Art
is always about ideas:
Any idea when transformed through
a medium can become art. But,
No idea, no art. Ideas are not hard to find.
They come from our reactions to life.
The
following list came from a single
brainstorming session. When one brainstorms
you come up with a whole lot of ideas,
some will be useful others may just
be discarded.
There are some
themes below that could be interpreted
with any kind of art medium.
Time:
Seasons
as time: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer;
A season to --- (plant, harvest, build,
grow, suffer, destroy, want, plenty,
trials; Time as Age; age of innocence,
golden age, in the prime, old age; Time
the destroyer, victim of time, man's
dilemma in the age of machines.
Love:
Self absorbing
love, brotherly love; Love as lust;
Lust for --- (money, power, fame, blood)
Love
unrequited love, unloving, love goddess;
Love of --- (country, justice, peace,
security, etc;
Realms:
Realms
as rooms; Old rooms, large rooms, small
rooms, pool rooms, bar rooms, school
rooms, light rooms, dark rooms; Realms
as worlds; new world, old world, day
world, night world, business world,
other world, other worldly; Outer space,
Fairy land, Mother Goose land, --- Sea
places, air places, rocky places, sandy
places, glassy places, grassy places;
mountains and seas, animal homes, the
realm of dreams;
Feelings:
Joy, Sorrow,
Loneliness, Longing, Longing for ---
, Confusion, Frustration, Hatred of
-- Social Concerns: Roles of
people; Issues of life and death; Heaven
and hell; Peace, Security, Being with
people; Parties, Wild or interesting
characters, Caricatures; Mothers, Fathers,
Clergy, Human rights, Generation gap;
Institutions:
Home scenes; Sport scenes; Entertainment
industry; Hospitals, Politics, Religious
themes;
Art
Abstraction:
Abstract
art can be of several kinds, One
kind is "expressionistic" a category
of art that brings emotional expression
through distortion and extreme
colors. Color can become symbolic
such as green for envy and red
for passion or energy; At times
expressionism appears distorted
or chaotic and quite out of control.
This kind frequently gets a response
like, "My two year old kid could
do better than that!" In cases
like that the view is probably
missing a lot of the visual content
within the work. Another kind
is intellectual abstraction that
tries to develop a sense of relationship
between lines, forms and color.
Relationship can be such as small
to large, dark to light, rough
to smooth, curved to strait, etc.
Sometimes this kind of art can
be very precise but yet hard to
interpret. Symbolism is another
area for free interpretation.
The actual content may use objects
to represent other meanings than
"reality."
Interpreting Themes
In an Expressive Way
Art
Ideas:
Viewing
and Interpretation Reality
Real
subjects taken from Nature provide
an unlimited source for drawings, paintings
and design. Human beings have interpreted
the natural world since before the Egyptians.
Approaches to interpreting reality can
vary a lot. From photo realism to semi
realism. Some artists use nature for
a source of "motifs' which are then
used in a decorative crafty way. Clay
designs with fish on them for example
or clothing printed with flower patterns.
Being
able to draw or paint realistically
is not the only basis for 'good work'
from nature. It is an even more important
to bring out a personal viewpoint or
interpretation than to make it look
like a photo. Ordinary sights from everyday
life would be a great treasure if we
only had them from some observer who
lived hundreds or thousands of years
ago. Likewise your own every day life
and environment would be a treasure
to anyone who might wonder what life
was like when you went to school as
a young person.
Subjects
which occur in our every day life and
environment: Page
2 Human
subjects: Working, Playing, Studying,
Working out, Playing a sport; The very
fact that the action is so common place
usually makes it a very good candidate
for a picture. But at the same time,
because it is so common we think it
is not a good idea. Treasures from everyday
life might include your mom in the kitchen
with an apron, your father on the tractor
with his cap. Your little brother sprawled
in front of the TV, your sister styling
her hair with a blow dryer.
Interpretive
Portraits
Outdoor
Subjects
(landscape scenes) Places
in the wild, out of doors; Buildings,
Fields, Trees, Fence Rows; Rivers
or Lakes; Natural park; Townscapes
or Cityscapes are details of buildings
and streets; Views of the streets
and store fronts.
Indoor
Subjects, (Interiors)
Interesting
places seen from the inside; Living
rooms, dining rooms, ball rooms, bedrooms,
basements, bathrooms, studios, deserted
rooms, malls.
Still
life Subjects,Including all
kinds of everyday forms, fruits,
vegetables, daily objects from life.
Getting a
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