"Equipment" 2 - Mucha, Parrish, & Wyeth

It's a dark, dreary day in Ohio, and I've had to fight myself to do what I'm "supposed to" do. I'd much rather share a stream of consciousness that started when I saw Erica's blog http://ericalack.blogspot.com/2010/05/equipment.html and her entry for "equipment". In that stream, Roberto made a comment that it reminded him of Mucha.

I like Mucha, and I thought about making something on those lines myself. I mentioned this to a friend, and she asked me to send links of Mucha's work. I also forwarded the links to another friend, who responded that he was reminded of Maxfield Parrish. He included links which I then forwarded to friend #1. Spilling out of these forwards were some links for N. C. Wyeth. All of these artists are easy to search online, and I encourage you to do it.

Talking art with people who love art is fun and gets my creative juices flowing. Sharing observations about the connections to Artists A, B, and C let's me see how they were each influenced by each other, and how each inspires me.

Alphonse Mucha: July 24, 1860 - July 14, 1939
Mucha was a Czech artist who lived in Moravia, Munich, Vienna, and Paris. He did remarkable paintings, but is best known for his advertising art which spawned the Art Nouveau movement. He credited his influences to Czech art and his inner sense of spirituality. His advertising style is characterized by beautiful women, decorative backgrounds, and elements from nature, especially leaves and flowers. He used long, fluid lines, and a deceptively simple way of drawing. His anatomy was spot on, and despite simple outlines, the shading was subtle and effective.

Maxfield Parrish: July 25, 1870 - March 30, 1966
Isn't it interesting that Parrish was born 10 years and a day after Mucha? Parrish was an American artist who was also fond of painting pretty women in a deceptively simple way. He loved grand subjects and grand landscapes. Parrish had a fascination with patterns, and often draped his models with them.

N. C. Wyeth: October 22, 1882 - October 19, 1945
It isn't much of a stretch to go from Parrish to Wyeth. Another American, Wyeth's monumental landscapes, colors, and romanticism contribute to his lasting popularity.

All of these artists had a love of nature that shows in their work. All of them had a sympathetic tone to the ways they portrayed their models. If pretty girls or Indians were the subject, you get the feeling that the artists loved them, or at least loved the idea of them in a romanticized way. They all thought about light and color. They all achieved fame in their lifetimes, were alive at the same time, and they had to be aware of each other since they each did things for advertising and print.

"Equipment" seemed like a dull word to me this week, but I've enjoyed looking at other people's contributions to the topic -- even though Erica admitted her submission was a stretch for the word. But when it really comes down to it, our greatest equipment is our minds, the influences in our lives, and the paths that previous artists paved before us.

I hesitated to put something of my own on a posting of artists I admire, especially since I already posted something this week, but hey, it just wouldn't be right to play on IF without following the rules. Think of Medusa's snakes as ideas and influences coming out of her mind. This is an older piece I did in colored pencil while thinking of Mucha.