JDunlap

 Realism "How could art about classical gods and biblical stories relate to a culture enchanted with progress? In the middle of the nineteenth century, young artists decided that it couldn't and shouldn't."  (smarthistory.com, n.d.)         The first painting in this era comparison is The Artist's Studio. This painting was done using oil on canvas by Gustav Courbet in 1854-55. The full name for the painting is The Artist's Studio: A Real Allegory Summing Up Seven Years of My Life as an Artist.  It is an extravagantly large painting spanning to almost 12 feet in height and 19 feet in length. Size alone drew my attention in immediately and it only got better from there. The artists intentions were to curate an image based on an idea of his world, revolving around him. On the right side of the painting, Courbet represents those who he deems to be his supporters and friends. On the left, "this is the other world of ordinary life, the people, mise...

      The first work in this discussion of morality in the classical era of art, I chose a painting by Jean Baptiste-Martin. It it titled A Meeting of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture at the Louvre, created in 1712-21 using oils on canvas. (Berman, 2020) This painting is described as a room full of finely dress men meeting to teach and share painting techniques. It functioned as a place for these men to share their work, expand their artistic knowledge, and utilized hands on lessons.         The second work fits a similar theme as the first work I discussed. This painting titled, The School of Art, created by  Benoît-Louis Prévost in 1763. This depicts the evolution of the art school and how each artist would progress to different levels of drawing practices. Tracing the image from left to read, we see artists starting at the beginning level using drawings and engravings to copy from. Then to the right is the increase in level util...

Baroque        This painting was created by Rachel Ruysch in 1711 in the Netherlands, using oils on wood. Ruysch was a Dutch artist who specialized in flowers and still-life paintings. This piece is titled  Flowers and Insects and is one of Ruysch's more lively and expansive paintings. Instead of flowers, she includes various fruits, insects, naturalistic items, and other creatures. What I find to be the most interesting aspect of this painting and a few of her others, is that she does not use real still-life items to reference when painting. Rather she uses sketches and composites from studies she and her father had done on these various specimens. This piece truly caught my eye with all the vibrant colors intermixed and the attention to detail is absolutely astonishing, which is one of the reasons why it inspires awe in those who view it. Around the time this painting was created, scientists had just perfected the invention of the microscope which increased th...

  Landscape with the Flight into Egypt   This piece is called Landscape with the Flight into Egypt,  created by Annibale Caracci using oils on canvas. It was made in 1604 and was created for the Palazzo Doria Pamphili in Rome, Italy. This piece is one of four other "lunettes," half-moon-shaped surfaces. The composition offers an atmospheric perspective with increased blue tones, supporting the illusion of space within the painting. This technique also reduces the level of detail in order to maintain the illusion of space. Another interesting detail is found in how the rooves of the building are drawn. The rounded roof in the center, also known as the oculus, is meant to represent the recall of ancient architectural techniques.   The painting tells a biblical story of Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt with the child of Christ amidst an increase in violence toward their people.            Caracci began his practices in Bologna, I...

Strange       For this project, I chose a visual art photograph taken by photographer Gregory Heisler. This piece was not given a name, that I could find, but was placed in a 2018 portfolio titled, Strange.  In this piece, Tim Burton is surrounded by 11 hoses that are all being directed toward him. The first and most obvious visual element is Heisler's use of line to direct the viewer's attention to the center. To me, I thought the surrounding elements were snakes, which explained the chilling expression he had on his face. However, once I looked closer I realized they were hoses of different lengths with unique nozzles on the ends of each of them. Some have two connections to the nozzle and others just have one. The second use of visual elements is negative space. The spacing between Burton and the hoses fills out the general shape of a head and a body. The third visual element is the repetition of the hoses. Though they differ in small ways, there are still many of...

 Hello all!      My name is Joryan Dunlap and I am approaching my final year here at UAF. I am working on completing my Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in psychology and a minor in art. UAF is the fourth college I have attended in the span of five years and I am grateful it is where I have been able to remain for the rest of my undergraduate degree. I was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, where I still currently reside today. When I am not behind my computer working on school I am working as a behavioral health associate. Through this job, I work with kids who have dealt with adverse childhood experiences or trauma, and who are in and out of the foster care system. It is a tough and wearing job, but absolutely worth it to see these kids thrive and grow into successful members of society. When I am not working, I am spending time with my two cats, Bubooski and King Boo, both girls with drastically different personalities. Outside of work, school, and home lif...