Hans Hofmann

My artist is Hans Hofmann, a german abstract expressionist painter who lived during the early to mid 1900's. His paintings during the 40's and 50's were compositions of rectangles of color. He was mainly studying how to use complementing and contrasting colors in order to create a 2D painting that looked somewhat three dimensional. He did this by making some colors pop while some sank into the background, creating depth. He created the Push and Pull theory, in which he used colors to interact with each other instead of one overwhelming another. Hofmann was both an artist and a teacher. He found it really difficult to separate teaching and painting, because when he was painting he made decisions based on instinct and feeling, but when he was teaching he had to focus on every single line and technical aspect of a painting. He was, however, a very successful teacher. He was very successful in his work, and created some timeless artwork.

Color to Life

First of all, I tried to imitate the texture and mark making of the original artist, paying close attention to the pointed dots throughout the trees. The colors were also a bit murky, as they were mixed to create a smorgasbord of different colors throughout the branches of the trees. I attempted to match all of the colors of the sky and ground to those in the original, but it was somewhat difficult to get the precise color. my artist's style was somewhat abstract and general, so I kept that in mind when painting the people at the edge of the lake, being sure to avoid using too much detail, but accurately capturing the form.
During this project, I learned that the mark making of an artist can be very emotional, and can communicate how the artist was feeling when he/she made the painting. I also learned that painting is a tedious process that requires a lot of patience in order to create the final product that you imagine and desire.
I think that my painting is mostly unified except for the detail of the trees. As the artist, I know that I spent much longer on the leaves than the rest of the painting, but I do not think that it would be too obvious to the observer. I think that there is unification in the uneven mixture of color throughout the painting (for example the sky is streaked with light and dark shades of blue).

I do not feel very comfortable as a painter. I do not feel that I can control the medium as well as a pencil for example. However, I feel that the greater range of color that paint provides makes it more fun to create a piece of art. My painting forced me to use small, tedious strokes for much of my painting, which made it less enjoyable for me. I believe that I would have enjoyed it more if I were able to create a more freeing piece of art. I would like to explore the use of paint in a more abstract setting. I think the product would be very cool. Paint limits my ability to create very strict and linear forms. I always find that the edges of objects in my paintings are a bit faded or rough, and therefore it is hard to paint exactly what I want.

I think that I was able to explore line somewhat thoroughly in this unit. Buildings were a somewhat easy subject to use contour lines, but I think that I was able to get really good angles using the lines. I think I did a good job with the silhouettes, however I could have made a better contrast with the tree. I believe the negative space is well conveyed in my drawings. I found the drawings of the buildings most comfortable and enjoyable. I thought that it was interesting to experiment with the perspective created by the different angles of the buildings. I think I was able to add my own sense of expression using texture and the rubbings that I added to my buildings. Also with the juxtaposition of the tree I was able to be creative. I think my strengths are my use of line. I think I could improve upon my creative use of the components in my drawings. I also could've added more layers of complexity to my drawing. I was expressive with my textures and my shaping of the buildings.

Interim Post

Throughout this project we have been focused on learning how to see. We learned how to see silhouettes as well as three dimensional objects. We learned to draw three dimensions using contour lines and some shading. We learned how to draw silhouettes by seeing the negative spaces within objects. This really brings the form to the object, which a simple outline would not do. For my final piece of this project, I am looking to combine the two techniques. I am going to use a tree silhouette that I drew previously, but I am going to add a more three dimensional city-scape in the background. Not only will this contrast flat shape and form, but it will also contrast natural and manmade objects. Manmade objects usually have a more angular, industrial look about them, so that will contrast nicely with the natural curvy shape of the tree. For the buildings, I am going to focus not only on the outer form of the objects, but also the inner texture. I think this will add another level of detail that will add to the contrast. I believe that this will also add to the form of the cityscape. I am excited about this composition because I think that the finished product will be very interesting.

Learning to See

I think I was able to explore the expressive qualities of line very thoroughly in my contour drawings. My first contour drawings did not capture the form of my objects very well, however my more recent drawings were able to capture the form quite well. My first drawings were much more simple and had fewer contour lines that were simpler in quality. In my drawing of the vase, I experimented in drawing my contour lines horizontally instead of vertically. This helped capture my form in a different way. I found most comfortable using the pencil because it was easier to control the thickness and darkness of the line. I was able to express my attention to detail in my representation of the oil can. I think I was very successful in depicting the grooves on the neck of the can. I think my strength is my use of line. I think I could pay more attention to proportion. One of my expressive characteristics is my ability to express my forms with only a few lines, but also use varying length and thickness to tailor to my object and capture the form of that object.