Illustration Friday: Worn? Torn?

I decided to do a watercolor poster illustration with the word “Torn” as a sequel to “Worn”, competely unrelated to this week’s Illustration Friday theme, “Shaky.”

Strange day and a strange painting.

Inspire me day: Her face behind these paintings

Elizabeth Siddal was an important model and painter of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood and influenced the idea of feminine beauty for decades. She is the face behind countless paintings during this period, the most prominent being Ophelia.

Ophelia

Ophelia by John Everett Millais

Her story is a sad one. Underneath this stunning painting was a women who suffered from poor health and a turbulent ten-year relationship with painter Dante Gabriel Rosetti, her muse and later husband. Ill health and stress from this long-drawn relationship pushed Siddal into severe depression and consequently laudanum addiction (commonly prescribed as a cure-all during the Victorian era).

Although the couple finally wed in 1860, their marriage was a short one. A year after giving birth to a stillborn daughter, Siddal was found unconscious and dying in bed from an overdose of laudanum at the age of 33. They were married for less than two years.

Elizabeth Siddal as Beatrix

Beata Beatrix by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Elizabeth Siddal

After Siddal’s death, Rossetti published The House of Life, a collection of sonnets entitled which includes the poem, “Without Her,” quite clearly a meditation on Siddal’s premature absence, which leaves him a life filled with alternating despair and loneliness

What of her glass without her? The blank grey
There where the pool is blind of the moon’s face.
Her dress without her? The tossed empty space
Of cloud-rack whence the moon has passed away.
Her paths without her? Day’s appointed sway
Usurped by desolate night. Her pillowed place
Without her? Tears, ah me! For love’s good grace,
And cold forgetfulness of night or day.

What of the heart without her? Nay, poor heart,
Of thee what word remains ere speech be still?
A wayfarer by barren ways and chill,
Steep ways and weary, without her thou art,
Where the long cloud, the long wood’s counterpart,
Sheds doubled up darkness up the labouring hill.

Inspire me day: Art Nouveau

I was supposed to write about something that inspires me and this topic always brings me back to works of artists such as Gustav Klimt, Aubrey Beardsley, and Egon Schiele. Their works are characterized by their use of decorative elements that are organic, curvy, and rhythmic with themes that are symbolic of fertility and eroticism. I won’t go into details about art history, but you can read more about this artistic style on Wikipedia.

Gustav Klimt

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt is a beautiful example of Art Nouveau at its best.

Aubrey Beardsley

The Climax by Aubrey Beardsley

Aubrey Beardsley, who died at the young age of 26, was renowned for his dark, perverse images and grotesque erotica. Above is an lithograph for Oscar Wilde’s tragedy Salomé.

I was about 18 when i first picked picked up a book about Beardsley and was inspired by his use of  space and detail. His images are more graphical than fine art, which influenced me to do several drawings in ink. One such piece I did was with technical pens titled Dark Petal. This was about nine years ago. I even hand-bound a book made from A4 Paper and cardboard to fill it with ink drawings.

Dark Petal (2000)

Egon Schiele

Egon Schiele, Self Portrait

Egon Schiele, a protege of Klimt’s, was noted for the intensity of his drawings, characterized by twisted body shapes and  expressive lines.

I first found a book of his drawings in the library and was taken aback by the grotesque images, a lot of which were nude figures. I found them repelling and captivating all at once and was surprised to find that he was Klimt’s student, seeing how their approach and styles  are completely different.

 

Inspire me day: James Jean’s Fables

Last year, Prada featured some  beautiful illustrations by Taiwanese-American award winning artist and illustrator James Jean in their Spring/ Summer 08 collection (read more on notcot.com). I was pleasantly surprised to find illustrations being used in High fashion. The fine line between art and illustration is blurring; their functions in our daily lives are expanding. Wearable art is translated more literally in this amazing collection.

And the master behind this extraordinary canvas is James Jean. I am in awe of his painterly genius. His images seem to be steeped in magic and tales, either of folklore or of myth. They could be telling you a  familiar story or one that is completely unknown. I personally find the experience transcendent; I am brought into a new world. In this sense, visual art is not unlike music. It can move you in ways words cannot. To view more of his mesmerizing art works visit his website at jamesjean.com.