Born to be an Artist or Bitten by the Bug Later in Life

Bob McLeod

Superheroes like Superman were born with superpowers. Others become superheroes after pursuing other careers and eventually being bitten by a bug like Spiderman. Such superpowers simply developed later in life. Often, the careers we choose or have been chosen for us don't align well with our hidden talents. We may dabble in art as a hobby at first, then with encouragement and training, it turns into a profession, if we're lucky.

I've been doing art all my life. In college, I thought I'd combine art and science and study Architecture. I made it through the first year and a half, then decided to switch to Mechanical Engineering. My technical elective became minicomputers. My career eventually morphed into Software Engineering. It turns out that my superpower was computer programming, a creative endeavor that combines design and coding.

I only recently discovered the Superhero metaphor after watching the Quentin Tarantino Kill Bill movies. During Volume 2, Bill (David Carradine) tries to tell Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman) that she is a natural-born killer. He uses Superman as someone who was an actual superhero, living disguised as a journalist, Clark Kent. He goes on to describe Spiderman as a costume that newspaper photographer, Peter Parker wears as a disguise. To Bill, Kiddo is the real thing and can't escape it; motherhood is only a costume. This got me thinking about famous visual artists whose talents were discovered early and encouraged versus those who took up art as a career later in life.

I found that ~70% of the 25 artists I researched follow the Superman metaphor. The other 30% didn't get bitten by the bug to find their Spidey-Senses until later in life. I maintain that our talents need to be recognized, guided, and encouraged in order to develop. This happens through opportunity, parental encouragement, strong influences, exploration, persistence, trial and error, and sometimes our own internal struggles.

It's the same for Superman and Batman. Bruce Wayne loses both parents early in life and struggles for vengeance as Batman. His desire to thwart evil and a privileged lifestyle affords him an opportunity to use his wealth for good and channel his loss into something positive.

Superman loses both parents before coming to Earth and being adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent. Unlike Batman, Superman only wants to fit in but needs to find a way to adapt his superpowers to life on his new planet. Some artists lost siblings or parents early in life and learned to express themselves through art. 

The reason we call them Superheros is because of their ability to overcome adversity. For example, Jackson Pollock was adopted following the death of his birth parents just one year apart. His struggles not only produced a great body of abstract work, but his alcoholism led to the fatal car crash that ended his life at 44. A tragic example of a struggling artist! 

Salvador Dali's older brother (also named Salvador) died 9 months prior to his own birth, which haunted him for the rest of his life. That must have led to some crazy dreams!!

     

The Superman Group

Spanish Surrealists Salvador Dali and Joan Miró, French Impressionists Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet, and Claude Monet, Jean-François Millet, Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera, John Singer Sargent, Andrew Wyeth, Newell Convers Wyeth, and Georgia O'Keefe all began their careers as artists, many enrolled in art schools as pre-teens and teenagers. Many came from comfortably well-off, wealthy, or affluent families. Franz Marc, whose Father was a professional landscape painter, abandoned his study of Theology to study art at age 19. Impressionist Camille Pissarro worked as a cargo clerk, then became a professional artist at 21 (on the cusp of a Spidey). Frida Kahlo was a stenographer and engraving apprentice, bound for medical school until a bus accident at the age of 18 caused her to turn her childhood art hobby into a profession. Edward Hopper was a part-time illustrator for an ad agency before turning to full-time painting. Johannes Vermeer was an innkeeper and art dealer who became a great painter while fathering 10 children. The mother of his children must have been a real Wonder Woman!

The Spiderman Group

Jackson Pollock was expelled from several art high schools as a teenager and didn't really develop his art until the age of 24. Vincent Van Gogh was an Art Dealer, Supply Teacher, and Minister's Assistant who wanted to be in the Clergy. At 27, he became ill and began to paint, only to die at age 36. Mechanical Engineer, Alexander Calder was 28 before enrolling in art school, although he came from a family of sculptors. Wassily Kandinsky was a law professor before turning to art at age 30. Henri Rousseau also studied Law and became a tax collector before abandoning his career in his late 40s to paint. Other artists who began studying painting in their late 20s are Pierre-Auguste Renoir who sang in a choir, then apprenticed at a porcelain factory, and Mark Rothko who worked as a labor organizer at first. All of these artists are truly superheroes regardless of my contrived metaphor! It's still fun to learn about their artistic life journeys.

Whether they become reclusive like Batman, Georgia O'Keefe, and Andrew Wyeth or blend in with mainstream America like Superman and Norman Rockwell, artists often turn tragedy into something extraordinary.

Art of the Zodiac & Artists' Astrological Signs

I thought it would be interesting to find art related to the 12 signs of the Zodiac; in addition, to look into the astrological signs of famous artists. An encouraging discovery is that all signs are artistic. Many sources speculate that Pisces is the most artistic of the signs, though some say that it is Sagittarius. I don't put much stock in the ranking of artistic ability or sensibility according to birth sign. However, it is fun to see where your favorite artists are on the astrological spectrum.

GEMINI

"The Two Fridas" (1939), Kahlo

Since we're in the month of June, let's start with Gemini (May 21 - June 20). Curiously, Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy were Geminis. Mary Cassatt, John Constable, Gustave Courbet, Paul Gauguin, and Leroy Neiman were Geminis. As is my doppelganger the ventriloquist, Terry Fator.

Here we have a double self-portrait by Frida Kahlo. It's a rather creepy depiction of two women (twins?) connected by veins flowing between two hearts. The sky background seems appropriate for the location of the constellation Gemini.

I much prefer these Pop Art images of Marilyn Monroe (a Gemini) by Andy Warhol (a Leo). His art was on display at the Palm Springs Art Museum when we visited in 2018.

CANCER

The next sign, Cancer (June 21 - July 22), a.k.a. the Crab is an easy one to depict. Van Gogh's "Two Crabs" (1889) was on display at the National Gallery in London when we visited the UK in 2017. Coincidentally, Frida Kahlo was a Cancer, along with many of my favorite artists, including Marc Chagall, Edgar Degas, Edward Hopper, Gustav Klimt, Amedeo Modigliani, Camille Pissarro, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, and Andrew Wyeth.

LEO

Our third sign is of course Leo (July 23 - August 22) the Lion. French artist, Marcel Duchamp, and American artists, Thomas Eakins and Andy Warhol were born Leos. In London's Trafalgar Square, around the base of Nelson's Column, are the four 'Landseer Lions' statues created by Sir Edwin Landseer.

VIRGO

"Peasant Woman Binding Sheaves"
(1889), Van Gogh (after Millet)

Famous Virgo (August 23 - September 22) artists were Grandma Moses and my personal favorite, local Seattle artist, Jacob Lawrence. Actress, Salma Hayek, famous for her movie portrayal of Frida Kahlo, is also a Virgo. The closest I can get to Virgo holding wheat is this painting by Van Gogh. He often copied the works of Jean-François Millet and painted the images in his own style. Here, he colorized the woman in blue gathering yellow wheat, colors much like Vermeer chose for his classic Dutch paintings.

"Woman Holding a Balance" (1664), Vermeer

LIBRA

Caravaggio, El Greco, Jean-François Millet, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, and N. C. Wyeth all share the sign of Libra (September 23 – October 22), a.k.a. the scales. Johannes Vermeer's painting is a fine example of one containing scales (hard to see but it's there!).

SCORPIO

Scorpio (October 23 – November 21) is the zodiac sign of painters, Roy Lichtenstein, Claude Monet, Georgia O'Keeffe, Pablo Picasso, Bob Ross, and Johannes Vermeer. I am unable to find a painting containing scorpions, although I'm certain that they were used, along with snakes, in some religious art of the Renaissance. Here is a graphical depiction of a scorpion using patterns one might find in Zentangles.

Botticelli (1482), Uffizi, Florence

SAGITTARIUS

Helen Frankenthaler, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Edvard Munch, Diego Rivera, Georges Seurat, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Diego Velázquez were born under the sign of Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21), the Archer or the Centaur. Some sources say that Velázquez was actually born in June, which would make him a Gemini. Sandro Botticelli (a Pisces) painted "Pallas and the Centaur" in 1482. We went to Florence in May 2011, though I can't recall seeing this painting.

CAPRICORN

Famous artists having the sign of Capricorn (December 22 – January 19) include Paul Cezzane, Henri Matisse, and my favorite portrait artist, John Singer Sargent. The most famous Goat I can think of is the one in Marc Chagall's "I And The Village". At least I think it's a goat...maybe a sheep? I'm pretty sure that the smaller animal being milked is a goat (and a large one at that!). This painting depicts Chagall's birthplace, making it even more appropriate for this topic, although he was born under Cancer.

I recently watched Steve Martin's (a Leo) 1987 movie, "Roxanne", starring Daryl Hannah (a Sagittarius) and immediately noticed his character's references to Chagall's Blue Man paintings. He painted several works that fall into that category. Chagall's Over Vitebsk (Above the Town) (1913) was hung prominently over C.D. (~Cyrano de Bergerac) "Charlie" Bales' fireplace in the movie. BTW, also look for one of Giuseppe Arcimboldo's fruit-faced portraits on the wall in C.D.'s home.

Chagall's La Mariée (The Bride) (1912) also appeared in the 1999 movie, "Notting Hill", starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. If you ever get the chance to travel to Nice, France, you need to visit the Chagall Museum. Many of his paintings are so huge that they fill an entire wall!

(1618-1622) Velázquez

AQUARIUS

Aquarius (January 20 – February 18), the water carrier, was the birth sign of Thomas Cole, Fernand Léger, Édouard Manet, and Jackson Pollock. The best I can do is "The Waterseller of Seville" by Diego Velázquez (a Sagittarius). The hippies and new agers of popular culture spoke of the "Age of Aquarius", though the song and lyrics popularized by the movie, "Hair", got it wrong, according to Astrologer, Neil Spencer. Wikipedia quotes him as saying, "Jupiter aligns with Mars several times a year and the Moon is in the 7th House for two hours every day." I'd imagine that even the Barber of Seville (not the water seller) would disapprove of "Hair" until the part when George Berger (Treat Williams) gets his cut off!

PISCES

The Fish sign, Pisces (February 19 – March 20) belongs to artists, Michelangelo, Piet Mondrian, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Winslow Homer. I love the 3D goldfish painted in layers of resin by Japanese artist, Riusuke Fukahori. His painstaking process of painting his goldfish is amazing and the results look truly three-dimensional because they pretty much are.

ARIES

Aries (March 21 – April 19) the Ram belongs to Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, and Raphael. "Shearing the Rams" (1890) was painted by Tom Roberts. Had the flying ram (Aries) been sheared then Zeus' efforts to save the children of Athamus would have been in vain. Only the King's son survived the long trip and sacrificed the ram to Zeus, its fleece becoming the golden fleece. Lucky for Jason, who benefitted from its healing powers.

"Landscape With Steer" (1937), Pollock

TAURUS

Salvador Dali, Eugène Delacroix, Albrecht Durer, Thomas Gainsborough, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Willem de Kooning, and J. M. W. Turner were all born under the sign of Taurus (April 20 – May 20) the Bull. Mexican artist, Diego Rivera may have influenced this unusual painting by Jackson Pollock. It's a departure from his later abstract expressionist drip paintings.

Observation in Art - Finding Faces

Observation is a key practice for artists and viewers of art. Recognizing shapes and colors is something we learn at a very young age. On a beautiful day when there are blue skies and large puffy cloud formations, I can’t help finding faces (pareidolia) and (usually) animal shapes, especially on a road trip. As you drive along, there is lots of time in which to share your perception with other riders, though often the clouds or the lighting shifts and so does the shape.

Sometimes even shadows can make you look twice, as I discovered on the BoredPanda website. I once saw a creepy face projected onto the carpet as light passed through the holes in a laundry basket. My all-time favorite is a National Geographic cover photo that got passed around our office in email years ago.

On our 2017 Palm Springs trip, we visited Joshua Tree National Park and saw this face in one of the rock formations. Then in 2018, at Utah's Zion National Park, I captured this photo of the elusive Sasquatch. Can you see him?










I love my photo of mule deer captured in silhouette among tangled branches in Zion National Park. The movement of the lines and the subtle depth and layering of the trees would make a great pastel landscape using a limited palette.

Cogsworth

One of our clocks is embellished with black metal scroll shapes below and surrounding a circular clock face. It reminds me of the head of a certain farm animal. Can you see it? All your brain needs are eyes and a mouth, and occasionally a nose, to make you see a face in something.

In Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, characters under a spell are transformed into inanimate objects that come to life.
I don't recall if his mustache moved.

Disney also does this in animated features like Cars. There, the windshields and grills make for great faces. The eyes are the windows to the soul...of the car...or truck. Some more obvious faces appear in a simple wall outlet or the combination of a faucet spout, handles, and sink vent opening. 

"I am Groot"

I remember an episode of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson where a guest brought her collection of potato chips that resembled faces, animals, and fruits.  He famously shocked her by eating a potato chip she thought was hers. Foods, particularly vegetables, make great faces, uncut or carved (e.g. a pumpkin). 

Credit to BobRz

I used to love playing “I Spy…” games with my daughter. The “Where’s Waldo” books were particularly challenging or other picture puzzles containing a list of hidden objects to find. We made our own drawing game to keep us busy while waiting for food in a restaurant. We’d draw some small detail of something we saw on a kid’s menu or some object or person around the restaurant and the other person(s) would have to guess what and where it is. This is an excellent way to engage kids in a quiet activity that is fun and educational. It also teaches a valuable skill -- observation!

When I show examples of an artist's work in class, my 5th-graders always amaze me with their observations. They often point out a detail that I have missed. I like to challenge their brains to solve optical illusions containing two different faces. It's fun to hear them say, "Oh, I see it!" However, some of Salvador Dali's dreamlike works take longer to interpret.

You'll have to guess the title!

Encouraging Artistic Expression

Perhaps you’ve landscaped your yard, dabbled in interior decorating, or put together an outfit to wear for a special occasion. Your own sense of style or eye for what looks good is either a natural ability you have or something you learned through trial and error. Maybe you thoughtfully designed a plan to realize your vision. Even if you haven’t created the elements yourself, you’ve put them together into a composition that you (and maybe others) can appreciate. Such forms of expression qualify as art.

"Salvator Mundi" (1500), da Vinci

The thing about art is that it is personal; a personal expression for the artist and personal experience for the viewer. If we like it enough and the artist is willing to part with it then it may be sold. The Most Expensive Painting Ever Sold is Leonardo da Vinci's painting for $450.3 Million. Impressive how much someone will pay to own art! More impressive when it is donated so that others may appreciate it!! Art is meant to be felt, interpreted, enjoyed, cherished, etc. but never judged. Art should be encouraged without fear of judgment.

Zentangle by Jane Marbaix

Drawing and painting are merely mediums and vehicles for expressing yourself artistically. Please don’t write off doing art because of fear. Pick up a pencil or pen and doodle, practice drawing something, make a birthday card for a friend, or take a painting class with a friend or family member. Until a friend gifted me this book of 'Zentanlges' I never knew there was organized doodling. Activities like these will stimulate your brain and you may learn something in the process – the process of creating art, that is!

It's satisfying to take an idea or concept and create something. For me, it’s not so much the finished product as it is having engaged in a process of trying something new, and playing with new techniques or the arrangement of elements to my own satisfaction. I’m not into erasing or trashing what I've created. It’s okay to start over or modify the process after making it through at least once.

Magdalena Dabrowski, 1995

German model Helga Testorf, Wyeth

Even famous or dedicated ‘artists’ fail and go back to the drawing board; such repetition is referred to as studies. Many artists, like Andrew Wyeth, repeated the same subject over and over, while some artists, Wassily Kandinsky and Jackson Pollock, numbered compositions. It’s similar to writing.

Paper Icebergs - Texture

With writing, there may be lots of crumpled up paper on the ground or overflowing the wastebasket. Still, in the editing process, we learn something with each new draft.

When I'm writing my blog, I keep a running list of ideas I may want to share with my readers. Ideas may be inspired by something I've seen, places I've been, or something I want to learn more about. I've shared my observations and experiences, activities, and art from family, friends, local artists, and well-known recognizable master artists. I've discussed art from my own lesson plans and classroom teaching sessions. Whenever possible, I try to include photos of art I've seen in my travels around the world. When I encounter something interesting and relevant on the Internet, I try to include a link so that you may delve deeper into the topic or the story behind the art.

Besides the elements of line and shading that contribute to drawing, one of the more difficult areas to grasp is composition. Balance is one of the most important elements because it contributes to either a sense of calm (symmetry) or what feels right or a more dynamic feeling of unease (asymmetry). The other elements of composition are contrast, focus (emphasis), movement, pattern, rhythm, unity, and proportion. Finding the focus (directing the eye) and the right combination of contrast between light and dark, color, shape, size, texture, and type of line will determine the overall feel of your painting.

Pattern and Rhythm go hand-in-hand, like a piece of music with an underlying beat sets the auditory pace, repetition of shape and color can visually lead your eye. Unity and Proportion determine whether objects belong or fit together. These are particularly important when drawing a face.

Layout, the arrangement of an odd number of objects, and the use of negative space help create a gentle and pleasing flow (see Compositional Tricks and Tips). Movement is achieved through a combination of elements such as the contrast of texture or warm/cool colors, use of directional brushwork, or rhythmic repetition.

Marcel Duchamp (1912)

Credit Fight Sports, John Lindsay

Years ago, my brother created a futuristic painting (not shown) of the first of a trilogy of Ali-Frazier fights from March 1971 inspired by Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) showing movement.

My Kandinsky Project with Seniors

Two of my favorite artists who are masters of composition are Kandinsky and Joan Miró. They have inspired my art projects that were successful at teaching the principle and its elements.

Our own home decor uses repetition of concentric circles in our carpet runners, circular patterns in a shower curtain and bath towel trim, and the medallions in a framed plaque, commemorating the programs I worked on during my career as a software engineer, and a clock that hangs in my office. While the objects were purchased individually, their usage and placement complement the rest of the decor.

"Bat, Deer and Pine"

"Plum Blossoms, Crane, and Deer"

If you're interested in learning more about composition, then you should look into Japanese art from the Edo Period. Although I've yet to teach the topic using this symbolic mural, a wall painting of two sliding screens, I have developed a lesson plan inspired by it. 

Such murals are often made up of two or more bi-fold screens.

Each of these murals is a collaboration by three different artists. The first is by Keibun, Toyohiko, and Toyo; the second by Goshum, Ganku, and Toyo. Japanese Artists, Keisai Eisen, and Ando Hiroshige inspired Vincent van Gogh to paint his own versions of their works in his own style and color scheme. Van Gogh was also so moved to copy the works of Jean-François Millet. You're probably more familiar with the landscapes of Katsushika Hokusai. In my Art Parodies post, "The Wave" is turned into Sesame Street's Muppet Cookie Monster.

"The Great Wave" (1829-32), Hokusai