Colourful abstract expressionist-Paul Jenkins

Abstract art in recent years is one of the most popular forms of art. The popularity can be attributed to the self-expression of the artist in their work which is not only understood by them but also by the viewer, who connects to it very well.

One of the American abstract expressionist painters was Paul Jenkins who recently passed away was a great artist. Words can’t describe it but his works says it all. He mainly played around with the primary colours red, yellow and blue and from that created various abstract painting which represents the spirit, vitality, and invention of post-World War II American abstraction.

Paul Jenkins

The style of his works was very unorthodox. He poured the colours on a stretched canvas and let the paint bleed and create a form, but he was very traditional in the means he used.

He generally used acrylic on canvas or watercolour on paper. He in his owned words was an ‘abstract  phenoomenist ’ and around 1960’s he started to name his works as phenomena followed by a name.

He continued to paint till he died recently. His works are exhibited internationally in museums which are very well received and appreciated by the viewers. Some of the paintings of his after 1960’s which he started naming with the word phenomena at the start.

Phenomena Cave of the Prism Wind (1986)

Phenomena Elliptical Reckoning (2007)

Phenomena Ever Near Tibet (2009)

His works are indeed phenomenal.

reference:  http://www.pauljenkins.net/bio/link.html

                   http://www.abstract-art.com/abstraction/l3_more_artists/ma87_jenkins.html

                   http://rogallery.com/Jenkins_Paul/jenkins-biography.htm

Nature captured at its best

Award winning photograph of George Tapan - 2011

George Tapan’s this photograph won the national geographic photo contest 2011 under the category places.

This photo was taken Onuk Island, Balabac Palawan, Philippines. This photo has captured a perfect moment. This photo at once captured the silent sea, the dark clouds at move and the rainbow.

He in his photo has so beautifully composed two small humans in the vastness of the sea and the sky. The composition of the photo is perfect in sense of the clear horizon line dividing the sky and the sea and a beautiful rainbow in the sky with dark clouds all around.

The photographer was able to capture a perfect moment which is otherwise difficult to capture with 2 small people, the rainbow, the sea and the sky. The photo is so perfectly composed to show how strong winds and the cloudy sky is creating mild and calm sea waves. It gives a sense of serenity and quietness..

The colour of the sea in the photo is very soothing as opposed to the arousing colours of the sky with the dark clouds. The photo gives us both the sense of silence and movement at the same time. The photo is in the shades of blue and green which is very beautifully contrasted with the pink colour of the girl’s clothing. Though the girl is very small in proportion to the full photo, the photographer was able to clearly make her presence there feel of importance.  

The detail so clearly captured is the best part of its composition, how each and every detail has been captured and each detail of the photograph gives meaning and story to the photograph.

Tron v/s The Matrix

V/S

The technology as we know is changing by hour and everyone has to keep up with the technology. Movies are also no different even they have to be technologically advanced. This actually affects the quality of the movies. Simulations are now more seen in films. You can see a vast difference in the simulations in an old movie and a recent one. Tron could be a perfect example how the first Tron differs so much then the Tron Legacy. Tron and The Matrix are both simulation based movies but both have a different take to the simulation bit.

Tron and Matrix both are movies based on simulations run by computer programs. In both the movies the protagonist travels from the real world to the virtual world simulated by the computer.

In The Matrix the simulation used is brain computer interface. In this the protagonist goes into the simulation world by directly connecting the brain to the computer and the simulation runs as a computer program.

In Tron the simulation is also based on somewhat same lines. In fact it combines two types of simulation emigration and virtual people simulation. In this movie the protagonist migrates in a sense to the simulation world and in that simulation world there are other people who only exists virtually in the simulation, which do not have any existence in the real world.

In both the movie at first the protagonist doesn’t know where he is and after sometime realizes that he is in the virtual world. They clearly know that they are in the virtual world and can clearly distinguish between real and virtual.

In The Matrix only the mind travels and whatever happens in the simulation has an effect on the body outside the simulation. Whereas in Tron not only the mind but also the body travels to the virtual world and then has to find a way out of the simulation.

Comparing both the movies, the movie which compels me more in terms of its cyberspace usage is The Matrix, how the people goes into the cyberspace by connecting their brains to the computer and are full aware that they are inside cyberspace and it is not real. How the main protagonist comes to know that first he was in a simulation then came to real world and then went again to the virtual world now being fully aware.

Making cartoons come to life

Walt Disney is the man who inspires me so much by the way he lived and his works. He is such an amazing role model for those who are in interested in art and are ready to hard work for their success. Walt Disney had pretty normal childhood like as we all have then what changed that made him so successful and famously known to all.

He from childhood had a nag for cartoon drawing and he kept doing it till he made it his career. He was a college dropout but had worked at various places so as to get what he actually wanted to do. He started as a cartoonist and then he expanded his horizons and moved to animations. He was not only good at his art but was also able to market and show it to the world. He besides of being an animator, cartoonist is also a great entrepreneur who was able to market his work and created the famous The Walt Disney Company.

One of his earliest works that became world famous is his Mickey Mouse and is still popularly known by all. He inspires me in a lot of ways. Not only his work but also his life inspires me a lot, that how a boy from a common family rise up to becoming the owner of The Walt Disney Corporation. His life can be an inspiration how he worked so hard to come up to this level. His works are exceptionally great he started by just making cartoon characters and then started creating stories based on them and finally came to fame with his first animation Snow White and the seven Dwarfs.  With this he found his way to being a successful animator now his company has expanded into so much but during his life time he was able to do so much and make the company which has been so successful till now. This company has made cartoons come to life in its movies and has been great at doing that.

Walter Disney

Dilbert comic analysis

Dilbert is a comic strip written by Scott Adams. The character Dilbert was created by him based on his various coworkers over the years. The comic strips generally talks about Dilbert in his office and his personal life. He basically stresses on normal life situations. One of the themes I am concentrating is that he supports all the technologies there is and how it is affecting us.

This comic strip talks about how Dilbert has nothing to do because his cable, television and internet were not working so instead had to stare at the wall so as to go to sleep. This actually shows how depended we are on technology that without that we nothing to do or don’t want to do anything other than that. This strip highlights how the technology has become a very crucial and important part of our lives that we can’t live without it.

The above comic strip is also something on the same lines as the previous comic strip. In this Dilbert is in love with his cellphone. He likes it so much that when the therapist asks him about that he says it is a better than another person. Here he implies a joke based on that when the therapist tells him that the phone is like a woman to him he says it’s better as he cellphone doesn’t judge. He goes to the therapist that shows that he knows that he has a problem because he loves his phone but he doesn’t mind and in fact likes that. This tells that we know we are so attached to technology that we are actually drifting away from people around us but we don’t really mind it.

The above comic strip talks about how technology is fast growing and the prior technology become old and obsolete very fast. Dilbert tells to his customer that he is outdated to use a fax machine to send information. As the technology is changes we also have to be updated so as to be in power with others.

The above comic tells how each new technology or invention is first seen as a stupid idea and then so world famously accepted. He actually compares a weird cellphone in a shape of an old man with how people would have thought light bulbs when invented would have been thought of as a weird invention.

In this comic strip Dilbert tells his boss that a robot from future has come through a time machine to destroy their company. Then he says that while one of the technologies is mastered the other can still use some work on as it doesn’t function properly and complete the task for which it was made and send

Expressing through Art

A learning experience which made me feel like a kid again; conducted on 29th April 2012, was a workshop held by the Interior Design Department of the Manipal University, with the artist Ms. Sujhata Dharap, who is exhibiting her own work here in Dubai, made me feel like a kid again. Starting with just the basic art forms, we had to sketch random shapes and then express through lines, taking it further and escalating to oil pastel coloring for a landscape drawing and then engaging into different kinds of drawings and exercises; we finally came on painting on Imperial size paper, on which random shapes drawn had to be painted with only 3 colors; which were the RYB colors (primary colors). I got to learn how each and every random shape and drawing had a meaning in itself. And finally combining everyone’s paintings together, we combined all our works and that created a different design in itself. This learning experience made me connect not only with art but also how simple and easy things can be given a unique meaning if seen in different light and I look forward to more of such workshops which give you a chance to express yourself. 

My tweets of that day.

Our expression in primary colours