Daniel Zeller was born in San Rafael, California and went to school at the University of Massachusetts and the University of Connecticut studying sculpture. Much of Zeller’s art is inspired by satellite images, electron micro-graphs, topographical maps, and anatomical diagrams. He’s said of his work that it is a “reconfiguration and driven by information overload.” He created his own set of rules for his work, the main of which is that every line he puts on the piece cannot be covered or crossed.
o What is the medium? What other materials or tools are used to make the work? How large is the work?
Ink and acrylic on paper. 16.5 x 14 inches.
2. What are the formal elements of the artwork?
o What are the formal elements used in the making of the artwork? (line, shape, texture, form)
o How are they organized in the composition? Describe the dominant principle used in the composition?
Line and shape. Though it’s hard to say that much of this work was purposeful, as musch of Zeller’s work focuses on spontaneity within constraints. However, the main body of the piece is somewhat centered, which is a classic rule of art and is very effective.
3. What is the context of the work?
o When was the work made? Where was the work made? Does the work relate to the social or political history of the time?
This piece was made in 2020 and is aptly named “Return”. Though there’s no artist statement to go with it, it could be inferred that Zeller created and named this piece in anticipation of things returning to “normal” after the pandemic. The colours used are energetic and bright, bringing a sense of hope and happiness to the work.
4. Describe the content/subject of the work. (What the artist says about the work)
o What is it about? What is happening? What message does the work communicate? Is it a part of an ongoing theme for the artist?
Zeller’s ongoing theme (mentioned in the bio at the top) includes focus on organized chaos through his rules and careful spontaneity with all his pieces. This is an artist who has kept their works grouped by a connection of purpose, which is very interesting to look at. His exploration of knowledge and learning is a common thread throughout all his work, and it is communicated through abstract pieces.
5. What is the mood of the work? (What you say/feel about the work)
o What is the mood of the work? Has the artist created a certain atmosphere or feeling in the way the materials are used or elements are organized? How does the work make you feel?
I like a lot of Zeller’s work, I find it exciting and uplifting, whereas most of the time abstract art leaves me feeling unnerved or confused. In this case, I like that it’s easy for the audience to discern what the message is and the work is easy to enjoy as well; it’s not all conceptual.
6. How might their work inspire/influence your own studio practice?
I really like his ideas of being a little wild on the page but also setting specific rules for himself that create the order within the chaos. I think this is a very important aspect of abstract art that I enjoy, and if I were to explore abstract art more, I would definitely try applying this technique.
o What is the medium? What other materials or tools are used to make the work? How large is the work?
Ink, coloured pencils, wax, 40 x 28. “Island Nations” (one of a set of drawings)
Schneckloth dripped ink down a page and then painted around the lines she’d created as stylistic or bare trees.
2. What are the formal elements of the artwork?
o What are the formal elements used in the making of the artwork? (line, shape, texture, form)
o How are they organized in the composition? Describe the dominant principle used in the composition?
The line and form shown in this piece is very evident. With the lines at the top of the work and creating a thick base and then what could be interpreted as roots or floating island rock formations, the piece effortlessly guides the viewer’s eyes down the page.
3. What is the context of the work?
o When was the work made? Where was the work made? Does the work relate to the social or political history of the time?
Schneckloth’s work is mainly inspired by questions of science, imagination, biology and architecture and how they all relate to each other. This collection of works was create 2017-2018. This work is not directly related to socio-political messages, but rather is an exploration of some ideas that are important and interesting to the artist.
4. Describe the content/subject of the work. (What the artist says about the work)
o What is it about? What is happening? What message does the work communicate? Is it a part of an ongoing theme for the artist?
Schneckloth’s work is heavily inspired by questions of science, imagination, biology and architecture and how they all relate to each other.
5. What is the mood of the work? (What you say/feel about the work)
o What is the mood of the work? Has the artist created a certain atmosphere or feeling in the way the materials are used or elements are organized? How does the work make you feel?
I like the earthy tones and inspiration in her work. It creates a very natural atmosphere, and this piece in particular reminds me of the dead trees in the BC Interior I saw after the wildfires and beetle infestation impacts of 2018.
6. How might their work inspire/influence your own studio practice?
I really like that her drawing doesn’t fill up the entire page, but rather is a center piece in the white space. I think I might try replicating this technique in some of my own work sometime because I find it creates a very compelling and engaging piece.
Value Sketchbook Practice
Value and Structure Studies
I know this isn’t quite what the assignment asked for, but it is fabric, it’s just not hanging. The fabric is silk, which makes the contrasts very strong at some points.
And here’s a picture of my cat in place of the last part of this assignment because I didn’t do it. His name is Charlee. He’s got a very short tail.
Final product
Don’t Panic
Throughout my life, I’ve dealt with a lot of anxiety and stress, and in the past few years, I’ve been diagnosed with a panic disorder. I’m doing much better now than I was even in January, and I’m super grateful for that. Art has always been a way of helping me deal with underlying stresses and anxieties so that when I get a panic attack or an anxiety attack, I’m sometimes less burdened by other factors and am able to work through it more easily. I wanted this work to reflect both my struggle with mental illness, as well as art being an outlet for me.
When I feel myself starting to panic or the beginnings of an attack, I often forget to breathe slowly and hyperventilate, which only makes things worse. Sometimes, I pull on my hair or bite my finger to try to bring myself back to the present and to let my thoughts drag me away. My pose in this drawing is indicative of those reactions.
The mismatched socks are not only just an accurate representation of what I wear on a daily basis, but also harken back to a time when my anxiety had spun itself into some OCD tendencies. One of which was what kind of socks I was wearing. If I wore a certain fabric or a certain pair, the socks would throw my whole day off and thus, I was very picky. The mismatching ones depicted in my drawing is meant to signify my growth in that area of my anxiety. I’m learning to rely on internal circumstances rather than external to determine how I feel and what I do.
Lastly, the very obvious black cloud above me in the drawing has a very clear meaning, I think. It is meant to represent how enveloped one can feel while experiencing or beginning an anxiety attack or panic attack. It can be very easy to get sucked into your thoughts straight away, and many people have mantras (good or bad) that they repeat to themselves while in this state. Though mine is not often the phrase “don’t panic” as I’ve written here, I thought those words summed up what I was trying to present in my drawing, and also opened it up to more people for interpretation. Not everyone will understand the significance of my socks in this drawing, but the words can apply to almost everyone in some situation or another. When one experiences anxiety and/or panic on a regular basis, it’s nice to know that you’re not alone, and these feelings are not unknown to the rest of the world.
I bit the apple ‘cuz I loved you (and why would you lie?)
The title is based on a song lyric from the song Rat by Penelope Scott, which is a reference to the story of Adam and Eve. The background is meant to resemble snakeskin; another reference to the biblical story. Though I’m not a particularly religious person, I find the stories of the Bible fascinating and thought it would be an interesting narrative to portray through this piece. I wanted to take a bit of a darker spin on the story, hence the blood dripping from the apple.
When I was first starting this I was in a digital art class at school. At the time, I hadn’t really learned how to properly proportion a face aside from what I knew from observation. I’m still not good at consistent spacing and proportions of the face, but I think if I could redo this drawing now, the face would look very different. The eyes would be closer together and bigger, and the nose would be bigger too. I’ve had a bad habit in the past of making the features too big on a face, so I was consciously trying not to do that this time and I just went too far.
The subject is my friend Brooke, whom we always joke is going to become a nun (she’s not religious), so I thought it’d be a little funny to portray her as Eve.
I bit the apple ‘cuz I loved you (and why would you lie?)
Hand and feet studies:
I’ve decided that feet are very hard to draw if you’ve never drawn them realistically before. 🙂
Facial feature studies:
Ears aren’t nearly as difficult to make look good as I thought they’d be.I really tried to focus on how I use lines to create value in these, because I’m historically very bad at not blending, and I actually like this style better anyways, I’ve just never really made an effort to try it.
Artist Research 2
Marcel Dzama
Marcel Dzama’s work is mainly colourful illustrations and black and white cinematography. Dzama has used watercolours, various sculpting materials, as well as unique photographical and film perspectives. He uses a lot of strange and sharp shapes and lines in his illustrations and his sculpture. In his paintings, the watercolours create a stark difference in texture to the black ink used to accentuate the shapes.
1. How is the work made?
o What is the medium? What other materials or tools are used to make the work? How large is the work?
This piece is watercolour, gouache and graphite on paper. A consistency in Dzama’s work is that with his paintings similar to this one, he sticks to a very small colour palette. Specifically in clothing, where he makes them all the same hue. This work is 21 1/8 x 32 1/8 inches.
2. What are the formal elements of the artwork?
o What are the formal elements used in the making of the artwork? (line, shape, texture, form)
o How are they organized in the composition? Describe the dominant principle used in the composition?
Dzama has a very unique and recognizable style, which includes strong colours, repeating shapes, and subtle symmetry in forms.
3. What is the context of the work?
o When was the work made? Where was the work made? Does the work relate to the social or political history of the time?
This piece was made in 2014, but there’s no artist statement of what it’s about. Considering it is called The flowers have horns and devil has thorns, it may be referencing any religious context (such as the devil and morality), news of the year (such as the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong or the Ebola outbreak).
4. Describe the content/subject of the work. (What the artist says about the work)
o What is it about? What is happening? What message does the work communicate? Is it a part of an ongoing theme for the artist?
There’s no artist statement, so it’s hard to say what Dzama was thinking while he painted this piece, or even what exactly it’s about. In the painting, a group of women (possibly dancers) are posed around three figures in the center, the tallest of which can be assumed to represent the Devil. Perhaps it is a commentary on how we percieve the Devil and the moral questions that come into play when discussing religion.
5. What is the mood of the work? (What you say/feel about the work)
o What is the mood of the work? Has the artist created a certain atmosphere or feeling in the way the materials are used or elements are organized? How does the work make you feel?
I quite like this piece, however, after looking at a bunch of his other work, I must say that a lot of it makes me a little squirmy. There’s something off-putting about the way he uses shapes and stark contrasts especially in his photography and film that is really kind of scary to me. I suppose it’s supposed to create uneasiness in the viewer for a reason. Even in the piece I chose to focus on, you can see that the dancers are almost symmetrically placed on either side of the devil, but there are more dancer on one side. If this was purposeful or not, it creates an added unease in the painting. Humans crave order, and even a slight adjustment to that near symmetry is enough to make the work more eye-catching and thought-provoking.
6. How might their work inspire/influence your own studio practice?
I really like his use of gouache and watercolour and ink together. I’ve never tried it before, as I usually separate my pieces by material and don’t often mix mediums like that. I also really like the uniformity of the colours and then the contrast of the forms across the page. It’s a very interesting idea and concept, and I might like to explore that in my own work.
Antonis Donef
Antonis Donef’s work is mainly ink on paper mounted on canvas. The paper is reused pages from books, which creates a very interesting backdrop to begin with. Then, he goes in with inks of various colours (some pieces are exclusively black ink) and draws a dizzying amount of small drawings within the confines of the canvas which together, create a very engaging piece.
1. How is the work made?
o What is the medium? What other materials or tools are used to make the work? How large is the work?
Donef uses pages of old books mounted on canvas as his background for his ink drawings. This drawing is 220 x 500 cm.
2. What are the formal elements of the artwork?
o What are the formal elements used in the making of the artwork? (line, shape, texture, form)
o How are they organized in the composition? Describe the dominant principle used in the composition?
This work includes varying examples of form and line over top of print, which together creates a very engaging texture for the eye to observe. This work in particular is arranged so that most of the shapes and forms are somewhat centered on the canvas.
3. What is the context of the work?
o When was the work made? Where was the work made? Does the work relate to the social or political history of the time?
Much of Donef’s work focuses on his exploration of knowledge and theories on learning, as well as exploring how art connects to knowledge. There’s no artist statement to go along with this specific piece, nor is it titled (not much of his work is titled), but it’d be safe to assume that most of his work follows these ideas.
4. Describe the content/subject of the work. (What the artist says about the work)
o What is it about? What is happening? What message does the work communicate? Is it a part of an ongoing theme for the artist?
Refer to previous answer. There’s really nit much I can say about it without going into opinion or assumption.
5. What is the mood of the work? (What you say/feel about the work)
o What is the mood of the work? Has the artist created a certain atmosphere or feeling in the way the materials are used or elements are organized? How does the work make you feel?
I really like some of Donef’s other work. This one is very nice too, but I prefer lots of colour personally. I like the process of drawing on top of a busier background than plain paper or canvas. It brings an extra interest to the work, and this is definetly something I’d consider exploring in my own work in the future.
6. How might their work inspire/influence your own studio practice?
I accidentally answered this in the previous question, sorry.
Negative SpaceNot-So-Still-Life (it’s a dinosaur, get it? With the tiny hair elastic arms and the clip spines? It’s cute.)
Artist Research:
Ethan Murrow
Born in 1975 in Greenfield Massachusetts and raised in Vermont. Went to Carleton College and the University of North Carolina.
His work in mainly centered around historical narratives and how they are portrayed and twisted through time. He does large-scale wall drawings, murals, and installations.
Ledgers of Hine
2018
How is the work made?
o What is the medium? What other materials or tools are used to make the work? How large is the work?
Graphite on paper, 48×48”
2. What are the formal elements of the artwork?
o What are the formal elements used in the making of the artwork? (line, shape, texture, form)
The artist uses line, texture, form and shape in his work to describe the subjects of the drawing.
o How are they organized in the composition? Describe the dominant principle used in the composition? The work shows balance as a dominant principle. The shapes of the lights on the left and right of the drawing, as well as the beam on the right balance out the human subjects of the work with varying and compensating heights.
3. What is the context of the work?
o When was the work made? Where was the work made? Does the work relate to the social or political history of the time?
This work was made in 2018 as a part of an exhibition in collaboration with many other artists. The works features in this exhibit included “Ledgers of Hine”, a second large drawing on paper, and a 52-foot long scroll drawing animated by a kinetic sculpture, which was created with the help of 6 other artists. The idea behind this exhibit, named “Hauling”, was to portray themes of work, handcraft, and collaboration.
4. Describe the content/subject of the work. (What the artist says about the work)
o What is it about? What is happening? What message does the work communicate? Is it a part of an ongoing theme for the artist?
It was inspired by the history of Manchester, New Hampshire, specifically labour and collaboration. The pieces featured many different peoples from different walks of life depicting scenes from Manchester’s industrial period.
5. What is the mood of the work? (What you say/feel about the work)
o What is the mood of the work? Has the artist created a certain atmosphere or feeling in the way the materials are used or elements are organized? How does the work make you feel?
I found at first the drawing had a nostalgic air to it, with the bright window and the child standing near the old lady, it seemed to show the passage of time. I didn’t quite understand the significance of their location until reading further about the work. Ethan Murrow’s work has a very interesting angle and I love history, so it’s super cool to see such a specific place and time portrayed through art. The way the room seemed almost bare made me think that maybe not only was this image about nostalgia, but also new beginnings. Perhaps the boys and his grandmother are migrant workers who’ve just moved to Manchester into a new space. The lights bring an interesting modernism to the piece which I found almost broke the whimsy of the scene, but I like how they help to separate the foreground and the “frame” from the scene itself.
6. How might their work inspire/influence your own studio practice?
Bringing historical significance into my work
Inspiring to work on a much bigger scale
The mid-tone range vs high contrast and finding a balance.
Scott Hunt
Bio:
Hunt’s discipline is drawing, and he wants to create art which is narrative and/or allegorical in nature. “The viewer encounters a vision of America that is at once sympathetic, humorous, and apocalyptic.”
He has illustrated for a number of magazines and papers, and has had his art shown in galleries such as Goff + Rosenthal Galleries, Coullaud & Koulinsky in Paris, and New Art Projects in London. Hunt was awarded the 2017 FID Prize for Drawing, along with a few other notable awards during his career.
1. How is the work made?
o What is the medium? What other materials or tools are used to make the work? How large is the work?
Charcoal on paper, 30×23.5”.
2. What are the formal elements of the artwork?
o What are the formal elements used in the making of the artwork? (line, shape, texture, form)
Form, texture
o How are they organized in the composition? Describe the dominant principle used in the composition? Emphasis is the main principle used in this drawing, as a light is illuminating the subject only. The texture and form help to describe not only her outfit and hair, but also her environment, giving meaning to the title.
3. What is the context of the work?
o When was the work made? Where was the work made? Does the work relate to the social or political history of the time?
This work was made in 2010. The pieces in this collection all reference several interlocking themes, specifically surrounding the socio-political strain of racism and the far-right, as well as an interest in the describing the nightlife and associated themes of darkness.
4. Describe the content/subject of the work. (What the artist says about the work)
o What is it about? What is happening? What message does the work communicate? Is it a part of an ongoing theme for the artist?
The artist wanted to make his collection portray the mysterious and obscureness of nighttime and nightlife, focusing on themes such as urban sprawl, racism and political right, fear of the dark, the disillusion of the middle class and the aftermath of personal loss. The work I chose to look at specifically, being called After Hours, I think is about urban sprawl and the disillusionment of the middle class. It shows a woman in a work uniform of some kind sitting in what looks to be perhaps a backroom, with a glass of maybe alcohol on the table next to her.
5. What is the mood of the work? (What you say/feel about the work)
o What is the mood of the work? Has the artist created a certain atmosphere or feeling in the way the materials are used or elements are organized? How does the work make you feel?
This collection intrigues me quite a bit
6. How might their work inspire/influence your own studio practice
Experimenting with different levels of contrast (specifically strong lighting)
Exploring more about the human form in different poses and with different clothing to elicit a different audience response.
Drawing inspiration from external life, not just in my head all the time, ie. Nightlife (not that I really have one), city life vs town life, etc.
The goal of this new editor is to make adding rich content to WordPress simple and enjoyable. This whole post is composed of pieces of content—somewhat similar to LEGO bricks—that you can move around and interact with. Move your cursor around and you’ll notice the different blocks light up with outlines and arrows. Press the arrows to reposition blocks quickly, without fearing about losing things in the process of copying and pasting.
What you are reading now is a text block the most basic block of all. The text block has its own controls to be moved freely around the post…
… like this one, which is right aligned.
Headings are separate blocks as well, which helps with the outline and organization of your content.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Handling images and media with the utmost care is a primary focus of the new editor. Hopefully, you’ll find aspects of adding captions or going full-width with your pictures much easier and robust than before.
If your theme supports it, you’ll see the “wide” button on the image toolbar. Give it a try.
Try selecting and removing or editing the caption, now you don’t have to be careful about selecting the image or other text by mistake and ruining the presentation.
The Inserter Tool
Imagine everything that WordPress can do is available to you quickly and in the same place on the interface. No need to figure out HTML tags, classes, or remember complicated shortcode syntax. That’s the spirit behind the inserter—the (+) button you’ll see around the editor—which allows you to browse all available content blocks and add them into your post. Plugins and themes are able to register their own, opening up all sort of possibilities for rich editing and publishing.
Go give it a try, you may discover things WordPress can already add into your posts that you didn’t know about. Here’s a short list of what you can currently find there:
Text & Headings
Images & Videos
Galleries
Embeds, like YouTube, Tweets, or other WordPress posts.
Layout blocks, like Buttons, Hero Images, Separators, etc.
And Lists like this one of course 🙂
Visual Editing
A huge benefit of blocks is that you can edit them in place and manipulate your content directly. Instead of having fields for editing things like the source of a quote, or the text of a button, you can directly change the content. Try editing the following quote:
The editor will endeavour to create a new page and post building experience that makes writing rich posts effortless, and has “blocks” to make it easy what today might take shortcodes, custom HTML, or “mystery meat” embed discovery.
Matt Mullenweg, 2017
The information corresponding to the source of the quote is a separate text field, similar to captions under images, so the structure of the quote is protected even if you select, modify, or remove the source. It’s always easy to add it back.
Blocks can be anything you need. For instance, you may want to add a subdued quote as part of the composition of your text, or you may prefer to display a giant stylized one. All of these options are available in the inserter.
You can change the amount of columns in your galleries by dragging a slider in the block inspector in the sidebar.
Media Rich
If you combine the new wide and full-wide alignments with galleries, you can create a very media rich layout, very quickly:
Sure, the full-wide image can be pretty big. But sometimes the image is worth it.
The above is a gallery with just two images. It’s an easier way to create visually appealing layouts, without having to deal with floats. You can also easily convert the gallery back to individual images again, by using the block switcher.
Any block can opt into these alignments. The embed block has them also, and is responsive out of the box:
https://vimeo.com/22439234
You can build any block you like, static or dynamic, decorative or plain. Here’s a pullquote block:
Code is Poetry
The WordPress community
If you want to learn more about how to build additional blocks, or if you are interested in helping with the project, head over to the GitHub repository.
