Graphic Designs

October Graphics At The Art of John Bittinger Klomp

I often use illustrations and graphics in my blog. These often appear as addenda in the top or on the side of the blog. Sometimes they are part of an entry. And of course, much of the time the blog is about my fine artworks, so of necessity it includes illustrations of that fine art. Whenever possible I use my own graphics to make a point, or to illustrate an entry, and I think anyone viewing my journal would be hard pressed to find any artwork that isn’t my own. When an artwork is not mine, I make a point of that through notation. Most often my graphics are political, though sometimes they are made just to emphasize something I am writing about.

I’ve decided to run a series of entries that take a look at the graphics from the past and present. Today’s entry is an illustration of four graphics from past October entries.

Claude Monet: The Manneport

The Manneport, Claude Monet (1882) oil paint

In general, looking back at Impressionism from the perspective of the Post and Metamodern, the paintings are always too pretty for my taste. Having said that, I love the rough, dry painted surface texture in this painting, though it doesn't quite work for the water. Yes I can be critical of Monet's choices. He was a master - never the less - he was not perfect, as none of us are. I've had friends tell me I'm too critical of my own work - and hy not? If Monet could make choices that wern't optimum, and I can see them - I should certainly be critical of my own poor choices.

So, back to Manneport the rocks are incredible. And, of course, as always Monet's color is fabulous!

The Mini Critique is done.

Leonardo DeCaprio as Gatsby: Part X

It Is Finished!

“Gatsby” is completed and installed in the banquet facility at Meghan’s Characters Pub in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We drove the six panels to Lancaster last weekend. They were boxed and stacked in the back of our white Terrain.

Birthday Dinner at Characters

We had a birthday dinner Saturday evening at Characters in order to celebrate three birthdays, Joe’s, Millie’s, and yours truly. As always we enjoyed the world-class cuisine that Meghan and her souse-chef prepare. I had Meghan’s stuffed peppers. They were spicy/hot, stuffed with deliciously sweet/sour pulled pork and swimming in a marvelous brown gravy/sauce. They were so good that I thought about ordering a second batch. However, as I am the slowest eating bottomless-pit on the planet, I did not order them. It just wouldn’t have been fair to make my dinner companions watch me eat that second batch before we had our birthday cake.

Back to Gatsby

I put the six Gatsby panels together Saturday afternoon before dinner, and Meghan’s handy person, Beck hung it Sunday. Meghan has completely redecorated the banquet space since our wedding reception last year, and the first photo above shows how the painting looks in that huge room. The second is a close up of the painting. Beck and I have just admired her handy work, and my partner, Joe took our photo standing with the painting.

Leonardo DeCaprio as Gatsby: Part IX

The Final Section (C2R3) is Complete.

My color is so different in this image from the original Adobe Photoshop sketch! However, all the colors are from the same set of premixed colors used during the entire project, so I have to think that some of the fault lies within the digital photo. Actually, this photo was taken with a flash, and indoors. All the other photos were taken outdoors in the shade. It is amazing what a difference these things can make in color.

I will take one last set of photos of the entire painting when it is put together and installed in the Banquet facility at Characters Restaurant in Lancaster, PA. That set will be done with a tripod, no flash, lights out with only the light from the windows to illuminate it. The camera will be set for indoor light. Never the less, I imagine I will have problems with the ambient light in the space because that light comes from 4 floor to ceiling windows in the front of the late 19th century space. The space is quite large, and the windows do provide a lot of light, so I’m sure I will be able to work with camera and Photoshop to work out the difficulties. I can’t wait to see the painting installed.

Next entry will show the painting in its entirety though not at this stage installed at Characters Gastropub.