We have just completed our first year apart of a homeschooling co-op. The co-op breaks up the year into four sessions with two subjects taught each session. This last session I was assigned to teach modern artists to my oldest child's group. If you know my style of art you know I hate modern art. I make exceptions for Monet and Degas otherwise I do not quite appreciate the necessity of creating strange art for the sake of being different. I understand with the evolution of human nature there is a need to stretch the norm, but so much of it is just silly.
However, after studying some of these artists a little more closely I learned they are more disturbed than I remember, but they in fact they did have talent. There was definite skill yet while trying to discover their individual flare they withdrew from training. Take Jackson Pollock, whom I loathe, his early works of southwest influence showed character and imagination. The drippings, though I totally enjoyed sprinkling the paint with purpose and loud music in the background, is totally a sham. But Pollock was the first to dare to display a paint mess and was recognized as innovative.
With each lesson I painted an example of each artist we studied to offer a visual scale without losing the impression in a small image posted in a book. I have training in photography and graphic design, but not in painting. Still, I loved copying a great to see if I could. It was fun to be creative. I was pleased with the results. And it gave me a better appreciation for the artist and their ideas. Let's see if you can guess which artists we studied and who I tried to replicate.
