0N CHENG

ANNA DITTMANN

MARK H0RST

HENRIK ARRESTAD

C0NT ENTS

XHXIX

blue ; 과거, 손으로 뭐든지 만들어 내고 했던 사람들은 손끝의

BLEU는 영어로 파란색 이라는 뜻을 가지고

섬세함을 화폭에 담아 보는 이들을 놀라게 했다. 하지만

있지만, 우울한 이라는 의미를 가지고

폐쇄적인 계급사회와 다소 미흡했던 통신수단의 발달로 일부

있기도 한다. 그런 맥락에서 일반적으로

특수 계층의 사람들에게만

BLUE가 침울하고 비관적인 느낌을 준다는

관람이 허용되어 있었다. 오늘날

21세기를 사는 사람들은 인터넷과 같은 강한 파급력을 가진

것은

통신수단의 발달과 인간의 섬세함을 완벽에 가깝게 구사해내고

그렇다고 하여 우리애게 전해질 수 있는

있는 프로그램(photoshop, illustrator, painter 등)이

감각들이 부정적인 의미만을 가지고 있는

생겨남으로써 인간의 감성과 생각을 더욱 효과적으로 전달하고

것은 아니다. 월간 <ILLUSTRATION BLUE>

있다. 이

시점에서 우리는 작가가 표현하고자 하는 것들이

에서는 우울함 이란 단어를 한 층 더

표현 도구 방식에 따라 어떻게 다르게 나타나는지 그 기준을

섬세하게 세분화하여 해석한 아티스트들을

수작업과 컴퓨터 작업으로 나누어서 알아 볼 수 있다.

소개한다.

누구나

동의할

것이다.

하지만

MICHAEL

Michael carson

ichael Carson was born in 1972 in Minneapolis, MN. He graduated from the Minneapolis Institute of Art and Design in 1996. Working as a graphic Artist, he painted his first painting three years after graduating from college. He knew he had found his calling and in 2001, started painting full time. Influenced by the paintings of Toulouise Loutrec, John Singer Sargent, Norman Rockwell, Malcolm Liepke, and Milt Kobayashi, Michael Carson is primarily a figurative Artist who likes to tell a story. His figures usually find themselves in bars, nightclubs, cafes, and jazz clubs; even at home in intimate

His volition is to emphasize relationships of color and light and allow the texture of his brush stroke to move the viewer뭩 eye through the art. 밒 like the fact that the face can be such a subtle subject and one brush stroke can be the difference in the feel of the entire piece. That gives me the ability to work in one subject matter and still find that I learn something new in every painting. I love to incorporate my love of design, fashion and architecture into my work. My nondescript surroundings help me to create a mood or a story that I am trying to relay through my painting. Seeing how the work evolves, the subtle and drastic differences, and looking forward to the future is what keeps me painting. I view a painting as a success when I take from it something new that follows me into my next work. It뭩 just learning to become a better painter.

MICHAEL CARS0N

“I spend most of my time on the face and hands. They tell the story.”

PAINTER MICHAEL CARSON DESIGNS CLOTHING ON THE CANVAS

It’s become second nature, during a lull in conversation at a café or to punctuate a particularly long walk, to reach for our phones and start scrolling. But in all this mindless looking down, we risk forgetting an age-old pastime: people watching. For Michael Carson, a Phoenix-based painter and people watcher who first caught our eye when his portrait of the girls of Girls appeared in The New Yorker, the art of observing passersby is still alive and well — in fact, it helps inform his timeless portraits. “I just prefer to have a realistic version of people,” Carson tells us. His subjects often share similar expressions, looking a little downtrodden or distracted, and Carson draws these emotions straight from the street: “Look around in public. People usually look a bit bored or tired or sad. It’s whats going on in their heads that I am attracted to, and that can be anything.” Carson’s women have a distinct look — waif-like bodies that recall the heroin-chic look of the ’90s, or ’40s pin-up girls at home after a long day of work. He’s aware of the subtle twinning of his subjects: “Unconsciously, I end up painting a very similar looking character, as you can see, in many of my paintings. It may be my ideal figure. I don’t know.” It’s unsurprising, then, that many of the women resemble his dream subject, Alexa Chung.

As for the impeccably stylish clothes in which his subjects are outfitted, they are largely his own creations. “I love fashion,” Carson says. “I wish I could design clothes, but never really saw that as a possibility for whatever reason. Even though I am using references, I always end up changing the outfit to suit me and my needs for the painting. So I guess I do design clothing in a manner.” Browsing Carson’s work, you’ll notice repeated patterns — baroque wallpaper motifs, polka dots, flowers. He has quite a poetic sensibility regarding the use of these patterns, and how they bring his work to life. “The interesting thing to me isn’t necessarily the pattern itself,” he says, “but how it’s applied over the painting, and how the flat pattern can float over a dress that has folds and creases and volume. I just love the push and pull effect that has on the work. It becomes very graphic and designed. And painterly. And it’s this combination that keeps me excited to continue every day in the studio.”

FLAVORWIRE INTERVIEW :

chausettes 40”X30” oil on panel

Beneath Her 30" x 20" oil on panel

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a long days night 30" x 20" oil on panel

LOOKING INTO A FACE

MARK HORST

I paint as a way to see and to know the world. Yet the world is never finished and the joy of seeing it is never complete—and so my painting points to the fleeting, the glimpsed, to the life that is always present and so difficult to touch. I paint the way I see—which is always incomplete and in process. The more I look, the more there is to observe. The world opens up and flowers; the mud takes form. I paint the figure as an invitation to explore the world and ourselves—our light, our sh adows, our incompleteness. I’m trying to create a space for us to inhabit and give us time with questions that are not meant

AB0UT Mark Horst grew up in small town Minnesota. He studied pottery and printmaking in high school and coll ege, but his encounter with Dorothy Da y and the Catholic Worker l ed to years of very different work. After earning a Ph.D. in theology from Yal e University, he spent time teaching and working toward neighborhood renewal in south Minneapolis. He pursued the craft of painting and drawing at the Minneapolis Coll ege of Art and Design and the New York Studio School. He lives in Albuquerque.

Mark Horst carries a quiver full of painterl y gifts. His startling work reveals wild pinpricks of the eternal, often in the subtl est of ima ges. Make no mistake, the paintings sometimes hold our feet to the flame-a door between a coll ectivel y understood ima ge and some new paint-spirit th at comes hurtling through. Not alwa ys a comfortabl e experience.

Th at door is also a gatewa y between the tacit and the explicit-his sheer feel and technique is obvious, but there are other energies at work here too, some ancient condition of the soul. Horst is one of the few new painters to hold the paradox of tradition and innovation within himthere is brilliance here. MARTIN SHAW, author, teacher and painter.

Timothy Frantzich

Mark Horst's paintings are where... simplicity meets craft, where humility meets emotion, where spirituality meets the earth. Mark's dedication to accuracy, truth and instinct l ead to an unforced beauty rarel y achieved. Timothy Frantzich, songwriter and producer

His dedication to accuracy, truth and instinct lead to an unforced beauty

INTERVIEW WITH MARK H0RST New Mexico artist Mark Horst creates poetic work in oil that captivate and hold your attention. His expressive natural composition, use of color and shading, make for a moving interpretative experience for the viewer. I continuously flipped between paintings with the subject in the same pose, which Mark altered the color-light schemes from warm to cool and the painting took on an entirely fresh and evocative meaning. EIL writer Michael Accorsi has a lovely chat with artist Mark Horst. Here is what he had to say: Michael Accorsi: What is the art scene like in Albuquerque? Mark Horst: This place is full of artists and they’re good too and moving in lots of directions. The street scene is good—some great mural work. Lot’s of talented hip hop painters—whose work regularly gets wiped out by the mayor’s minions. Traditional landscape painting is big here and lots of people do it well. A lot of artists can’t afford to live in Santa Fe. So Albuquerque—about 60 miles from Santa Fe—has a close connection to the Santa Fe scene—which is where the big galleries congregate. MA: Where do you do most of your painting? What would you say is the best modification or change you have made to your studio over the years? Mark Horst: I have a studio in an old factory and I’m there most days. I’m a firm believer in boredom as a form of creative motivation. So I need to spend enough time with my work to get over being impressed or intimidated by it. So maybe the

best change I’ve made is not to change much of anything. MA: Can you tell us the methods you use to start a large work?: (sketches, smaller mock-ups, etc.) Mark Horst: For me a large painting is often easier than a small one—I just find the gesture and the ability

to move more paint around helps me. So I used to start with small studies and then move progressively bigger, but now, often, it’s the opposite. I still like drawing a lot. And I don’t at all mind drawing into paint. Sometimes I use charcoal in wet paint.

Lately I’ve been dragging my pastels through paint. I don’t know if it’s a good idea, but sometimes when the paint is getting hard to work into, I can’t resist a good saturated pastel. MA: Your brilliant overlapping of color and strokes that you use to create edges and lines.. how much of that is intentional, how much is spontaneous? Mark Horst: Can’t I be intentionally spontaneous? Hockney says spontaneity takes a lot of preparation! So I do have a kind of dogmatic belief in the importance of destroying an image in order to save it. At every point in the process of painting, I’m working on ways to subvert my attempts to get everything in it’s right place. After working to render an image accurately, I might brush it into a blurred, Richter-esque mess. Or I might use a scrapper to distort and blend all the parts and pieces that seem to be all isolated and distinct. There are lots of ways to destroy and image. After doing my Dionysian best, I stand back, survey the battlefield and try to find a way to move forward. MA: How much has the internet and social network created interest around your work? Mark Horst: Well it sure helps. Flickr was my life-line to the outside world for years. Before I showed my work to my own mother, I was posting stuff on Flickr and, you know, if you say nice things about other people’s work, they’ll do the same for you. And I can’t tell you how important that was when I was taking baby steps as an artist.

HENRIK

A A R R E S TA D

ULDALEN

WORDS Henrik Aarrestad Uldalen (1986) is a self-taught artist whose creative production revolves around classic figurative painting, presented in a contemporary manner. Henrik explores the dark sides of life, nihilism, existentialism, longing and loneliness, juxtaposed with fragile beauty. The atmosphere in his subject matter is often present-

ABOUT Henrik

Aarrestad

Uldalen (1986) is a self-taught artist whose creative production revolves around classic figurative painting, presented in a contemporary manner. Henrik explores the dark sides of life, nihilism, existentialism, longing and loneliness, juxtaposed with fragile beauty. The atmosphere in his subject matter is often presented in a dream or limbo-like state, with elements of surrealism. His

Henrik

Aarrestad

Henrik Aarrestad Uldalen, figurative painter, Oslo, Norway

eanna Elaine Piowaty: I am intrigued by this dreamlike state you paint. There is an overwhelming sense of vulnerability, fragility…as if your subjects are defenseless to break this spell in which they have found themselves. Is this a metaphor for giving over responsibility for the shape and path our lives have taken, even as we may wish we might have pursued other options? Have you ever felt this way yourself at times? In some aspects do you even feel this way now? Henrik Aarrestad Uldalen: I agree with the feeling of vulnerability and fragility when I look at my paintings today. Many are very stripped down and direct. But when I first started to work with them I wanted to express a sense of being disconnected from your feelings, which actually could be more like the opposite of being vulnerable and fragile. Floating in a sterile and empty environment, as if encased in an empty shell. And to strengthen that experience, I sought to separate my subjects from the viewer by closing my subjects’ eyes. And yes, I often feel this way myself at times. Henrik Aarrestad Uldalen: I try to say a lot of things with my paintings nowadays, and I don’t always know why I do some things. So if someone has a totally different take on my different works, I won’t say they’re wrong. It’s interesting what you are saying, because sometimes I want to express a feeling of hopelessness. Giving up your responsibilities, as you say. And sometimes I want to say with my paintings: Take responsibility for your life, quit your day job. Self-actualization and so on. I understand why people might have very different takes on the paintings I make.

eanna Elaine Piowaty: What can be done to awaken us from our slumbering state? Or do we not wish to be awakened? Henrik Aarrestad Uldalen: It’s funny you’re asking me this question, because I am seeking the same answer. So even if I want to urge people to shake things up in their lives, I myself feel dissatisfied and disconnected most of the time. Perhaps what I need is a steady 9-5 job? I think most people long for something else. And it’s scary to make the changes. One can say it this way: If you as a child would approve of how you live your life, then you’re doing it right. Right?

Deanna Elaine Piowaty: I love how complicated this living the honest life is. This is the dilemma we all face, isn’t it? I like what you said about how we all want our lives to be different, so there we are pacing back and forth, frustrated–even as all-the-while we may know in our gut we have taken the best path, still there is that nagging… Certainly most of our industries, our advertisers count on this restlessness and dissatisfaction, don’t they? Henrik Aarrestad Uldalen: Yes, life is complicated. Even for the ones who are privileged enough to sit on their ass and paint for a living. And yes, you’re exactly right: “Buy this, do that and then your miserable life will be so much better.”

Deanna Elaine Piowaty: Can you tell me about the images that appear to be more violent? The man on top of the woman and he appears to be choking her… The man and woman floating upside-down in water… And then what looks like a woman either after giving birth or perhaps being raped? Henrik Aarrestad Uldalen: These are pretty old paintings. I can’t recall what I thought at the time. It was more likely just an experimental time, without too much deep thoughts. But I do like them still, visually. Even though I don’t remember why I did some paintings, I do know why I did others. And many of the new paintings are built on top of others. I have found new and perhaps better ways to describe the same thing. Deanna Elaine Piowaty: Do you ever feel protective of your subjects? Do you ever feel the impulse to try to save them?–Either while you’re painting them or afterwards? Or is it more like they are suffering for you–so maybe you don’t have to hold that feeling of listlessness yourself quite so much? Henrik Aarrestad Uldalen: I don’t feel too overly protective of my subjects. I haven’t thought about it before, but it’s almost always me in the painting in some way. I guess I come off as a pretty egocentric guy right now, but it’s the truth. Deanna Elaine Piowaty: No, I hear this from nearly all the artists, poets, musicians, dancers, etc… I interview. They create first and foremost for themselves, and their subjects are nearly always versions of themselves. I think in learning more about ourselves, making peace with ourselves, finding forgiveness, etc…this is how we develop empathy and understanding for others. Deanna Elaine Piowaty: I recall reading that you are self-taught. Did you grow up in a household that was very nurturing of your talent and of creative expression in general? Are your parents artistic also? Henrik Aarrestad Uldalen: I’m self-taught, yes. My parents and teachers were very nurturing of my art–it was probably the only thing I was even slightly good at–and they have been supportive all the way. But no, my family is not artistic at all. I was educated to be an elementary school teacher but school is not where I learned to paint. I formed two important friendships while earning my degree which probably did the real work of educating me: Morten Thyholt, Trygve Åsheim and I all discovered painting at the same time and just stuck together, painting and discussing art–an education as good as any art school I would say (without having the slightest knowledge of how art school is).