Well, it’s Thursday again, so once more I’m preparing for a long three days of working, which will be made even longer given that we’re going to be incredibly short-handed this weekend.
But oh well, we’ll manage, I guess.
Tomorrow morning I have to get back into the swing of getting up really damned early and driving in to work out. After the little hiatus I just had, it’s going to be tricky, but I guess I’ll manage.
So with three pictures (and probably at least the start of a fourth), I’ve been fairly “prolific” this week.
Sometimes that happens. I’m not really sure where the motivation or focus come from, though I wish I could summon them at will.
Ideally I would apply them to my writing, though, as I’ve been pretty remiss on that score.
I actually came up with an idea for a series of novels the other day, but I was too lazy to do anything with it.
Maybe someday.
In the meantime, though, I should at least finish the second story I started on, featuring the characters from the story I submitted for publication.
That’s not likely to happen before next week, though, as I’m still finding my little “Nagel experiment” interesting, so I need to take advantage of that before my interest wanes.
I have to say that it’s fun. I don’t know why I’ve never tried this before. I mean, years ago I did my own copies of some Nagel pictures, but I’ve never really tried to create my own images in his style.
I have to say that it’s much simpler, and I work much faster, but “simpler” doesn’t really mean that it’s easier.
For one thing, I’m pretty much working without reference, as high-quality copies of Nagel’s images are difficult to come by. The stuff on the Web is all pretty small and low-res, so in terms of imitating his style, I’m largely working from memory.
The other problem is simply adapting to the style itself. I have a tendency to go nuts with the details sometime, with lots of shading, blending, and etc.
Nagel’s style, obviously, is much cleaner, sharper, and not nearly so complex as my usual work.
So I have a very hard time reining myself in.
It’s also difficult to decide which details need to be included. The question I have to ask is “What is ESSENTIAL to the production of this image?” and then I have to limit myself to adding only those elements that are essential.
I think the end result, though, is worth the effort, and that ultimately this experiment is going to help me improve as an artist and to further hone my own style.
We’ll see, I guess.
In the meantime, though, you may all be wondering “Who the hell is Nagel anyway?”Honestly, I can’t tell you that much about the man himself, but basically he was a painter in the early 1980s who created a new style that was very widely imitated (usually poorly), that was very heavily influenced by the field of commercial art, but also draws heavily from the Japanese style of ink drawing (which is known as Sumi-E, if I recall correctly, but I could very easily be wrong).
Given the typical subject matter (beautiful women), his art found an ideal showcase in Playboy magazine, which very frequently featured his art.
Any of you out there who are fans of Duran Duran may recognize his style, as he provided the cover for the album “Rio.”
(Note: I am NOT a fan of Duran Duran, and feel that the Nagel cover is the only thing that justifies the existence of “Rio.”)
I believe he died sometime around 1984, leaving a reasonably large body of work behind.
As I understand it, his widow, who owns the rights to his work, is very…protective of his work, which is why it’s difficult to find high-quality images online. In recent years, though, she has at least begun making his work available for viewing (albeit in low-res form) online.
As with any artist, not everyone cares for his style, but personally, I think it’s brilliant. I love the minimalist aspect of it, which makes it appear deceptively simple, and the sometimes shocking use of color.
I will admit, though, that it is somewhat dated, and the fact that there have been so many imitators, and indeed, such a similar style in the stock, commercial clip art that inspired it, and is still in heavy use today, that it seems sort of common, making it difficult to see just how innovative it really was back in its day.
If you want to see some of his original work, though, check out www.patricknagel.com
The site also features a bio on him, if you’re inclined to learn more.
If you don’t like his style…well, that’s okay, and I won’t call you an uncultured swine, but I will warn you that this site is likely to feature a lot of art done in a similar style for the next little bit.
Anyway, I guess that does it for now, as I want to get some more drawing in before I go to bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment