Abstract Reality
Learning how to simplify and create an abstract form of reality is probably the hardest form of art. We tend to see the world as it is and rarely go beyond that.
In this workshop, I learnt how to simplify and create abstract artwork from real-life photographs.
To be very honest, at the beginning of the workshop, I thought we would be doing still-life drawing. However, I was wrong.
We started the class with a guest lecturer showing us how he translates reality to abstract forms and shapes. He started with roughly sketching the whole composition of the photograph taken from a newspaper, and then he redrew it about 5 times. Each time he redraws the image, he changes the angle of the previous image and copies it by drawing abstract shapes. Slowly as he reached the final drawing (see Figure 1), it looks completely different from the very first image that he drew.
Figure 1. Compositions re-drawn 5 times (left image) and the final abstract image (right image)
We then proceeded to do the exercise and followed the same method.
Figure 2. Progression of me trying to translate reality to abstract
I chose a photograph of a lighthouse that I took back when I was in Japan in 2017. The lighthouse is called Cape Notoro and it's located at Abashiri, Hokkaido.
I started by drawing the photograph as literally as possible and as I progressed I would turn the paper and redraw again until I ended up with the drawing on the bottom-right (see Figure 2). I realised as my drawings progressed the shapes and forms of the original image started to blur. However, one thing remained constant, and that was the essence of the lighthouse. Personally, I think the main essence of a lighthouse is how it looks like at night. The blurriness of it. Now that I look at the final abstract drawing of the photograph, I realise the drawing looks like how ships would see lighthouses at night. They are not able to see the structure of the lighthouse in full detail because it is dark, and I think the abstract drawing of the lighthouse really captures that.
Research
This reminds me of an artist who is known in the abstract art world, Jackson Pollock. I first knew about Jackson Pollock when I saw his works in real life at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts back in 2016. I never fully understood his work. It looked like just blobs of paint being splattered around on a blank canvas, and I thought I could do it too. However, after doing this exercise, it really is harder than you think it is.
No. 10 by Jackson Pollock (1949)
From an interview that Pollock did with Berton Roueché, a New Yorker writer back in 1950, he says, "When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It is only after a sort of "get acquainted" period that I see what I have been about. I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well." (Pollock, 1950)
Analysis
After doing the exercise and reading this interview, I have come to realise that that are no boundaries in abstract expressionism. What makes it hard for so many people to understand abstract art is because it is all in the mind of the artist. The concept and essence of his work being translated to the material are not as literal but more of a conceptual interpretation of his feeling and emotions. Like what Pollock said in his interview in 1950, he said that his painting has a life of its own and I fully agree with that.
Reflection
Linking it back to the abstract drawing that I did, I realised that I felt more of the essence and form of the lighthouse to the final drawing compared to the first drawing that I did. What I can take away from this is that sometimes we take things too literally when all of us humans are such fragile beings who feel different every single day. When we see an image as it is, we understand as it is, however, when we see something that is out of this world, something that is not of a conventional image, our mind starts to try connecting co-existing objects that we see every day and make an image of our own. I think that is what abstract expressionism does to us. It makes us think beyond the image but more into the inner workings of our mind and our perspective towards the world.
Bibliography
Jackson Pollock (1949) No. 10 [Installation]. Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Viewed: 2016).
Roueché, B. (1950) 'Unframed Spaces', The New Yorker, Aug 5, 1950, p.16
Available at: http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1950-08-05#folio=CV1 (Accessed: 5th November 2019).
We started the class with a guest lecturer showing us how he translates reality to abstract forms and shapes. He started with roughly sketching the whole composition of the photograph taken from a newspaper, and then he redrew it about 5 times. Each time he redraws the image, he changes the angle of the previous image and copies it by drawing abstract shapes. Slowly as he reached the final drawing (see Figure 1), it looks completely different from the very first image that he drew.
Figure 1. Compositions re-drawn 5 times (left image) and the final abstract image (right image)
We then proceeded to do the exercise and followed the same method.
Figure 2. Progression of me trying to translate reality to abstract
I chose a photograph of a lighthouse that I took back when I was in Japan in 2017. The lighthouse is called Cape Notoro and it's located at Abashiri, Hokkaido.
I started by drawing the photograph as literally as possible and as I progressed I would turn the paper and redraw again until I ended up with the drawing on the bottom-right (see Figure 2). I realised as my drawings progressed the shapes and forms of the original image started to blur. However, one thing remained constant, and that was the essence of the lighthouse. Personally, I think the main essence of a lighthouse is how it looks like at night. The blurriness of it. Now that I look at the final abstract drawing of the photograph, I realise the drawing looks like how ships would see lighthouses at night. They are not able to see the structure of the lighthouse in full detail because it is dark, and I think the abstract drawing of the lighthouse really captures that.
Research
This reminds me of an artist who is known in the abstract art world, Jackson Pollock. I first knew about Jackson Pollock when I saw his works in real life at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts back in 2016. I never fully understood his work. It looked like just blobs of paint being splattered around on a blank canvas, and I thought I could do it too. However, after doing this exercise, it really is harder than you think it is.
No. 10 by Jackson Pollock (1949)
From an interview that Pollock did with Berton Roueché, a New Yorker writer back in 1950, he says, "When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It is only after a sort of "get acquainted" period that I see what I have been about. I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well." (Pollock, 1950)
Analysis
After doing the exercise and reading this interview, I have come to realise that that are no boundaries in abstract expressionism. What makes it hard for so many people to understand abstract art is because it is all in the mind of the artist. The concept and essence of his work being translated to the material are not as literal but more of a conceptual interpretation of his feeling and emotions. Like what Pollock said in his interview in 1950, he said that his painting has a life of its own and I fully agree with that.
Reflection
Linking it back to the abstract drawing that I did, I realised that I felt more of the essence and form of the lighthouse to the final drawing compared to the first drawing that I did. What I can take away from this is that sometimes we take things too literally when all of us humans are such fragile beings who feel different every single day. When we see an image as it is, we understand as it is, however, when we see something that is out of this world, something that is not of a conventional image, our mind starts to try connecting co-existing objects that we see every day and make an image of our own. I think that is what abstract expressionism does to us. It makes us think beyond the image but more into the inner workings of our mind and our perspective towards the world.
Bibliography
Jackson Pollock (1949) No. 10 [Installation]. Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Viewed: 2016).
Roueché, B. (1950) 'Unframed Spaces', The New Yorker, Aug 5, 1950, p.16
Available at: http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1950-08-05#folio=CV1 (Accessed: 5th November 2019).
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