I can feel myself anticipating the finish line for my projects: both the 50 face sculptures and the self-publication of my book will be complete by the end of July. This timing with my book isn’t by accident, the idea is to start selling the book in August. I think this is a good month to self-publish because in August many people are on vacation and have time to sit down to read a book. I’ll do an official book launch party when school starts up in September and go from there.
Welcome to “Crit Wall“, where I offer online critiques of individual art pieces. To submit, send me a link to one image by commenting here, or by emailing the link to me at clara(at)claralieu.com. Please, NO ATTACHMENTS. Include the media, size, and title if you have one. Only submit original, finished works, no works in progress or sketches. Artwork created for a RISD degree program course is not eligible. You’ll receive notification if your piece is selected to be critiqued. Only one submission per person please, and know that I will not be able to critique every single work due to the volume of submissions. All images will be posted anonymously.
Mixed media
24″ x 18″
This is complex piece, it is taking on the massive issue of weight loss. For this reason, this piece is engaging conceptually, and is not just about creating a pleasing visual aesthetic. I appreciate the effort to use multiple symbols to express the idea behind the piece: the scale, the tape measure, the feet. However, the consequence is that the piece feels too crammed with symbols. The symbols tend to compete for the viewer’s attention and it’s tough to know which one to focus on. Pick one of these symbols and focus on that one symbol for the entire piece. The work will be more coherent and potent in this way. Right now the tape measure is likely the best candidate out of all of the symbols. The legs aren’t particularly interesting visually and the scale is too obvious. The tape measure is visually compelling, moves throughout the composition quite well, and talks about the topic in a more indirect manner.
Be cautious about using text in an image. The problem with having text in a visual image is that with text, people can’t help themselves; they will be attracted to reading the text before they look at anything else, and many times text can be very distracting in an image. The text in the background that is lighter and not so dark works well. It’s obvious that there is text buried in the background, but the words don’t call too much attention to themselves. The very dark words in the bottom right hand corner seem to overstate the obvious and are not necessary.
In terms of composition, the best part of the piece is the way that the tape measure weaves in front of and behind the legs. This creates a sense of movement and gets the viewer’s eye to jump around the composition in a dynamic manner. The placement of the legs and feet in the dead center of the page feels static and predictable, and the legs seem to abruptly appear out of nowhere. A smoother transition could be made from the top of the legs into the background. The feet could be drawn better as well; right now the toes on the leg on the left look mushy and lack anatomical structure. The red dripping works well in that it binds together the various elements of the work. However, much more contrast is needed in the red drips, the value of the red is mostly the same everywhere and therefore feels monotonous and predictable.
Welcome to “Ask the Art Professor“! Essentially an advice column for visual artists, this is your chance to ask me your questions about being an artist, the creative process, career advice, a technical question about a material, etc. Anything from the smallest technical question to the large and philosophical is welcome. I’ll do my best to provide a thorough, comprehensive answer to your question. Submit your question by emailing me at clara(at)claralieu.com, or by posting here on this blog. All questions will be posted anonymously. Read an archive of past articles here.
Here’s today’s question:
“Should I wait until I have a more “mature” approach to start selling and approaching galleries? How do I know I’m ready? I’m almost afraid, right out of school, and I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting, picking up new media, dropping old ideas, and basically making some massive disasters. What’s in my head and my dreams is always miles ahead than the ability of my hands, so I’m never happy. My parents are pressuring me to show and sell but right now I just want to experiment, make a mess, and be left to my own devices.”
Before you approach galleries, the most important thing is to have one cohesive, mature body of work. Most artists have at least 15-20 finished works for each body of work that they create, so quantity is certainly something to consider. The body of work should be thematically unified and be consistent in terms of the technical execution and use of materials. Galleries don’t want to work with artists who are unpredictable in terms of their work. They’re looking for a body of work that has a distinctive style that they can then promote and sell to their clients. The majority of galleries have a certain type of work that they show, so it’s also important that your body of work fits into that.
From what you’re describing about your current process, my advice would be to hold off on approaching galleries at this point in time, despite the pressure that your parents are exerting on you. Considering that you are right out of school, I think it’s actually quite appropriate that you are experimenting with your work the way that you are. I’m sure that it’s probably quite liberating after working within the constraints of an academic setting for several years. What you’re doing is an important part of your development and transition from being a student into the professional world.
So how do you know that you’re ready to approach galleries? Eventually, your work will start to form patterns and routines in your technical process and your conceptual thinking. You’ll notice after a while that the level of experimentation will start to die down. You’ll begin to focus much more on a single theme and material. My recommendation is to never force a body of work on yourself prematurely, the work will end up looking contrived.
Do you show your work in galleries? How did you know that you were ready?
Related articles:
“How do I leave my gallery?”
“How do you sell your art?”
“How do I approach a gallery?”
“How do museums select artists to exhibit? What is museum quality work?”
Welcome to “Crit Wall“, where I offer online critiques of individual art pieces. To submit, send me a link to one image by commenting here, or by emailing the link to me at clara(at)claralieu.com. Please, NO ATTACHMENTS. Include the media, size, and title if you have one. Only submit original, finished works, no works in progress or sketches. Artwork created for a RISD degree program course is not eligible. You’ll receive notification if your piece is selected to be critiqued. Only one submission per person please, and know that I will not be able to critique every single work due to the volume of submissions. All images will be posted anonymously.
“Sink”
oil paint
30″ x 24″
The most striking aspect of this piece is the loose, painterly approach to the oil paint. The brushstrokes are quite gestural throughout the painting, and there is a sense of movement in the individual brushstrokes that is lively and strong. The multiple directions that the brushstrokes move in are also quite effective, and get the viewer to continuously move their eye through the piece.
Probably the most successful part of the painting is the yellow area towards the bottom of the painting. In this section, the light and dark contrast is quite successful and there is a good balance of highly saturated colors and muddy ones. The upper portion of the painting tends to get too muted in terms of the color choices, and therefore the colors don’t tend to jump out of the page as successfully. In terms of light and dark contrast, the upper section of the painting feels too grey, and needs more highlights and darks to increase the sense of contrast.
Compositionally, the set up of the piece feels static and flat. This is due to the strong presence of horizontal lines and vertical lines in the piece. In general, horizontal and vertical lines tend to look too “stable” in a composition and therefore make the composition look stiff. This painting needs some bold diagonals to break up the piece into a much more dynamic composition. This could be achieved by taking on a different point of view of the sink. Look at the sink at an angle so that diagonals are apparent. Right now the point of view is straight on the front of the sink, which appears to be rather dull and obvious.
One aspect of the piece that calls too much attention to itself is the heart shape in the upper left hand corner. I find the placement of this symbol confusing, it’s not clear whether this is a piece of paper tacked on the wall, whether it’s painted directly on the wall, etc. The piece would read more coherently if the heart shape was removed. Just because something is there, it doesn’t mean that it has to kept in the painting, take the initiative to edit and remove if something in your set up is distracting.
Welcome to “Crit Wall“, where I offer online critiques of individual art pieces. To submit, send me a link to one image by commenting here, or by emailing the link to me at clara(at)claralieu.com. Please, NO ATTACHMENTS. Include the media, size, and title if you have one. Only submit finished works, no works in progress or sketches. Artwork created for a RISD degree program course is not eligible. You’ll receive notification if your piece is selected to be critiqued. Only one submission per person please, and know that I will not be able to critique every single work due to the volume of submissions. All images will be posted anonymously.
“Jack”
Digital media
11″ x 17″
This piece has a good sense of mood to it, there are clear visual indications of the time of day through the choice of lighting in the piece. There is a feeling of atmosphere and foreboding that is present in the piece due to the dramatic nature of the lighting. The street light in the background is particularly compelling and draws the viewer deep into the scene.
The painterly quality of the bricks in the buildings is well done, although I’m left hungry for more. There is a lot of layering of the strokes which gives the bricks a sense of depth and texture. If there could be even more of this effect spread throughout the work, in general the piece would feel more resolved and complete.
I would recommend working on where details are emphasized. In general, details should be reserved to areas of the image that are closest to the viewer’s point of view, with the details becoming less clear and less distinct the further away they move into the distance. In the building on the left, this effect has actually been reversed: the details are emphasized on the further side of the building, and the part of the building that is closest to the viewer has hardly any detail on it.
Watch out for perspective; with perspective, it’s either right or wrong. For perspective to be fully effective, the viewer has to be 100% convinced of the structure of the architecture is completely solid and correct. This is a classic one point perspective situation, so there should be one vanishing point that all of the diagonal lines perfectly converge to. In the building on the left, the windows and the diagonals are just a little bit off, and thus compromise the structural integrity of the building.
The figure is an important feature of this work, as the figure is an excellent scale reference for the buildings. We get a good sense of size, and the buildings seem to loom over the figure in a dark and menacing manner. Additionally, the figure provides a narrative quality to the image. However, I find the specificity of the figure to be distracting. The figure is far away in the distance so I would not expect to see such sharp detail in the silhouette of the figure.
Welcome to “Crit Wall“, where I offer online critiques of individual art pieces. To submit, send me a link to one image by commenting here, or by emailing the link to me at clara(at)claralieu.com. Please, NO ATTACHMENTS. Include the media, size, and title if you have one. Only submit finished works, no works in progress or sketches. Artwork created for a RISD degree program course is not eligible. You’ll receive notification if your piece is selected to be critiqued. Only one submission per person please, and know that I will not be able to critique every single work due to the volume of submissions. All images will be posted anonymously.
Pastel and white charcoal pencil on black paper
40″ x 36″
What immediately captures my attention about this work is the overall fluid quality in the gesture of the figure. The two strongest compositional forces in this drawing are the hair and the folds in the clothing. Both move across the page beautifully and have a looseness to them that is confident and strong. The transition from the direction of the hair into the movement of the clothing is nicely achieved as well.
Probably the most impressive area of the drawing is the lower right hand corner where the pattern of the clothing is overlaid on top of the volume of the clothing folds. It’s difficult to show pattern and volume at the same time, and here its highly convincing the way both have been rendered. The attention to detail in this area far surpasses any of the other areas in the drawing.
Watch out for the proportional relationship between the hand and the head, specifically, the hand feels too small compared to the head. The feet seem fine proportionally, especially since it’s implied that the feet likely belong to another figure. The profile of the head could be much more refined, right now it feels too generalized and ends up looking stiff and geometric. A more organic quality to the form would help the profile of the head appear more lifelike.
In general the transitions in the drawing could be improved. The area where the neck ends and the feet begin feels awkward and choppy, as if the feet were simply collaged on top. The feet are off to a good start, but they could use more anatomical structure, suggesting the presence of bones which are quite prominent in feet. The hand is a good beginning, the knuckles could be emphasized more to show the structure of the hand more effectively.
In terms of the use of the white charcoal pencil on the black paper, the white marks could be beefed up quite a bit. The presence of the black paper still feels too dominant, and the white marks.seem too pale and thin in many areas. Pump up the richness of the whites so that they feel more brilliant and present. The one exception to this is the area with the clothing folds, where the white marks are significantly more substantial and seem to be more volumetric.
Welcome to “Ask the Art Professor“! Essentially an advice column for visual artists, this is your chance to ask me your questions about being an artist, the creative process, career advice, a technical question about a material, etc. Anything from the smallest technical question to the large and philosophical is welcome. I’ll do my best to provide a thorough, comprehensive answer to your question. Submit your question by emailing me at clara(at)claralieu.com, or by posting here on this blog. All questions will be posted anonymously. Read an archive of past articles here.
Here’s today’s question:
“I find myself having a lot difficulty getting myself to practice drawing. I keep procrastinating. I know this is rather dumb, because it is as simple as just sitting down and doing it. What is your advice to force yourself to practice?”
Many people don’t realize the tremendous amount of self-discipline that is required to be an artist. Constant, rigorous practice is an absolute necessity. Everyone I know who works professionally as an artist does so with rock solid focus and concentration. Most artists work alone, so we have to have strategies to self-motivate on a regular basis.
One of my former students recently got back in touch with me. She had been really struggling lately in terms of how to motivate herself to work. She asked me whether it was important to be “in the mood” when working. My answer for her was appallingly unromantic. I’m rarely in the mood to work. Instead, I splash cold water on my face in the morning, and get to work, no matter how I’m feeling. The artist Chuck Close once said “Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and get to work.” My work schedule is such that I don’t have the luxury to wait to be “in the mood”. Right now, I work in the sculpture studio most weekdays from 9am-11am. If I don’t sit down and work steadily for those two hours, my window of opportunity to work in the sculpture studio that day is gone.
You have to create a schedule for yourself to rigidly follow. Set aside a chunk of time for drawing that you can anticipate and look forward to every day. Don’t work haphazardly at random times, it will be difficult to maintain a continuous train of thought, and you’ll be much less likely to accomplish anything concrete. I’ve heard before that it can take about one month to firmly establish a routine, so give yourself a few weeks to settle into a predictable work pattern. Eventually, the routine should become an automatic response to your daily schedule.
Extremely long work sessions are not necessary and can actually work against you. I would rather draw every day for 2 hours than draw for 10 hours once a week. Many of my students have noted to me that their work is better when they break up their work over the course of several days rather than trying to do one 12 hour marathon work session the night before the project is due. The advantage of multiple work sessions is you have the opportunity to come back to your work and look at it with fresh eyes. You’ll see things you didn’t see the day before, and be able to make the necessary revisions.
How do you get yourself motivated to work? What kind of strategies work for you?
Related articles:
“What is a gesture drawing?”
“Is drawing considered an innate talent or a craft, which can be learned by anyone?”
“How can I learn to shade objects in my drawings?”
“How can I draw what I see in my head?”
“What is the best way to practice my drawing skills?”
“How can you learn to draw hair?”
“Ask the Art Professor” is an advice column for visual artists. This is your chance to ask a professional artist/educator your questions about being an artist, the creative process, career advice, etc. Anything from technical questions to large and philosophical questions are welcome. I’ll write a thorough, comprehensive article for each question.
Submit your question by emailing me at clara(at)claralieu.com, or by commenting here on this blog. All questions will be posted anonymously, and you’ll receive notification when your question is online.
On art school and degrees:
“What is the purpose of a degree in fine art?”
“What should you include in an art portfolio for art school or college?”
“When you have a fine arts degree, what do you do for the rest of your life?”
“How do you preserve your artistic integrity within the strict time limitations in an academic setting?”
“Is art education really so popular in western countries?”
“What do you do after you’ve finished formalized training?”
On graduate school:
“Is graduate school worth it?”
“How are European MFA degrees viewed in the United States?”
On technique and skills:
“How can I tell if I’m skilled enough?”
“How do you find your own individual style?”
“How do artists manage to get their soul out into images?”
“How do you develop an idea from a sketch to a finished work?”
“How do you make an art piece more rich with details that will catch the eye?”
“How do you learn the basics?”
“Is photography art?”
On abstraction:
“How can I approach creating abstract art?”
“Does an abstract artist need to be proficient in traditional techniques?”
On painting & color:
“How do you achieve a luminous effect in a painting through color and value?”
“Does painting what you see limit your artistic possibilities?”
“What is the practical meaning of color theory?”
“How do you compose a striking painting with color?”
On drawing:
“What is a gesture drawing?”
“Is drawing considered an innate talent or a craft, which can be learned by anyone?”
“How can I learn to shade objects in my drawings?”
“How can I draw what I see in my head?”
“What is the best way to practice my drawing skills?”
“How can you learn to draw hair?”
On careers:
“How do I change careers to pursue my passion for art?”
“Can I make a respectable income on freelance illustration?”
“How do you get people to notice your artwork online?”
“What are the career opportunities in fine art?”
“Do professional artists doubt their abilities?”
“How long did it take you to jumpstart your career after graduation? What was your first job?”
“How do you know when your artwork is good enough to show to the world?”
“How do I become a children’s book illustrator?”
“What would you be looking for if you were judging for an art scholarship?”
On galleries & museums:
“How do I leave my gallery?”
“How do you sell your art?”
“How do I approach a gallery?”
“How do museums select artists to exhibit? What is museum quality work?”
On learning:
“How do you keep pushing yourself to get to that next level?”
“Would you improve more if you took art classes than just studying on your own?”
“How do you learn the basics?”
“How do you break out of your comfort zone?”
“How do you get out of thinking you can’t get any better?”
“How do you develop patience for learning curves?”
On teaching:
“How do I become an undergraduate art professor?“
“What should I be working on now if I would like to be an art professor?”
“What makes a student artist stand out from their peers?”
On life:
“How much of your emotional life do you allow to infiltrate your work?”
“How do you face artistic burnout?”
“How can an artist balance their life?”
“How can an artist overcome their financial issues?”
“How can an artist create an artistic group outside of school?”
“Am I actually an artist?”
Other:
“What is the most important thing you can do as an artist?“
“Does being an artist require much more thinking than in other academic fields?”
“What is the difference between fine arts and visual arts?”
“Will negative stereotypes about artists ever go away?”
Welcome to “Ask the Art Professor“! Essentially an advice column for visual artists, this is your chance to ask me your questions about being an artist, the creative process, career advice, a technical question about a material, etc. Anything from the smallest technical question to the large and philosophical is welcome. I’ll do my best to provide a thorough, comprehensive answer to your question. Submit your question by emailing me at clara(at)claralieu.com, or by posting here on this blog. All questions will be posted anonymously. Read an archive of past articles here.
Here’s today’s question:
“What makes a student artist stand out from their peers? What’s something that can set them apart from everyone else?”
I’m lucky that I’ve worked with a number of extraordinary students over the past few years. Most of the students I teach are already quite strong to begin with, so in my opinion it really takes a lot for a student to stand out from everyone else in my class. I look for a number of qualities when evaluating my students, and the ones who distinguish themselves take matters into their own hands, soar to new heights, surpass expectations, and surprise me with their accomplishments. Below is a list of qualities that I look for in my students:
1)Enthusiasm: I’ve had students in the past who were literally an engine for their classes, they motivated other students with their sheer presence in the classroom. Students who exude positive energy at all times are important to the success of a class. When I see a student’s passion and excitement in their work, this truly distinguishes the student.
2)Consistency: Out of all of these qualities, consistency is in some ways the most difficult one to achieve. I’ve had many students in the past who were outstanding, but only on a sporadically. It’s hard enough to be exemplary, and even harder to demonstrate this caliber of work week to week.
3)Fearlessness & Tenacity: When situations get rough, many students will opt for the safer, easier option. I’m looking for the student who will confront immense challenges head on, with determination and persistence. Any student who can conquer their fears and deal directly with tough circumstances is going to be notable.
4)Dedication: Students who are out to simply fulfill the minimum course requirements are never impressive. Instead, I look for students who view their work in the course as being one major part of the larger picture of their career. They don’t treat homework like homework, rather every assignment is treated as an opportunity to be ambitious and push boundaries.
5)Work Ethic: I have a deep respect for any student who is willing to invest intensive labor and time into their work. I’ve seen students assign themselves seemingly impossible tasks and actually pull them off in very short periods of time because of their incredible work ethic.
6)Professionalism: To me, once aspect of being a professional is being able to show up on time all the time, get the job done, and not whine about it. I’ve frequently amazed by students who seem to make tremendously difficult tasks seem effortless and easy. I’ve seen students take on monstrous challenges that I know for a fact required an incredible amount of work, and yet they don’t complain for a minute about how challenging it was.
7)Communication: The top students in the class are not only excellent listeners, but are strong at verbally articulating their thoughts on their process and goals to both the teacher and their peers. Communication is vital to the success of the class and instigates an open dialogue for everyone to participate in.
What do you think are qualities that makes a student stand out?
Related articles:
“How to be a good art student“
I’ve been quite productive over the past week, despite the mental setback I had with my manuscript rejection. Actually, I’m surprised that I recovered quite quickly from the rejection. Instead, I’m trying to focus intensively on getting the last faces in this series finished. This is one of the reasons why I’m so glad that I always have multiple projects going on at the same time. If something isn’t going well with one project, I can always easily divert my attention and energy to another.
Lately I’ve been feeling a sense of urgency with my book. Perhaps it’s impatience, perhaps it’s ambition, (most likely it’s a little bit of both) but I keep having this feeling that if I don’t self-publish now, it will never happen. I guess part of me worries that my enthusiasm for the book might die down at some point, so I want to strike while the iron is hot. The boxes that my silicone rubber comes in have the words “What are you waiting for? Make it now!” written on them. I see these boxes everyday, and every time I see them I feel that urgency.
