Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey was born on February 15, 1970 in South Carolina. Fairey graduated from the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts in Idyllwild, California in 1988, and graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 1992 in Illustration.

One of Fairey’s most known works is the Obey campaign. The OBEY sticker campaign goes along with an experiment in Phenomenology. The purpose of this is to spark curiosity and thought. He is also well known for the HOPE print with Obama.

 
Shepard Fairey’s work displays the messages of similar issues that I have worked with from Amnesty International. Some of his work deals with issues of oppression and some show images of leaders. One of the people in Fairey’s prints is Aung San Suu Kyi.  Along with the portrait of Suu Kyi, there are three phrases; Freedom to Lead, Democracy in Burma, Support Human Rights. This print gives the viewer a brief snapshot of Aung San Suu Kyi, and leads them to question more and act up. I want my work to create a similar reaction.

Shepard Fairey has dealt with issues of appropriation of imagery. This is something that may come up when working from other peoples photos. When working with Amnesty International cases, I do not have the opportunity to take my own photos of the people that I am drawing.

http://obeygiant.com/

Daniel van Benthuysen

Daniel van Benthuysen was born in St. Louis, Missouri and currently lives in Huntington, Long Island, New York. He studied at Saint Louis Priory School in St. Louis, Missouri, Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan Tulane University in New Orleans, Parsons School of Design in New York, Art Students League of New York, and Hofstra University in New York. He has focused in Studio Art, Art History, and Graphic Design.

Van Benthuysen works with many drawing materials, such as pencil; charcoal, conte, and pens, as well as watercolor, gouache, and oil paints. Van Benthuysen has showed work in New York, Connecticut, Georgia, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Missouri. His work has been accepted to several juried group shows and shows at the Art Students League of New York. In 2010, van Benthuysen had a solo show called "The Light Which Defines Them" at the Northport Wine Cellar.

He is currently working as an Assistant Professor of Informational Graphics at Hofstra University and as a freelance writer for Newsday with the Wall Street Journal.

“The image of someone wearing a paper crown is almost inevitably facetious and self-deprecating. The wearer usually has an expression that seems to say, "I'm a king or queen -- but we all know this is just silly pretending." I find it refreshing to do portraiture of people in attitudes that show they don't take themselves too seriously. There is enough genuinely pompous portraiture in the world already.”

This is a part of Daniel van Benthuysen’s Artist Statement.

I like how his paintings are somewhat gestural. I enjoy the imagery, but I do not believe that is has to be all about not taking themselves seriously. A lot can be said from the portraits. Each face has the ability to tell a story. Messages can be embedded in the appearance of a person. 

http://www.danvanb.com/home

RJ Clark

RJ Clark is currently working and living in Virginia Beach. Clark works in both painting and drawing. Clark earned degrees from North Carolina State University and Duke University. RJ Clark has shown work in Washington DC, North Carolina, Connecticut, New York, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Florida. In 2007, Clark won Best in Show at the National Juried Fine Art Exhibition in Richmond, Virginia. He also won an Experimental Art Award in the Southern Watercolor Society 30th Annual Exhibition in Moultrie, Georgia. In 2008, he won Potomic Valley Watercolorist Award in the Southern Watercolor Society 31st Annual Exhibition in Quincy, Florida.

Clark’s portraits represent a powerful image. Many of them look photorealistic. The quality of his portrait drawings is something that I admire. When I look at Clark’s portraits, I see a powerful gaze from the subject. Each of the people looks like they have a story to tell. The people within his work are placed in a setting that does not distract from the gaze of that person, but adds to the overall image.

http://www.rjclarkart.com/

Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei was born in 1957, in China. His father is a strong example for him. Ai Weiwei’s father was well known poet, Ai Qing, who was exiled in 1957, which lasted 20 years. Ai Weiwei spent most of his childhood growing up in political exile. After returning to the capital in 1978, Ai Weiwei attended the Beijing Film Academy. He spent 1981-1993 working in New York. He studied at Parsons School of Design, but did not finish his degree. 

Ai Weiwei on the Met rooftop

In 1993, he returned to Beijing. He became involved in the “experimental art scene”. Ai Weiwei started the FAKE Design, a studio for art, architecture and design, in 1999. His work has been shown in New York, Germany, London, and China. He has worked in photography, installation, and other media and projects, including the design of the National Olympic Stadium for Beijing games in 2008. In 2008, Ai Weiwei was also a major activist in the aftermath of the Sichuan Earthquake. The Sichuan Earthquake Names Project was “an effort to record the names of more than 5,000 schoolchildren killed in poorly constructed classrooms.” During his work for this effect, Ai Weiwei was attacked by police. 

As Ai Weiwei’s work grew increasing involved in politics and activism, he also grew to be more of a target of the Chinese government. Under government surveillance, his blog has been monitored and shut down; he has suffered from police brutality; he has been placed on house arrest, he has been denied access at the Beijing airport; and his studio was demolished in Shanghai in January 2011. Through all of this, Ai Weiwei still works in advocating for freedom of expression. 

 Alison Klayman has been working with Ai Weiwei since 2008. She began documenting his artistic process in preparation for exhibitions, interaction with family members, and his “increasingly public clashes with the Chinese government”.  AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY is a film documenting Klayman’s interaction with Ai Weiwei and his work. 

http://www.aiweiweifilm.org/en/

Tate exhibition, London. "Sunflower Seeds"

“I have to always, everyday ask myself ‘How long can I last if I’m in extreme conditions, such as jail…the answer I don’t really know.” –Ai Weiwei with Dan Rather Report*

“I don’t think I’m brave, or have any crazy ideas to change the society. But I really want to be myself, just to tell other people you also can do so. To be yourself, to state your mind clearly, and to tell people what is right and what is wrong…because it is impossible to stop freedom…How could you stop it? Unless they put me in jail, then maybe that could stop it.” –Ai Weiwei interview with Dan Rather Report*

“Nobody can stop the course of change.” –Ai Weiwei interview with Dan Rather Report*

* “‘Dan Rather Reports’ will air one of the last television interviews that Ai Weiwei conducted before his detention on Sunday morning at Beijing Capital Airport. The interview airs on HDNet April 5th at 9 pm ET” (From http://www.aiweiweifilm.org/en/news/)

“Even when you’ve spent a lot of time with him, you don’t feel like you completely understand him. You never know what his next step will be.” –Wen Tao, Journalist

After being told to leave his job at Global Times, Wen Tao participated in demonstrations for Ai Weiwei and reported on his case. Wen Tao has been missing since April 3, 2011.

On April 3, 2011, Ai Weiwei was detained by police in a Beijing airport. 

Amnesty International’s response: http://www.amnesty.org/

Chinese authorities have placed heavy focus on activists, lawyers and bloggers, since an online outreach for Chinese “Jasmine Revolution”. These protests are inspired by the people’s movement, starting in February 2011, in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Chinese government has also arrested and mistreated human rights lawyers. Lawyers have been faced with harassment and intimidation. “China is abandoning the rule of law…The government is trying to systematically break the will of the country’s lawyers…It is giving its security forces free rein to pervert the course of justice and deny activists and critics the right to a legal defense,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Director for the Asia-Pacific.

“If the authorities are so bold as to grab this world-renowned artist in broad daylight at Beijing airport, it’s frightening to think how they might treat other, lesser known dissidents,” said Donna Guest, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Asia-Pacific.

 

Pamela Murphy

Pamela Murphy studied at Rhode Island School of Design and got her MFA in India.
Murphy has had Solo Exhibitions in Boston, MA, Chicago, IL, Neenah, WI, Ephraim, WI, Birmingham, AL, and Charlotte, NC.  Murphy has showed work in group exhibitions in Wilmington, VT, Atlanta, GA, Ephraim, WI, Chicago, IL, Duxbury, MA, Milwaukee, WI, Galveston, TX, Sturgeon Bay, WI, Lahore, Pakistan, Grand Rapids, MI, Santiniketan, India, Calcutta, India, Providence RI, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, Charlotte, NC, and Wilmington, VT.

From her artist statement: “I collect old photographs and choose figures from them for my paintings. The people whose lives are recorded in those pictures are strangers, yet they are familiar to all of us. They remind us of ourselves, our families, and our issues on both personal and cultural levels.” (pamelamurphystudio.com)

I love how powerful a portrait is. I am very interested in the story behind the figure.

http://www.pamelamurphystudio.com/  

http://www.chaseyounggallery.com/Artist_Profiles/Murphy_extra/PMstatement.html

Kristina Laurendi Havens

Kristina Laurendi Havens studied painting at State University of New York College at Buffalo and got her Masters of Fine Arts in Painting at the Texas Christian University with a full scholarship. Her work has been shown in Missouri, Kentucky, Georgia, New York, Virginia, Texas, and North Dakota. She has also worked on public murals in New York.

I love the power of the eyes in the drawing the first girl. Her mark making is really strong throughout her pieces. They way she makes the face smooth and defined, surrounded by line work is really beautiful.

                     

http://krystyna81.blogspot.com/

Sarah Parks

Sarah Parks works out of her studio in Virginia. When creating a portrait, Sarah Parks starts by painting a quick sketch from observation. After the sketch, she photographs the subject in different poses and lighting, to “explore pose, expression, styling, and background.”

From Artist Statement: “When painting a portrait, I enjoy the challenge of capturing the personality and likeness of a subject because that portrait will be a family treasure to be handed down from generation to generation. But whether it is a portrait, figurative, still life, or landscape, my aspiration is to capture the perfect play of light, shadow, and color, enhancing the spirit and composition of my painting.” (sarahparksartist.com)

I found this quote in Sarah Parks’ blog, “Drawing isn't so much what your hand does, but what your eyes look at, focus on, concentrate on before you ever pick up a pencil. What makes an artist is the ability to SEE!  And when we look at anything in life we see three things, values (lights and darks or shading), proportion, and perspective.”  (http://sarahparksartist.com/blog/21030/drawing-techniques-1)

Learning to actually look at the image and draw what I truly see is definitely something that I can work on. One issue I have with drawing portraits from a photo is that I do not really look at what is in the image. I only see part of what is there. I have been working on sections of portraits and drawing portraits upside down, because it forces me to pay more attention to what the image realistically looks like.

http://sarahparksartist.com/

Heidi Maiers

Heidi Maier is a portrait sculptor. She is currently living and working in Arizona. She studied at the University of Oregon and the Scottsdale Artists School. Heidi Maiers has been working as a portrait sculptor for more than 25 years. Maiers is the Co-Founder of The Portrait Sculptors Society of the Americas. She has shown work in Idaho, Florida, and throughout Arizona.

From the images of “Gary” you can see some of the process in this piece. Reference photos of several angles of Gary’s head are shown in the background. It is interesting to see the process work of a sculptor. With reference to many different perspectives of the subject, Maiers creates a strong representation of Gary.

Gary: “First photo at almost 100 pounds, I didn't let the underlayer stiffen up enough and the face is starting to droop. Propped it up with some boards for a couple of days until the clay was stiff enough to continue.” (heidimaiers.com)

http://www.heidimaiers.com/HTML/WIP.htm

Linda Newman

Linda Newman is currently a working artist in Los Angeles, California. She attended Florida State University, studying theater and with an art minor. While in school, she found a passion for working in fashion illustration. She has worked in New York and Hollywood, as well. She works in photography, painting murals and scenic sets, and illustration, among other things. For years, she was been working to “capture the essence” of the person she is drawing.

I found Linda Newman’s work on portraitartist.com. I saw her contact info on her website, so I emailed her. Within a few hours, she responded back. I find her advice really helpful. On her blog she has photos of her work in steps, which is helpful to see the process behind her work.

Here’s what she said:

HI Meghan:

Thank you for writing and I would be happy to discuss my portraits with you. I hope that you had a chance to visit my web site www.lindanewmanart.com where there are several examples of my work and a link to my blog. On my blog - which is currently "stuck" ( I have to work with my web guy to make it functional again), there are early blogs where I document the process of my painting with step by step photographs. You might find this helpful. My portraits come from my loving to draw and capture the essence of whoever I am drawing or painting and that has always ben inside of me. Since I was a child, I loved capturing the person on paper. I stopped for a long time and got back to my love of portraits after I decided I could make portraits that were not corny, flat and horribly uninteresting! I do not shy from working from photographs, because when people sit, they really have the most difficult time sitting still, so I photograph them. I love shooting photographs, and I believe getting that perfect moment on a particular photo helps me create an interesting painting. I literally shoot over 100 photo's of my subject, playing with light source etc. and I find that in that large group of photo's there are usually a handful of images that show the depth of the sitter in their "truth" , so to speak. This usually excites very much, and then I start to make the painting using large to small prints of the image I like. I do not use a grid, because I love the challenge of getting it right by my eye. This often requires adjustments all the way through the painting and I find the bits that are off that I cannot see by eye, show up beautifully when I take a pic of my painting with my phone camera and view it small. It seems to really do the trick- even more than flipping the painting upside down ( another trick of the trade).  I think that grid painting will ultimately make an image stiff and give that flat look that often plagues portraits....you may not have that problem, however ;) I would suggest hat you just keep drawing friends and people anywhere and make fast sketches too. You can train your eye that way with out the grid process and it's probably a bit more fun. There are also dimensions that are kind of basic with adult features and just start to really look and really see the length of a person' nose in relation to the width of their eye....etc.

I hope this is helpful! I would love to see some of your ketches or paintings. Please e-mail me some images if you would like to share them and also feel free to ask more questions in the future.

I am glad my work spoke to you. 

All the best!

Linda

http://lindanewmanart.com/

http://lindanewmanart.blogspot.com/