Here’s wishing you a Merry Christmas and the hopes that you can sit around a nice and delicious holiday meal with your family like the one in the painting above.
This painting is actually part of a series from American illustrator Norman Rockwell, called the Four Freedoms, with this one being the Freedom From Want. The title comes from the State of the Union address of FDR in 1941 in which the president explains the four essential human rights: the freedom of speech, the freedom from fear, the freedom of worship, and the freedom from want. The rights were emphasized as motivation to continue the support of the fight in WWII.
Rockwell, as a major contributor to the Saturday Evening Post covers, used the “freedoms” as a four week theme to coincide with essays and articles from major thinkers of the day with the underlying message: “In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.” Later the original oil paintings highlighted a touring exhibition which would raise money for war bonds.
Norman Rockwell, along with his predecessor J. C. Leyendecker, painted in oils with a distinctive realist style to portray early 20th century America. Like Leyendecker before him, Rockwell enjoyed a long and prolific career as Saturday Evening Post illustrator. He helped to spread ideas and messages to the public using the vehicle of one of the most popular weekly magazines. The message was sometimes one of unity and family, and others one of tolerance and peace. Often the illustrations were playful and humorous.
The covers, of course, also went along with the seasons and holidays with the best of all being the warm and jolly covers of the most popular holiday season. The Rockwell santas, in part inspired by the Leyendecker Saint Nicks, were always a favorite among among Rockwell fans. He always made sure to remind people of the origin of Christmas by being sure to include a little halo of the jolly elf to show that he is in fact still a saint.
Even fans of the most modern abstract art can appreciate the warmth you get when looking at classic Rockwell holiday paintings. Maybe the realist style is unfortunately gone and real oil paintings done for magazine covers almost obsolete, but the family values, “Peace on Earth,” friendliness and happiness that Rockwell art represented is still alive and well.
What would the paintings look like after a fire in a museum, or if a gallery were allowed to be overrun by wildlife, and otherwise left uncared for so that it begins to rot and the canvasses warp? What if we could witness the decomposition of objects like artworks right before our eyes?
It would look like the surreal sculptures of Valerie Hegarty, an American artist living and working in New York. Sometimes bordering on the abstract, her mixed media work shows everything from fine art to everyday objects, such as furniture, in varying stages of decay and destruction.
Some highly creative exhibits include Seascape, which displays articles which could have recently been recovered from some maritime disaster, showing all the signs of waterlogged damage, rust, and ocean-floor gunk which spills here and there from the pedestals. A painting called George Washington Shipwrecked gives an example of the real fine art lost or destroyed over the centuries, stolen by the unforgiving sea.
A giant crack splits up a gallery wall straight through a painting of a canyon. Shards of pottery, bits of frame, and chunks of an antique bureau lay scattered where they landed under a shot-up wall. Other works are burnt, morphed, rotting, and otherwise transformed from what was once useful or beautiful.
What better time than December to reflect on artwork showing the transforming nature of all things animal, vegetable, and mineral. The leaves are now compost, the crop is long since harvested and eaten, and dead wood lines my shed ready to burn. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The glaciers which moved mountains are melted. The mountains will someday be sand in an hour glass. We’re all just clay; from clay we come, to clay we go. Life goes full circle.
Spring will come, a rebirth will ensue, but not until winter’s icy breath freezes the ground, shortens days, and reminds us of the darker, colder, yet necessary part of the circle.
Making a cast of an object such as a sculpture is easy as long as you have the right materials. It took some product testing and trial and error but I do believe I’ve found some decent mold making and casting supplies.
Hobbies, Crafts, or Small Business
There are any number of reasons you may want to make a mold of something: you may simply want a copy of a keepsake; a duplicate of a tool or other useful object; some molds for soap, candle, or candy making, or you may have another crafty purpose such as making chess sets, as was the reason for my pursuit. Many people sell their handmade crafts on sites such as Etsy.com.
I started sculpting as well as turning chess pieces a little while back when I got my mini lathe (Turning Chess Pieces 101). As an amateur turner I can turn a decent piece and even duplicate one fairly close to the original, but chess pieces can’t be close; they need to be exact. So I needed to find a way to cast the original many times over for accurate copies. This would also make it easier in the long run- I’d only need to make 6 pieces on the lathe.
Finding The Perfect Material
Like an engineer, I needed to find the best and least expensive material for the project. Other factors are considered such as time and effort, re-usability, and difficulty. As you can see in the pic above I went through a fair amount of products to find the right stuff, and it was by no means cheap. But you have to crack a few eggs…
I rated the materials from 1 to 5 stars for several categories: 1 being the worst, as in a “1″ for time means it takes a long time, a “5″ for difficulty level means it’s easy, etc.
The Casts
1. Permastone- By and large this is the material I was most pleased with. This is a stone-like plaster which mixes with water 3:1 and dries quickly to give you a smooth, heavy cast which retains minute detail.
Quality: *****
Re-usability: ****; nice and durable finished product
Difficulty level: *****
Time: ***; 1-2 minutes mix, about 15-20 minutes for a solid cast
Price: ****; About $5 for 28 oz. box
2. Castin’ Craft Casting Resin- Ack! Don’t get any on your hands, this stuff is beyond sticky. You have to mix a catalyst just right or the resin won’t cure properly. It took three days before it even began hardening. In the end, the clear plastic finished product has potential- a good substitute for glass chess pieces, but using this resin doesn’t seem practical.
Quality: ***; the piece doesn’t look too bad
Re-usability: ***; solid and durable, but a week later the bottom is still sticky
Difficulty level: **; the stickiness and the mixing make it difficult to work with
Time: *
Price: **; Something like $12 to $15 for 16 oz., catalyst sold separately for some reason (?)
The Molds
1. Castin’ Craft Mold Builder- Very nice liquid latex mold builder, good for making molds of small, detailed objects, preferably flat, but not suited for my purposes here. The liquid is brushed on (no mixing reguired), and captures the finest detail. Depending on the size of the original, many layers may need to be applied. I made a cast of penny with the Permastone- every detail was preserved and the cast popped right out.
Quality: ****
Re-usability: ***; if only a few layers were applied, the latex is fairly flimsy and warps a little
Difficulty: *****; only setback is the washing of the brush in between each coat
Time: ***; each layer must dry completely before applying another. This may take some time if it’s a large object and needs 10 + coats
Price: ****; About $7, enough latex for many small molds.
3. Alumilite Quick Set Silicone- Now here’s where I need to make a managerial decision. Is the excellent quality of the mold worth the 4 hour wait? Silicone is the main material I sought on my shopping quest, I even bought some silicone caulking tubes to try out later as a cheap alternative. A catalyst is needed to mix, but isn’t very difficult, and this one comes with measuring cups which is a major plus (I had to weigh the casting resin earlier). One thing is for sure- the mold itself is probably the most durable, so even if it takes 4 hours at first, I should be able to get many uses out of each mold.
Quality: *****
Re-usability: *****
Difficulty: ***
Time: **
Price: *; $35 for 14 oz., just enough for a couple molds.
4. Webster Group 3D Gel- I certainly found treasure with this one, hidden amongst the little kiddie clays and molds. I think I have a winner: it was $4 for this packet (1 large mold and one small mold, $15 for a larger container), it took about 2 minutes to mix and2 minutes to completely harden (need to work fast), and the quality of the mold seems about the same as the Alumilite silicone- should be able to get many molds out of this. Plus, all I had to do is mix 3/4 cup of water.
[Update: Unfortunately after about a week, the mold dried up, reduced in size about 1/3, and became brittle. Looks like this is a great one time mold, but nothing more.]
Quality: *****
Re-usability: *
Difficulty: *****
Time: *****
Price: ****; $15 container ought to yield a decent amount of molds
5. Amazing Mold Putty- Another treasure found in the kids section. It shows a baby on the front so the store must have thought babies are supposed to play with it. But they didn’t notice the picture actually shows a mold being made from the baby’s hand. Very professional product, and very easy- 2 tubes of A and B, mix equal parts, knead until uniform, then embed an object, sets in 20- 25 minutes. When hardened, it made an excellent and durable mold. The only problem was a crease which came when I wrapped the putty around the chess piece. Instructions didn’t say youcould wrap, but I think I can find a way around this.
Quality: ****; we’ll see if the creases persist
Re-usability: *****
Difficulty: ****; 4 stars only because it is super durable, and for my purposes harder to make the cut line to get the piece out. Depending on how you look at this, the extra good quality makes up for it.
Time: ****
Price: ****
6. Instamold is made by the same people as Permastone. It is mixed with either 1 to 1 powder and water for a strong mold, 1 to 2 for average, and 1 to 3 for a weak mold. It appears that the 1 to 3 may save money, stretching the amount of molds possible from one box. I used the 1 to 2 average mix. I don’t know if it was because of the mix ratio, but this material was extremely bubbly. Luckily, only one minor defect resulted on the piece, which was easily sanded away. The set time for this was very quick- about 10- 15 minutes. However, while easy to cut away the original, it ripped a little.
Quality: ****; made a good piece, a little weary of the bubbles though
Re-usability: *; When I opened it up, it tore, and while I could be a little more careful, I’m doubtful the mold can be used more than a few times. [Update: After about a week, the mold dries up and shrinks.]
7. Sculpey, and generic modeling clay- Before I went shopping for the real mold supplies, I made a mold of a chess piece with Sculpey clay. This clay never hardens until you bake it, so is ideal for making a cheap one-time mold, which you can demolish and use for any other clay sculpting. The material is very pliable so makes for easy original removal, but difficulty in resealing the mold for the pour. In the end, an interesting duplicate is made, but nothing that can be sellable. A first attempt at chess piece mold making.
I also tried some modeling clay just in case I can make the absolute cheapest option work in any reasonable way. As I imagined the molds did not capture any real detail and crumbled the first time I removed them after the cast was dry. The clay molds of the smallest pawn pieces (about 3/4″ tall) actually turned out better than the Sculpey ones, which utterly failed beyond recognition.
Quality: **
Re-usability: *
Difficulty: *****
Time: *****
Price: *** for Sculpey, ***** for Modeling clay
The Results
[From left to right: Instamold small queen, 3D Gel rook and pawn, Amazing Mold Putty bishop and pawn, Pawn made from Clear Casting Resin set in Sculpey, 2 small pawns set in modeling clay, 2 small pawns set in Sculpey, 2 large pawns set in Sculpey]
After this trial and error I have no reason to look for a further casting material: Permastone duplicates every detail, makes a heavy chess piece, and can be mixed with paint and other debris for effects. Some of the smaller ones in the picture above have been swirled with magenta watercolor paint for a “marble” look.
The Amazing mold putty is a very good product. However, the nature of the 3 dimensional chess pieces probably requires something which can be poured over the pieces. I will attempt to perfect the wrapping of the putty- aside from the crease it does make a good duplicate, and the mold seems to be infinitely re-usable.
In the end, the Alumilite 2-part silicone is the winner. The 3D Gel would have been great if only the mold lasted. If you only need to make a single duplicate, I’d recommend the 3D Gel, but if you need a mold which will last, the silicone is the best bet.
Forget death, forget public speaking, or falling, or disease or even terrorism. The number one fear of the times seems to be: nudity.
Blue Skies Over Bethlehem
I won’t beat around the burning bush. Much of the censorship of art we’ve seen over the centuries and today is the work of right-wing religious nuts (no pun intended) thumping a two millennia year-old book and demanding that the masses remain as prudish as the Puritans are. They make sure that nobody really knows that, God forbid, we are actually naked under our clothes. God created us in his image. However, his image is shameful and should be covered by a fig leaf.
In religious art of all things, the body as it was intended by the artist as well as the “Creator” is painted over: The Last Judgment, by Michelangelo- the work of a genius, was defiled by the work of tiny-brained ignoramuses who painted clothes over the naked flesh.
The flesh is not always naked. The Massacre of the Innocents by Pieter Bruegel was found to have been copied by an unknown counterfeiter who thought it necessary to change the biblical story on which it is based (Matthew 2:16, all young males in Bethlehem are executed) to a run of the mill slaughtering of livestock on a sunny day. The copy itself seems made after the original, but later painted over to show a blue sky, instead of the dark cloudy atmosphere Bruegel intended, and pigs and wads of clothes instead of the innocent victims.
So instead of an accurate portrayal of a story straight from the bible portrayed in modern fashion to express the Netherlandish experience of constant war, we have something completely and utterly useless. There is no use for this censored painting. None.
Societal Problems or Emotional Baggage?
An incident occurred at a place named, by total coincidence after the Queen of Prudery (see fig leaf above), The Victoria Art Gallery in Somerset England, in which a painting of a nude man was damaged by a right-wing religious nut. He thought that the sight of male genitalia made of paint might offend other right-wing religious nuts (no pun intended) so he covered it up with a glued piece of black paper. It was not known, however, if this man suffered from penis envy or was stricken with jealousy at the size of the painted member.
Dare I say that this type of censoring in modern times seems focused on the male body? In that museum and others images of spread-eagle woman in provocative poses are allowed without question. Not that I’m complaining, of course. Throughout history, depending on who and where we look, the female form, clothed or unclothed, has also been the subject of controversy. Remember Madame X by John Singer Sargent? Her shoulder strap seems to have slipped. Oops. Better cover it up! How bad is that?
These examples are from merry old England, but I hardly have to point out that this type of up-tightness about possibly erotic art is exculsive to Europe. In the States, founded by prudish pilgrim Puritans, we have our share of fear over the human body, and fear of artistic expression in general.
One of the most censored artists it seems in the U. S. right now is Robert Sherer, whose works mainly comprise of parodies of traditional art, including religious art such as Caravaggios. Some of these artworks are labelled homoerotic by his critics, and have had frigid old school-marms and insecure closeted nancy boys all in a fuss. “Will someone think of the children?!”
I’d have to say most of these people should lighten up. And there are far worse things to protect children from than an image not much different from something out of a school anatomy book, like, say, the example a president sets with the indiscriminate bombing of civilians.
The Law
Sherer has had several cases reach the U.S. Supreme Court, which leads me to: “Your Art and the First Amendment.” Artistic expression is protected by the First Amendment as freedom of speech to a point. It is important to know that this was designed to protect the masses from government intrusion. That said, if a governmental entity is suprressing your right to create and display the art how you intend it- nudity and all- then they are in the wrong.
However, don’t expect any court to side with you if you enjoy the patronage of a private collector and they don’t like the looks of those legs spread on your canvas. They are well within their rights to deny your artwork, so long as they are not government funded or associated. The courts may decide the degree of association an organization has with the government, if need be. In the end I don’t think anyone has a reasonable argument if they say they can rightfully show artwork of any kind on private property without the approval of the owners or other people in charge. All other parties have no say in the matter.
Fear of Art, Fear of Everything
In the end when I see a work of art, especially a historic one created by a famous artist, defiled by having a few ridiculous looking plants covering nudity, or crudely drawn clothes to hide shame, I think “repression.” These people subscribe to dogma and are repressed in many ways, and are confused that other people could possibly have opposing ideas- such as their own way of expressing themselves artistically.
I think it is a sad world when someone goes out of their way to face criminal charges by covering up nudity, yet I failed to read of anyone batting an eye about the poor dog which was purposely starved on a gallery floor in the name of “modern art.” No one broke those chains and saved that animal, yet a 12″ by 12″ image of a reclining nude was enough to infuriate someone to take drastic action. The wrong exhibit was vandalized.
It’s a backwards world when the same people who extol “family” values don’t hesitate to send their sons and daughters to die in a useless war. They talk about the sacred act of marriage yet 6 out of 10 of them abuse it and divorce. We are worried about violence in a video game affecting our children but lift nary a single finger to prevent or speak out against wars for oil and the massacre of innocents.
What does censorship of this kind come down to? Mostly fear: of a different set of views, or fear of a non-existant conspiracy to corrupt children, you name it. Meanwhile the rest of the world realizes that these types of religious whack-jobs are no more than what they themselves obsess about censoring:
Posted on 2008 under Illustration | Comments are off
Early twentieth century Americana was the epitome of traditional holiday imagery: warm settings with friendly families together at a table set with a feast, carolers huddled together in the snow bundled up and cheerfully singing old songs, or Kris Kringle sneaking from the fire place with his bag as an astonished youth peaks around the corner.
Images like these were brought to homes on the covers of magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post by illustrators such as the J. C. Leyendecker, beginning around the turn of the century (his first Post commission was 1899). This was the Golden Age of Illustration, the time of Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, and the like, and The Saturday Evening Post was the most popular magazine in America.
Leyendecker was commissioned by the U. S. military for recruitment posters, along with numerous consumer products such as the Arrow Collar Man, and enjoyed a forty four year relationship with the Post. He helped shaped parts of American culture, such as beginning the tradition of giving flowers for Mother’s Day with his cover of a 1914 edition after President Wilson declared it an official holiday, helping to popularize the image of the red-clad jolly fat Santa along with the Sundblom Coca Cola ads, and creating the famous New Year Baby. Every holiday had a special cover- Thanksgiving, Easter, you name it. He eventually retired, handing the covers of the Post to his friend Norman Rockwell, who was very much influenced by his predecessor.
Life was one big party during the decadent roaring twenties but the thirties, with the Great Depression, marked a slow down of comissions, increased reclusiveness and later the eventual end of his career. His partner of 48 years, Charles Beach, whom he had modelled the Arrow Collar Man, was with him when he died in 1951.
Well now you can create that masterpiece you’ve always wanted to, and you don’t even have to draw anything! This is my favorite kind of artistic computer interactivity- the kind which gives you a slew of little graphics and lets you creatively arrange them to your heart’s content.
Choose from a plethora of objects with categories like fruits, porcelain bowls or vases, sheets and cloths, flowers, miscellaneous objects like busts and dolls, and backgrounds.
Adjust light levels, shadow intensity, resize objects, and modify the tilt of the table.
Save and print your picture when completed.
This kind of program is excellent because:
It lets your creativity run free, without the need to touch anything in real life.
You can set up a still life which you can use as a reference to paint without having to go to garage sales to get interesting props.
It lets you create a picture without needing to draw. There is a “paint” feature which lets you use effects to modify your painting, and make it look impressionistic or “painterly.”
You can rearrange the props until you have a perfect composition. Don’t like that bowl there? Drop it off the edge of the table and hear it shatter.
Cezanne couldn’t dream of having this kind of fun with still lifes.
Posted on 2008 under Illustration | Comments are off
It’s here already!- that festive holiday season where advertisers get to compete like no other time of year for all of your attention they can get. With attention spans dropping and the world moving faster and faster, ad agencies need to be newer, faster and sexier to get you to buy.
And what could be sexier than Kris Kringle? Okay, that’s not where I’m headed and don’t worry, I have no intention of filing this under “erotica.” He’s not exactly new either, but he is fast being able to reach every house in one night with time to relax with a bottle of Coca-cola. At least that’s what we always see him with.
Coca-cola has been doing the best, time-honored Santa ads which date way back to the Great Depression. Of course, there’s nothing depressing about pure Christmas jollity year after year to cheer you up and, naturally, make you buy soda. Did you know the modern Santy Claus image was pretty much formed by these commercials? Yes, giant corporations really do shape our culture.
It started in 1931 with artist Haddon Sundblom commissioned to replace what had been a wide range of Santa imagery: some being not so fat, and others not even jolly, none of which were suited to advertise a soft drink or anything. To place ads in such magazines as The Saturday Evening Post, Sundblom looked to the poem “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas,” as inspiration to show a wholesome, friendly, fat man in red who could make people feel warm and happy.
Through the years the Coca-cola Santa appeared in many different settings but keeping that traditional style and image, always holding up a glass or bottle of Coke with a grin which says, “If you don’t want coal in that stocking, better leave a Coke with those cookies!”
The illustrations are always superb, and there’s nothing wrong with appreciating good commercial art (Brillo boxes anyone?). The original Sundblom Santa oil paintings are prized artworks today and regularly exhibit around the world in such places as the Louvre. There are also a number of memorabilia which are popular collectibles. Nowadays we see the Polar Bears which have been around since 1993, but the traditional Santa has never fully disappeared.
Forget Black Friday, forget the first of December, we know it is truly the Christmas season as soon as we see those Santas on Coke cans.
Posted on 2008 under Modern Art | Comments are off
Andrew Wyeth’s desolate landscapes and somber portraits often convey a dreamy feeling, but none so much as the “The Snowhill,” which uses painter’s license, characters, and symbolism as if they form a snapshot straight from a dream.
No faces visible, a strange inexplicable shadow cast on the foreground, the usual muted colors of Wyeth’s palette all help to create a slight uneasiness, despite the apparent joy of the subject. Though faceless, this bunch has an identity to the author, even though they may have never met each other all at once as we see here, and certainly not dancing on a maypole.
They may as well be from a dream, because they are from the artist’s past. Each one is a former model who sat painstakingly for countless hours to be part of his canvasses. Helga Testorf, Karl Kuerner, Anna Kuerner, Allan Lynch, Bill Loper and Adam Johnson have all appeared in numerous paintings. It’s the Kuerner’s farm we see in the distance on the left, a place which has served as invaluable inspiration for Wyeth. The Keurners were German immigrants whom he met near his Pennsylvania home when he was a boy; Karl served in the German army in WWI, who is of course dressed in uniform in the painting.
Beside not being an actual landscape (the Kuerner farm would have been wooded near the house), there is one part of the composition which is there solely as a symbol- the tracks. N. C. Wyeth, Andrew’s father was killed by a train. According to the painter, the maypole dancing former models of his are dancing in anticipation of his death, because of the stress he had inflicted on them while they posed.
Wyeth is one of the great American landscape and realist painters, but this excellent painting borders on the surreal.
It might be this simplicity that makes Kareena Zerefos’ artworks so charming. Or maybe it’s the multi-colored stripes going across a beautiful image of an owl. The illustrations seem to come from some enchanted fantasy: no crowded backgrounds; just the essentials- a single subject in focus, often with an intriguing subtitle.
Sometimes her art makes you think, other times it makes you feel. The colorful owl just said, “hello” to you. Now, don’t you feel better? You see an image of a young girl hugging the leg of a giant dog with the statement, “They defeat the mean giants.” How does that make you feel? His name was Sebastien it says as a young boy holds his pet goldfish, out of water, but in a bubble dripping.
The Australian artist uses colored pencils and gouache to create with now, but started out using anything she could find and on cheaper paper. She’s a self taught illustrator who studies design and printmaking at a university in Canada. She now lives and works in Sydney, and just had her first solo exhibition. She’s just getting started.
I look forward to seeing more of her dreams becoming art.
Macabre art is generally grim, scary, dark, and/or having to do with death; strange, surreal, or nightmarish. This 7 minute montage showcases some paintings and drawings of some of the masters of macabre art:
Edvard Much
William Blake
Francis Bacon
Henry Fuseli
Kathe Kollwitz
James Ensor
Fransisco Goya
Odilon Redon
Hieronymus Bosch
Vince' s ear: your art blog about art, art history, painting, sculpture, drawing, illustration, animation, artists, galleries, museums, and plenty more. Dan Kretschmer is the author of Vince' s ear, and also the author of a book called "Masters of the Renaissance," which takes a look at 18 of the most important artists of the Renaissance in Europe.
The purpose of this art blog is to raise general awareness of art and to share knowledge and interests. The author's goal is to spark interest in as many people as possible, and to inspire them to pursue art to enrich their lives.
