So I just had a fantastic weekend with some old college friends who were visiting me from Richmond. We all went to art school and of course, number one on our list of things to do in Philly was visit the Barnes Foundation and Philadelphia Museum of Art. I wanted to see the Barnes in its original location in his mansion out in Merion before they move it to a boring, normal museum on the Ben Franklin Parkway (a few blocks from my home!) It was quite an experience. Barnes sure did have some weird taste in art, and I liked how he surrounded each painting with a Roman metal artifact that complemented its composition somehow.
The Philly Museum of Art never ceases to inspire me. Among my favorites are the surreal paintings of Tanguy, Dali, Klee, and most of all, Miro. I took home lots of ideas for new compositions, and color.
After my friends left, I had some extra time (and an already paid-for admission) to see the Perelman Building, which houses even more art, and particularly a current exhibition on Chagall. I am a huge fan of Chagall, mainly for his whimsical compositions and cheerful subjects. Many of his paintings remind me of picture books. I'd like to incorporate some sort of floating ephemera in more of my illustrations and get a bit more playful.
I thought the easiest transition into floating people would be underwater, and I particularly love the sea ephemera in Tanguy's Black Storm painting, above (which I saw today). Here's what I came up with, which I think is still heavily true to my style, but perhaps not experimental enough. I did it all in Photoshop.
I'd like to find some illustrators who are influenced by surrealists and see how they incorporate it into their narratives. I feel like the two forms of art (surrealism and picture book illustration) are mutually exclusive--one being dreamlike and illogical, devoid of any narrative, and the other being completely narrative and logical enough to communicate information unquestionably. If anyone knows of any surrealist illustrators, please send them my way!
