Final Pictures - Freshman Independent Project Gallery

Here are the final shots of my paintings for the 2011 Freshman Foundations Independent Project Gallery show (a mouth full, I know).

Jeremy Mangan Wednesday Night

Picture for yourself a beautiful landscape that looks eternally familiar and distinguishable yet holds no place in reality. Flowing fields of golden and green framed by rugged mountains of snow and rock. In the foreground the wood and plastic and paint of a modern day homestead suspended in air breaking the bounds of physics. A person-less world, surreal and dreamy, yet tangible to a surprising extent. These are the paintings of Jeremy Mangan, our guest peaking for wednesday night. His oil and acrylic paintings show a open ended narrative, places where the viewer is left to embark on their own story while basking in the often times photorealistic lands he paints. Picture a raging torrent of ocean swell, picture a tent city with not a single person present, picture a barn the size of a towering skyscraper, and once more picture a land based in reality but so far from the true nature of our universe. As if he slipped and fell into another dimension Mangan's paintings are the culmination of devotion, hard work and an imagination of the highest capacity. He a cool guy, so check out more of his work! Jeremymangan.com

Assorted Images

 

Progress on Painting #2

Independant Project Plackard Thing

The two paintings you have more than likely already viewed are titled (from left to right) painting #1 and painting #2. They show in majestic oily beauty the natural scenes of the Pacific Northwest . . . with a twist. Commenting on the encroachment of urban development and increasing threat of deforestation, this pair of paintings aims to make you smile, laugh and maybe even ponder the future of the forests around us. Composed from 18x24 stretch canvas and mounted on a wall, I proudly present my dedicated works of paint for the 2011 Foundations Independent project. Enjoy.

Wednesday Night Critique

This past Wednesday night our foundations classes met up with upperclassmen to discuss and critique the independent projects we are working on. My group, along with fellow foundations students, gathered with a sophomore named Sarah - a painting and (sculpture) student. We were asked to have prepared two questions for our assigned student, below are my questions and the responses I gleaned.

1.) As a painting student (to Sarah) what general advice do you have on how to make my painting better?

Sarah responded that the panting overall looked very well done and that she particularly liked the style I was painting in and that it looked rather impressionist and abstract, something she really valued. She continued to give me advice on atmospheric perspective suggesting that the further things are away the more blurry and less defined they look. She proposed that for objects in the backgrounds of my paintings I go back in with a dry brush and sort of blur them out a little, thus giving them the illusion of more depth and distance away from the foreground.

2.) Initially I had the word 'sold' in the foreground of my waterfall painting, I took it out because it cluttered up the image, what thoughts do you have on leaving the words out and does the red rectangle communicate well enough the idea that the image in question has been sold?

Unanimously from not only Sarah but the other students in my group I got the response that the red rectangle was more than enough and that it communicated the idea more that sufficiently. They mentioned that since they couldn't see the words in they couldn't say for sure that they though the current version was better but that they believed it was fine as is. They all got the message the painting was trying to communicate: that the waterfall was being sold. 

Random Artwork

 

Here is a drawing I did the other day, I liked it a lot so I figured I would post it on here.

Sketchbook Update!

Here are the latest few sketchbook pages from the previous weeks.

 

Progress Shots for Independent Project

Below are a number of photos of the painting I am currently working on for my independent project. The progress was recorded over a period of about a week and a half. The Painting shown is almost done. I need to add some more paint to the water area and do some touch ups but after that it will be all finished and then on to the next one.

Most Recent Photo (4.3.11)

Presentation Board + Sketches

Wednesday Night: Etsuko Ichikawa

Last Wednesday night our foundations class was graced with the presence of renowned artist Etsuko Ichikawa. Over the course of the evening Etsuko covered two of her most accomplished works: Firebird and Nachi.

            Overall I was very impressed with Ichikawa’s experimental works with glass. I found it highly inspirational the way she twisted the techniques of traditional glass blowing to create unconventional two-dimensional works. In addition to her works with a medium she coined as ‘pyro-graph’ I was also enamored by her use of performance are and dance in relation to her entire piece.

            Along with her technical skills with glass and dance I found admiration in her abilities with concept and idea. Ichikawa connected her heritage and fascination with Japanese culture to her art. Her pieces seemed to emit a serenity and calmness only associated with Japanese life. Ultimately I was very inspired by the whole night and found myself afterwards a mess with new ideas and fresh artistic drive. 

Progress on Independent Project

Here is the development I've made so far on my indepepndent project. Total time invested: +/- 2.5 hours