Unit 5 Contextual Influences in Art and Design

How are video games an Art-form

Videos games have been visually interesting ever since the first video game. Although early games were just 2D pixel games they characters, the map, pretty much everything was in a way, beauty. Artwork is something that is unique, very interesting, inspiring, and sometimes very colourful. Mostly the artist hasn't rushed and took his time making his or her work look sensational. Also, it takes a talented person to create a piece of artwork. That’s the same with video games, they have been created by talented people, they take their time to get only the perfect finish and most importantly, it makes people interested and they get inspired by it.

As I was researching specific games that has been inspired by art form I came across a website called neoseeker.com. And one of the posts on the website was titled “Video games officially considered an art form in the United States”. I read the post and it said that in June 2012 a company such as “The National Endowment for the Arts” also known as (NEA) one the debate about video games is an art form. This is a good thing because video games will get proper recognition and the graphic designers and the animators will get more appreciation. Also ever one who commented on the post said that it is a good thing and happy that the debate has finally been won.

I researched this website at 20.21 on the 14^th February 2013

I think the one game that if the best because of the way it is set, the characters design and the weapons design. The Halo games. In my opinion Halo, despite being a first person shooter game, I think every single thing about it is pure art. Every single detail it just beautifully designed. No other game in my opinion is as good as this.

Isaac Hannaford is the one who created all of the concept art for the halo games. And after looking at some of his work it is obvious that this man is a fantastic concept artist. He is also the lead concept designer of Bungie. He has his own blog which has lots of his artwork on it. I looked at the comments below and they were all positive. Someone called Danny Gardner said “LOVE you work Isaac, a true inspiration!” And someone else who named himself “the lion heart” said “So incredibly awesome! Thank you so much for this! Love it love it love it! :D *grinning ear to ear* It just goes to show that people admire his work, they really do like his work.

I found this blog account at 21:15 on the 14^th February 2013

I watched a documentary video on YouTube about pixel art and it was about digital pixel art used in games and showing how similar it is to traditional pixel art. The narrator of the documentary (I couldn’t find his name) said this “one of the good things about pixel art is the simplicity of pixel art, it’s very bold colours, its strong outlines it in some ways it seems cheap as well”. I agree with this because I think you don’t have to be such a fantastic artist to create digital pixel art. Because of the very first games such as Mario, The legend of Zelda and so one, it makes pixel art great and because people can relate to the early games. Also, how different is pixel art different to any other existing art movements such as art movements such as pointillism, mosaic, roman tile work (roman mosaic), geometric abstraction and tapestry? It’s all very similar and it’s very easy to make the connections.

That’s another reason why I think 8 bit gaming it also art. The choice of colours make it stand out, it’s simple and you don’t need to work as hard or be very artistic to create it and the results are just as moving as any piece of traditional art. Unlike most art movements, pointillism, mosaic, roman tile work (roman mosaic), geometric abstraction and tapestry is all about the process other than the result, and I like that. To me it’s the same with building Lego and playing Mine craft. You can enjoy doing it and still proud when you finish.

I found this research at 17:12 on the 16^th of February 2013

I research for pixel artists a while ago and I found an artist called Chris Olian. He isn’t very famous, but that doesn’t mean his artwork isn’t good. He does have some fame though; he calls himself the mastermind of pixelated pop art. His art work is literally just 8bit. All of his work is game character ideas. He has made a name for himself in the video game-inspired art. Company’s such as COIN-OP TV and RetroBlast were very interested by his work. But that is on the information I could find about him.

This is some of his art work:

These drawing are fantastic; this is the most artistic part of creating a game. This is also another reason that proves that video games are an art form, before the game is finish, it starts getting created by someone drawing out what the character of the map should look like then put on to a computer. So it is art work being turned into a game. Therefore it is art.

I researched this artwork at 19:06 on the 16^th of February 2013

Evaluation
Originally I believed that video games are an art form and after all the research it has made me believe even more. In America video games are now considered an art form so I don’t understand why it is considered an arm form everywhere else. I really can’t get my head around the fact that some people disagree. I also realised that to make a game you need artistic people to come up with the ideas for a game and then draw the ideas to see what it should look like and maybe change some things and the results are always fantastic because an artistic person is creating it. That is an artist lifestyle.
I also thought everything that is created by people is art, because like an artist, when making something you have to think about what it should look like and people can be moved by it. Such as cars/ other vehicles, buildings even objects that we don’t normally take an interest to. there are all designed by designing it beforehand then creating it. I also thing natural things flowers, waterfalls, mountains, even though they were not created by people there are still something that can make people interested. And that what I think art is: something that unique, something that you put your time and effort into make something and something that gets people attention and make people happy and amazed.

James Cantle

Vincent van Gogh

The son of a pastor, brought up in a religious and cultured atmosphere, Vincent was highly emotional and lacked self-confidence. Between 1860 and 1880, when he finally decided to become an artist, van Gogh had had two unsuitable and unhappy romances and had worked unsuccessfully as a clerk in a bookstore, an art salesman, and a preacher in the Borinage (a dreary mining district in Belgium), where he was dismissed for overzealousness.

He remained in Belgium to study art, determined to give happiness by creating beauty. The works of his early Dutch period are somber-toned, sharply lit, genre paintings of which the most famous is "The Potato Eaters" (1885). In that year van Gogh went to Antwerp where he discovered the works of Rubens and purchased many Japanese prints.

In 1886 he went to Paris to join his brother Théo, the manager of Goupil's gallery. In Paris, van Gogh studied with Cormon, inevitably met Pissarro, Monet, and Gauguin, and began to lighten his very dark palette and to paint in the short brushstrokes of the Impressionists. His nervous temperament made him a difficult companion and night-long discussions combined with painting all day undermined his health. He decided to go south to Arles where he hoped his friends would join him and help found a school of art. Gauguin did join him but with disastrous results. Near the end of 1888, an incident led Gauguin to ultimately leave Arles. Van Gogh pursued him with an open razor, was stopped by Gauguin, but ended up cutting a portion of his own ear lobe off. Van Gogh then began to alternate between fits of madness and lucidity and was sent to the asylum in Saint-Remy for treatment.

In May of 1890, he seemed much better and went to live in Auvers-sur-Oise under the watchful eye of Dr. Gachet. Two months later he was dead, having shot himself "for the good of all." During his brief career he had sold one painting. Van Gogh's finest works were produced in less than three years in a technique that grew more and more impassioned in brushstroke, in symbolic and intense color, in surface tension, and in the movement and vibration of form and line. Van Gogh's inimitable fusion of form and content is powerful; dramatic, lyrically rhythmic, imaginative, and emotional, for the artist was completely absorbed in the effort to explain either his struggle against madness or his comprehension of the spiritual essence of man and nature.

Birth Year : 1853
Death Year : 1890
Country : Netherlands

Here is a website which i found that has all of Van Gogh's artwork.

http://www.vincent-van-gogh-gallery.org/

PAUL GUAGUIN

(1848-1903)

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a leading Post-Impressionist painter. His bold experimentation with coloring led directly to the Synthetist style of modern art while his expression of the inherent meaning of the subjects in his paintings, under the influence of the cloisonnist style, paved the way to Primitivism and the return to the pastoral. He was also an influential exponent of wood engraving and woodcuts as art forms.

PAUL GAUGUIN (1848-1903)
'The Yellow Christ', 1889 (oil on canvas)

Cloisonnism, Synthetism and Symbolism were some of the terms associated with the Post Impressionist paintings of Paul Gauguin in order to distinguish them from Impressionism.

The term Cloisonnism was coined by the critic Edouard Dujardin and refers to the jewellery technique of inlaying metal surfaces with 'cloisonné' enamel colors (the word 'cloison' in French means a 'border'). The decorative effect of this process resembled the bold outlines and flat color of Gauguin's art.

In Synthetism, the artist's aim was to 'synthetize' his feelings with the elements of his painting by simplifying its shapes and amplifying its color to increase its emotional and expressive power. The result was seen as a symbol of the artist's thoughts and feelings and consequently Gauguin's style of painting was also referred to as 'Symbolism'.

'The Yellow Christ' is a classic example of his style. It depicts some traditional Breton women praying at a roadside grotto but it is not a documentary illustration of the scene; it is an attempt to portray the spiritual vision that they experience in their prayer. In this painting Gauguin was inspired by the naive simplicity of a wooden 17th century crucifix that he saw in the nearby church at Tremalo and he uses its primitive form and autumnal yellow color as a key to the work. He then simplifies his drawing, boldly outlines his shapes and exaggerates his color to magnify the heightened emotion of the women's prayerful meditation.

PAUL GAUGUIN (1848-1903)
'Tahitian Landscape', 1893 (oil on canvas)

Gauguin's work can be split into two phases: an early period spent painting around the rustic town of Port Aven in Brittany; and a later period (post 1891) in search of the primitive lifestyle in Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands in the South Pacific. He fused his symbolic use of colour with images of both environments to create a highly personal and expressive vision that pushed art towards the exhilarating style of Fauvism.

Post Impressionism Notes

PAUL GAUGUIN (1848-1903)
'Portrait of the Artist with the Yellow Christ', 1889 (oil on canvas)

The Post Impressionists were a few independent artists at the end of the 19th century who rebelled against the limitations of Impressionism to develop a range of personal styles that influenced the development of art in the 20th century.

The art of Paul Gauguin was a major influence in the development of Fauvism.

The art of Vincent Van Gogh was an influence on Expressionism in the 20th century.

The art of Paul Cézanne was an influence on the Cubists at the start of the 20th century.

The analytical method of Seurat's Pointillism influenced those artists who adopted more calculated approach to painting, particularly in the development of abstract art.

Edouard Vuillard

Posted in Post-Impressionism, Vuillard with tags France, Impressionism, Les Nabis, Vuillard on June 19, 2008 by florinorfolk

Jean-Édouard Vuillard (November 11, 1868 – June 21, 1940) was a French painter and printmaker associated with the Nabis.

Green Interior

The Stitch

The Striped Blouse

After the Meal

Pierre Bonnard

Posted in Bonnard, Post-Impressionism with tags Bonnard, Impressionism, Nabis on May 31, 2008 by florinorfolk

Pierre Bonnard, Paradis

Bonnard, Model in Backlight

Bonnard, Terrasse

Pierre Bonnard (October 3, 1867 – January 23, 1947) was a French painter and printmaker, a founding member of Les Nabis

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, and illustrator, whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in the late 1800s yielded a collection of exciting, elegant and provocative images of the modern and sometimes decadent life of those times. He is known along with Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin as one of the greatest painters of the Post-Impression period.

Thursday 28 February 2013

How are video games an Art-form? Essay

Sunday 20 January 2013

Post Impressionist Artist Research

(1848-1903)

Post Impressionism Notes

Edouard Vuillard

Pierre Bonnard