easelspace.com

Direct link to newsletter at Caroline Jasper's website:
http://www.carolinejasper.com/index.htm

Excerpt:
COLOR CORNER - Color vs. Value:Color attracts your eye and prompts emotional response. It can also help to identify subject, interpret image, and impart overall mood or message. However, while color provides the entertainment, value does all the heavy work. Value is the essential impact factor. Value, more than color, imparts the illusion of spatial depth and form. Light and shadow differences (value contrast) define surface contours and imply volume. Our brains rely on dark/light data collected by our eyes in order to make sense of what is being seen. We see value first, color second. The absence of color in black and white photos does not confuse us, nor does the waning visibility of colors as sunlight daily fades to darkness. Value stays on the job when there is insufficient light to reflect color. In every painting's delicious recipe, value is cake itself. Color, is just the icing on top.

TIP for better skill in seeing values: Compare digital camera shots of both your reference and your painting. Accurate value representation is far more important than matching colors in the reference. If the painting is dark where needed and light where needed, it will carry the image visually. It matters less which colors are used.

--------------------------------
Caroline's books and DVDs contain many references, demos, and exercises pertaining to the importance of value in art.
www.carolinejasper.com

Azerbaijanian costume designer Mehriban Efendi and EaselSpace member has won 2 awards for the German film of "Absurdistan"


In 2008 Mehriban Efendi as costume designer was nominated for the best costume designer award by Berlin film Academy  Lola

Prize German film director Veit Helmer was informed that Mehriban Efendi has won the costume design for his film of Absurdistan by Festival International "Cinema & Costume Moulins" conducted in France.

This festival brings the fashion world to the cinema. Fashionistas gather at Moulins' Centre National du Costume de Scène for the glamorous International Festival of Cinema, Costumes and Fashion. Celebrating the relationship between fashion and the silver screen, the festival hosts a film competition, talks and exhibitions.
Veit Helmer also informed that the film of Absurdistan won the prize for best costume design in the Macedonia international film festival of Skopje Macedonia. In general the film has won around 15 international and world awards and most of them for the best film and the beauty of the production.

The film has been to 50 international festivals.... The film was shot in Azerbaijan regions of Lahic and Sheki.Many Azerbaijanian actors worked in this film. Only one person who was as a creative crew member besides assistances as the costume designer was Mehriban Efendi who has worked in many Azerbaijanian films as costume designer or art director ,and who the worker of Azerbaijanfilm Studio of "Jafar Jabbarli " .She says that unfortunately many Azerbaijan film professionals could participate in making this fantastic film. But the problem was their pure knowledge of English. It was a big obstacle. Because creative crew should very closely work together and often refer to script and communicate with each other and the film director, most crew members were from Europe and they knew only English. She says: Azerbaijanian cinematographers are very capable and talented and they can get world recognition for their ability.

 Also known as a Surrealist artist Mehriban Efendi who has paticipated in Surrealism Now project of selected as one of the best professional surrealist artists of the world participant of the international exhibition in Portugal ,which was made by Bissaya Barreto Foundation, she at the end of 2010 won the international prize of "Radiance" conducted in Bulgary,Europe for the best artist in the international competition amongst contemporary artists in the theme of "the codes of my nation" Her web site at

www.mehribanefendi.com

Аward to international competition for young artists "Radiance" - 2010

FREE  INSTITUTE  FOR  INTERCULTUR AL  EXCHANGE  AND  EDUCATION

  FIIEE  -  MASTER  GROUP   -  Europe , Bulgaria

International  competition

 for  young  artists   „ Radiance „   -   2010

 / seventh  edition  of  the  competition /

 +  Rights  for  participation    -   young  artists  in  the  field   of  fine  arts    / researchers   at  the  age  up   to   48   / forty-eight /   years .

+ Theme  of  the  2010  contest  -   " Ancient  codes  of  my  people " .

+  Period  for  submitting  the  competition  works  –  from  19.05  to  19.09.2010.

+  Authors who participated in the contest   -  123 authors  from  22  countries .

+  Nomination of  5 / five / participant  for  the  prize  of  the  contest   -   until  20.10.2010  :

Cranta  Crina   -  Romania

Elisabetta  Fazi   -  Italy

Savitchi  Ecaterina   -  Republic of Moldova

SARAWUT  CHUTIWONGPETI   -  Thailand

Mehriban  Efendi (Efendiyeva)   -  Azerbaijan

+  Announcement  of  the  results  from  International  competition  for  young  artists  “ Radiance „ – 2010   -    25.11.2010 .

 +  Аward  to  international  competition  for  young  artists   "Radiance" - 2010

-  Mehriban  Efendi (Efendiyeva)   -  Azerbaijan

 The  organizers !

 „ F I I E E   -   MASTER   GROUP „   -    Bulgaria

Marian Atanasov  -   manager / director -

mail  :  marian_atanasov@abv.bg

mail  :  mg.tour@yahoo.com   

Bl.- 62, vh.- G , ap.- 88

“Vazrojdensi”

Kardjali – 6600

Bulgaria

Europe

I recall years at school studying paintings of the Great Artists where  I had this really over-zealous, extrovert Art teacher who went into great depths to describe the artists emotional state in a particular piece, and I would sit there thinking  that the teacher needed to see a shrink!

I then studied color therapy as part of a counseling course that I did a few years back and am absolutely intrigued by it still. It has helped me to understand how to channel emotion into a painting. Although I do believe that as with every artist and in fact with every human being, our visual perception of color differs from one person to another. Our views are as unique as a finger print. So unless we are absolutely familiar with the artist, (which would allow us to understand the artist’s interpretation of color) I personally would never dare to try and interpret too much into understanding the artist’s message, unless it is blatantly obvious.

Art interpretation is as personal to you as it is to the artist who painted it; as a painting is about emotion ...guided or spontaneous; whether it be your own emotion or the Artist's who painted it.  It is wonderful to share these views with others as it allows you into a small place inside them... this is how Art Therapy works. It is a way to express yourself and to be guided into putting what you see into words.

Last year I painted this Triptych and put it onto my Facebook Group page. I asked someone to give an interpretation of this painting. I was ASTOUNDED at what she wrote. I did this in order to prove this theory.

 I have posted this painting below and my interpretation below that. 

 If you as an artist want to showcase your work and get people interested in you as a person as well as your art, it is really important that you say something about the painting. Ok my description is way too long but a short description or a title that will guide the emotion of the viewer is so important. Viewers want to know 

·          What is the size of this painting?

·         What medium did you use and what is it painted on?

·         What is it called or what inspired you to paint it.

If you want a viewer to know what the painting is about, then tell them! Sometimes this helps to get their attention and interested in what they are looking at.

 

Retribution

60”x60”x1.5” (1.5m x1.5m) hung. 3 x canvas Triptych

Acrylic on Canvas

The paintings in the triptych format speak of three different states or realms for the two main characters. The centre is the mundane world or place of contest between good and evil the stage, if you will, separated by the states of existence of the Angel on the right a subconscious signal of good in western mindset and the temptress on the left once again indicative of temptation evil.

The angel is chained with the chain linking the three images. The theme for me is Downfall as a result of lust indicative of the red sky and the partial nudity of the characters. The angel is bound by lust to the mundane world through the charms of the temptress; the theme of which we find in the Judeo Romano biblical texts of Genesis, where the sons of heaven came to earth taking wives from the daughters of men.

The figure of the temptress further reinforces the theme by the glove on the right hand holding the chain alluding to legends of the red right hand in popular folklore that denotes a sign of the agent of temptation.

I am greatly inspired by music. The song “Red Right Hand” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds was the initial inspiration of this painting.

The lightning in the centre painting denotes turbulence, despite the empty street; denoting calm. The danger is unseen; except for the trail of the chain.

Then there is the matter of the crows long associated as mythical figures in cultures associated with death and travel between worlds and states of existence, and also messengers from the other side. This is reinforced by the fact that besides the chain they are the only thing crossing more than one image. The direction of flight towards the left naturally in western mindsets leaves one slightly unsettled and draws the eye to the left as they are the only real movement giving the impression that the angel is being dragged by the chain towards the left and the temptress, almost as if denoting the strength of temptation. Also the fact that the angel’s wings span the two states. The wings are partway in the centre painting denoting that he has been pulled toward the temptress.

The angel is obviously a fallen angel. The state of his wings and the tattoos signify this.

 Retribution, the name, I thinks speaks for itself.

I created another blog on this similar topic of interpretation. It can be found here.... ...How do we Interpret?...
 

I recently held a workshop at the Painting Cave where I introduced a very talented young artist to the technique of painting from dark to light or as some would term - chiaroscuro

Danni had painted a very similar subject choice in the method that most artist begin with. This method gets you used to mixing color, applying it to canvas and teaches you how to blend. Some artists progress from this stage to produce very beautiful paintings in their own unique way.

 The dark to light way  as seen in the second painting assisted Danni in achieving a realistic 3 dimensional type painting.

To view the 2nd painting, please go to my site and have a look.....

http://www.jacquisimpson.co.za
Please feel free to leave a comment on my site and sign up if you would like to receive my monthly newsletter.

Regards
Jax

I proposed to our Big Boss Adrian that we should make a new feature called something like "Members Publications" where we, the members of Easelspace, could present products which have been published and feature our own work. For example, books featuring paintings by us, poetry books (appropriate now that we have created the poem-paintings group), CDs (well, we also have some active musicians on board!),  newspaper articles, interviews...  things like that.

The idea came to my mind as I received a newspaper article from my artist friend Ion Vincent Danu, who was born in Romania but is living in Canada now. He is one of our most active members from two of our themes galleries "Travelscapers" and "Easelfaces", and as such, he deserves to open this new feature. The article is about him, and his activity as a portrait painter.
Sorry, it is in French, but well, I have at least translated for you the title of the article, which is the title of this post.

Welcome, Danu, whatever you do,  it's always SPECIAL!

By Miki