My Book update...

So I just thought I would throw in that I got an email two days ago saying my book was shipped! I am so excited to see the final product. AwooHoo!!

Skot Olsen

I am a huge fan of painting. That is my art of choice, although I have really been getting into photography. I googled painters and I found this acrylic painter, Skot Olsen. His work deals with human condition through paintings which are cartoonish in style with somewhat realistic rendering. I really enjoy the colors in his pieces. They come to life in a way. Although they are cartoonish, they are somewhat hilarious and depressing at the same time. I relate to his style of painting although it is not my personal style. I am a more realistic painter, but what I respect about him is that he is portraying what is real in his mind through these fantasy images. I feel that imagination is what creates fascinating artwork.

Duby Tal

Cover, Book on Dead Sea by Duby Tal, I felt, was an amazing photograph because of the great texture and bold colors. The image doesn’t look like the Dead Sea; it is full of textures from the salt that forms pocket like holes. The contrast of the white from the salt and the turquoise blue water add interesting contrast the Israeli landscape behind the water. This image is a very realistic shot, but at first glance, it almost appears abstract. This is why I was drawn to this piece first.Another image by Duby Tal that intrigued me was called Dead Sea Sinkholes. This image really plays up drastic color and pattern, as well as texture and unity. At first, I did not understand what the image was, then I read about how the sinkholes are formed in the Dead Sea and I found it interesting that each sinkhole captured in this image was a different, bold color. It really draws the viewer’s eyes to the sinkholes first. As a mirror image of the brown, green and orange sinkholes, in the water to the right are three more sinkholes, but we see them under the water in what appears to be a deeper part of the Dead Sea, making them look like shadows of the sinkholes on the left. Like I said before about the first image, I like how Tal makes a realistic image look abstract. I like how his images are bold. He is very inspiring to me. Although all my images in my book are black and white, I can only hope that they are as beautiful as his images are. These photographs are absolutely amazing!

Edward Burtynsky

Nature transformed through industry is the theme in Edward Burtynsky's work. He takes photographs of industrial landscapes and, with his amazing talent, makes something we normally view as ugly and make it so we view it as beautiful. Recycling yards, mine tailings, quarries and refineries are all places that are outside of our normal experience, yet we partake of their output on a daily basis. These are the places Burtynksky uses to produce his photographs. As Burtynsky says, "Our dependence on nature to provide the materials for our consumption and our concern for the health of our planet sets us into an uneasy contradiction. For me, these images function as reflecting pools of our times".
Edward Burtynsky's Manufactured Landscapes are absolutely amazing photographs. I viewed these photos at the MoPA a year or so ago and they are massive images with great content. After refreshing my memory of the images online, I wish his pieces were back at the MoPA so I can go see them again. Burtynsky is very talented and creative.

Travis White

He is a young and up and coming artist. He creates posters for shows as well as events in general. But his main focus is band art. He has created everything from CD covers to posters bands sell as merchandise. I really like his style. It is very unrealistic figures but they are very realistic looking. He has also recently been trying out painting. He has always worked with sketching then transferring to Photoshop and making poster there. Now, he is taking his images and transferring them to canvas' and creating these ultimate masterpieces. Overall, I really appreciate the effort and time that goes into each piece.

Ernest Silva

Again, on that same field trip to the Escondido Center for the Arts Museum, another artist whose work was displayed was Ernest Silva. He drew inspiration family photographs and expeiences to create his works of art. He used acrylic on canvas, but I have to say that his technique was very different from any artist I've seen thats used acrylic. He would water down his paints and have them dripping down his pieces. The paint looked like it could have been watercolors instead of acrylic. Some of his pieces were painted on canvas' but then once hung on the wall, a frame and boarder was painted directly behind the piece on the wall. It gave great demension, it really looked 3D. Out of the three artists I've talked about from my visit to this museum, I have to say that visually, he was my least favorite, but peronally, really hit home with the images he portrayed.

Raul Guerrero

On the same field trip for my installation art class to the Escondido Center for the Arts Museum, I was also intrigued by an artist called Raul Guerrero. He is an artist that exolores the notion that a sense of history is of the utmost importance. His work that was displayed was very culturally enhanced. He had a lot of works that combined the Mexican and American culture. The work that I really liked were the two pieces entitled Mexican and American Food Chorizo Combination: La Posta, 2006 and Mexican and American Food Hot Dog: Wienerschnitzel, 2006. They were both oil on canvas'. I really liked all of the bright colors and the play on food with faces. Maybe another reason why I love these pieces so much is because I am completely obsessed with Mexican food...yummy!