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The Accidental Artist

October 13, 2011, 7:16 pm
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If there were a formula for being creative, we would all be Steve Jobs. The fact is that there is no formula for creativity. Creativity is the antithesis of formula. You can read all the books, and take all the Master Classes and workshops, but in the end despite learning all the anatomy and painting skills in the world there is no class that you can take, no book you can read, that can make you an artist.

Today was my set-up day at New York Comic Con. The Jacob Javits Center is this week the Mecca for Pop Culture. Games, Books, Movies, Comics, everything you can imagine, blitzed into your sensory receptors like a shot of heroin with 100,000 fellow junkies. As I set-up and got settled-in I walked around and was quickly over-come. After all, no human should be exposed to that much Hello-Kitty in one day. I love the fans, I love the artists, but for me its like Vegas. Its beautiful and flashy, but not Real, its all showmanship. I decided that if I were to survive the next four days, I had to center and focus myself.

Escaping the venue I jumped into a taxi and headed for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. What was the opposite of massive pop-art over load?- The Japanese Wing! There I sat with my sketch book in Astor Court (left) and just decompressed preparing for the onslaught. I wandered through the rooms and was once again enchanted by the beautiful Scroll landscapes. I worked in my book and decided I would paint a large vertical landscape as my next piece.

Inspired by the idea of a landscape I worked my way to the American Wing intending to see some Beirdstadts and Hudson River Valley School artists for inspiration. I was informed that the wing was closed for renovation. With no other options I worked my way to 19th Century painting Wing, Hoping to see Corot and the other landscape masters of the Realist School.

To my surprise I discovered that the 19th Century Wing had been completely rearranged. The new director has moved in many new paintings that I had never seen before. A David Caspar Fredrich landscape was exactly what I was looking for. A new gallery devoted entirely to the Orientalists was a surprise, and an Art-Nouveau Room reconstructed with a Mucha painting was entirely new to me. What a pleasant surprise! As I wandered back into the front Gallery, I saw a grizzled gentleman that looked very familiar. In a city of 8 million I don't expect to see anyone I know, but with the show in town I took a chance. I introduced myself, and it was in fact, Michael Kaluta! Another wonderful surprise. We chatted over the changes and additions to the gallery and hoped to see one another at the convention.

The moral of the story is that to be an artist one must venture off the beaten path. Do not put blinders on to only one thing, but venture outside of your comfort zone and explore. I have a new zest of ideas and new zeal for painting that did not exist yesterday. Go out and explore! Good hunting artists!!

WOC

POSTSCRIPT 11/6/11

I recently finished my Metropolitan inspired Japanese landscape painting. It was very well received at Illuxcon and sold to an old friend.



"Race to Minas Tirith"
20"x48"
oil on panel
©2011 William O'Connor









POST-POSTSCRIPT 4/24/12

The painting "Race to Minas Tirith" was selected for inclusion into Spectrum 19.  


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The Deck of Many Things

November 10, 2011, 6:45 am
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Every once in a while you are thrown a curve ball as an illustrator and a funky project lands in your inbox. I had actually forgotten about this assignment since it was commissioned so long ago. "The Deck of many Things" was a 23 card assignment to produce playing cards that would be used as props in the game "Madness at Gardmore Abbey" (Wizards of the Coast, 2011.) Actually the deck was commissioned to be released with the D&D online magazine, and was presented as a rush job to be released the following month. With roughly twenty business days to produce the artwork I presented a mock-up image to the art director of what I felt confident I could produce under the tight deadline and still deliver on schedule. In the end the project was shelved and the rush was not necessary. (The foibles of publishing). The image shown here represents the original card back that I was rather partial to. Months afterward I was commissioned to re-design the card back because a yin-yang symbol would not be contiguous with the game universe.

Aesthetically the challenge was not to make the images look like contemporary cards, but rather like antique objects or an old woodcut tarot deck. It was a fun assignment, and a lot of work to complete 23 images in 3 weeks, but one of those assignments that only comes along once in a blue moon.

Enjoy

WOC
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It Was Twenty Years Ago Today

November 13, 2011, 8:03 am
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This month is the twentieth anniversary of receiving my very first commission. I never could have imagined that I would have the opportunity to do this work for twenty years! Its a bitter sweet reflective moment and thought I would share my memories.

In the Summer of 1991 I was studying illustration at Parsons School of Design. Although I was a Fine Arts Painting major at Alfred University my parents insisted that I should have a more practical back-up plan, and it was commercial arts or teaching. My instructor at the time suggested that I try pen and ink, since my sketchbook was filled with unfinished drawings. On his demand I rendered the image above (Battle Cleric, 1991), and promptly put away my pen and inks.

Two month later once back at University I was encouraged by my gaming friends that I should send off my portfolio. In an attempt to get it out of the way, and get back to my "real work" I sent off color copies and my one B&W to three publishers. TSR, White Wolf, and Isaac Azimov's. Peggy Cooper at TSR sent me a very encouraging form letter, I am still waiting for a reply from Azimov's, and I received this letter from Josh Timbrook and Ken Cliffe at White Wolf. Yes, I am so old that correspondences (and sketches) between artist and AD were sent via mail!

Within a week I called the White Wolf offices from my dorm hall phone (Yes, No Cell Phones! No Email.) I talked with them and they hoped I was available to produce 27 pen and ink illustrations for a new project "Ars Magica 3rd Edition". I agreed, assuring them that I was on the job, and that it was no problem. I was terrified!

My memories of the job are still very vivid in my mind. I remember my first thought was that I had been hired, and I had only done one pen and ink in my entire life! I didn't really know how to work in pen and ink. I went to the library and pulled out every pen and ink and woodblock artist I could find (again, no internet, just the old card catalog system!) I found Albrecht Durer, Howard Pyle, and several Golden Age Illustrators in the children's section of the local public library. These I made copies of and wallpapered my studio. If I had to render grass I found a Pyle's Robin Hood illustration with grass and copied the technique. If I had to paint wood, I looked to Durer to see how he did it. In this way I managed to scratch out 27 illustrations.
That was probably the biggest learning curve on a project that I've ever experienced. I learned more about the publishing industry, composition, design, drawing and illustration in two months than I could have learned in ten years of school. I remember that the most exciting part was that I was going to be published. In a hundred years, after I was dead, this artwork would still exist somewhere on a bookshelf.

I think what is most interesting is how different the market is today. The business of fantasy art is unrecognizable from two decades ago. There were no websites or art blogs. There definitely weren't any art challenges or portfolio reviews. There was no Comic Con and no Spectrum. This was before Magic The Gathering, Harry Potter, World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings. Before the term "Concept Art" was in reference to anything other than performance installations. Before Fantasy became an international multi-billion dollar business. It was a very small industry with very few people in it. Everyone knew everyone else. You sent them your work, and if they like you they hired you. No recommendations, no workshops, no followers or page views. No symposiums or master classes. No style guides, no R&D, no creative directors or crowd sourcing. Twenty years ago was just an artist and the art director on the phone making stuff they liked. The X Generation produced some stellar artists. Among my fellow classmates of '92 include Donato Giancola, Irene Gallo, Tony Diterlizzi, and Rebecca Guay. I'm very interested to see what the next twenty years will bring!

Enjoy this very limited gallery of a few pieces that I did for that project, twenty years ago.

Enjoy

WOC















Ars Magica and Artwork ©Atlas Games
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Battle Cleric Redux

November 16, 2011, 12:42 pm
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After my last post I decided that it might be fun to revisit my twenty year old character of the Battle Cleric. Its twenty years later and the bearded priest has leveled-up more than a few times. His adventures have left him scarred but wiser....aren't we all.

A battle hardened veteran, and still a bad-ass undead killer.

Enjoy.

WOC



"Battle Cleric Redux"
6"x9" digital
©2011 William O'Connor Studios







"Battle Cleric"
9"x12" pen and ink
©1991 William O'Connor Studios
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Artist of the Month- Prokofiev (Peter and the Wolf)

November 25, 2011, 6:25 pm
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This month I am inspired by my daughter's interest in Peter and Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953). Listening to the New York Philharmonic production my daughter was enthralled by the audio and developed a whole narrative in her mind. Trying to watch the Disney version she was disturbed that the story did not follow her imagination and I quickly disposed of the rendition to allow her to imagine the story in her own way. I thought that this would be a great concept-art learning moment for students and artists to interpret the music in their own way. Attached is the audio for the Leonard Bernstein , New York Philharmonic Production of Peter and the Wolf (1960). I encourage you all to listen and interpret the story your own manner...


Listen:
Peter and the Wolf-Bernstein

WOC
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Champions of the Heroic Tier

November 28, 2011, 1:52 pm
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Thought I would share a cover I did for Wizards of the Coast. Champions of the Heroic Tier (Wizards of the Coast 2011) I'm including my original thumbnail and the final cover. Fairly self explanatory, but a fun painting, lots of fiddly bits and action!

Enjoy.

WOC











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Clothes vs. Costume

December 16, 2011, 6:44 am
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I had a professor once that told me that there was a difference between clothes and costumes. Costumes are what people wear when pretending to be someone they're not, while clothes are the items we wear every day.

In fantasy character design I am constantly trying to balance the practical with the fantastical. As in any other type of design form needs to follow function. When designing the garments and gear of a character in a fantasy game that will be in combat situatons and traveling to different environments and locations, I always like to refer to actual soldier gear. The past 150 years has allowed us to take candid photo reference of what soldiers actually wear into battle. Although the technology has changed over the past several thousand years, the soldier's gear has altered little.

In this photograph (ca. 1863) we see soldiers preparing for rail transport to the front. Whats noticeable is how little they carry. A small ruck sack, ammunition case and rifle. This was a direct example of form following function. 19th C. soldiers never traveled far from their supply lines and a regiment would be accompanied by camp followers and even family that would cook and make camp.





In this WWI photo taken fifty years later we see how soldier's gear has evolved. Notice that there are no backpacks. Trench warfare had ground movement to almost zero. A soldier's primary concern was protection against machine guns. These German soldiers have sacrificed all their weight allowance to armor. The high leather boots and leggings were to protect them from standing and sleeping in the mud for weeks.




In WWII, only thirty years later, the style and technology of warfare has evolved again. Warfare and combat become extremely mobile. A soldier must carry everything he needs to last for an entire mission inside enemy territory. If you can't carry it, you don't have it. Its this form following function that we see almost all armor (except the helmet) abandoned in favor of mobility and all weight allowances are surrendered to ammo pouches and gear. The entire body becomes a backpack.

In Vietnam the rule of form following function changes again. Mobility is of crucial importance, but soldiers were closer to supply lines with the use of helicopters and fire support bases. Supplies could be sacrificed to more important needs, like armor and ammo.









Today the contemporary soldier is no different that anytime in the past 5000 years. In the middle east we see new armor styles evolving. Armored vests, elbow and knee pads, as well as eye protection are essential for urban close-quarter-combat. Shattering glass and broken concrete have replaced shrapnel as threats. With no need for long marches backpacks have been replaced by water pouches. The soldier's gear is tightly packed around the torso in order to maintain balance in the rough terrain. and to move in tight quarters easily. With close supplies and support their are almost no personal supplies carried on patrol. The new warfare has also introduced female soldiers into the equation. So what does female armor look like? Its exactly the same as male armor. The US Army frowns upon kevlar bikinis.


So although as a fantasy artist I am not trying to replicate historically accurate armor I hope this shows is that we can all draw a great deal of reference from actual soldiers and combatants. The fact is that a soldier will only wear what she absolutely needs. If it does not serve a function its abandoned, and its appearance is of no concern to them. This gear is what keeps them alive. When designing characters of my own, I continually try to remember, what would this person wear to keep them alive today? I try to design clothes and not costumes.

Enjoy.

WOC
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Artist of the Month-Franz Kline

December 29, 2011, 3:20 pm
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In my continuing Artist of the Month series I routinely try to explore artists outside of the Fantasy genre that have influenced my work or inspire my work tangentially through their unorthodox process. This month I expand upon this idea by including one of my favorite artists Franz Kline (1910-1962).

As a fantasy artist it would seem that there is very little connection between the high modern Abstract Expressionist and myself, but he is one of the few painters who's work I keep hanging on my wall in my studio. Kline is the ultimate composer. When ever I begin a work in the thumbnail stage I, (and every artist) should look to Kline. Eliminating narrative, eliminating color, eliminating space, Kline works in pure abstract composition. Influenced by Asian character brush painting Kline takes the pure form of the thumbnail sketch and elevates it to high art. The essence of the creative process.

There is not much to say about his work.  It is what it is.  Pure and clean and sublime. There is no context or narrative, simply the essence of painting. I have always admired his compositions and he is the master of the thumbnail. So the next time you are struggling in your sketchbook over a dozen preliminaries, look to Kline and draw inspiration from the master who spent his life executing thousands of paintings dedicated to this simple and limitless exercise.

Enjoy.

WOC

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Varnishing Day

January 16, 2012, 12:31 pm
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As we all know the deadline for entries into Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantasy Art is coming up fast. I just got my entries off today. I am a huge fan of this publication, have been in it many times and think it is a showcase of some of the best artists of our generation. That said, there has developed an almost mythological quality to this annual. Artists rushing about frantically trying to get work finished before the deadline, sleeplessly going over what to submit, what to leave out, then waiting with bated breath to see if they got in. Careers have been made in Spectrum. At the same time there are artists who refuse to enter. They feel it is too political, too random to place that much credit upon a small group of subjective jurists.

Whatever side of the fence you fall on, this time of year always reminds me of Varnishing Day. Varnishing Day was the most important day in the artistic calendar of the Academic Salon artist. It was the last day that artists could make final alterations to their work before the Salon would open to the public and the judges would cast their ballots. The entire year for an artist came down to this one show! If you got in and won an award it would make your year in sales and commissions. If you won the Grand Prix it would make your career! The better you did at the show the better your sales, the better your sales the more students you got in your workshops. The more students you got the better your print sales and the better you would do in the show next year, and around and around. This academic salon system became so ingrained in the culture that to be an artist you could not work outside the academies. Famous artists like Manet and Delacroix bristled at the Salon System, but tried to work within it. By the late 19th Century the younger generation of artists had had enough of the politics and began to display their works in alternative shows.

In 1873 a group of Franco-Prussian War veterans and conscientious objectors who had fled to England returned to Paris and were refused entry into the Salon. Being a bunch of twenty-something post grads who didn't know any better they got together, rented some cheap space and put on their own show. That group included Pissaro, Monet and Degas among others. This group sardonically called themselves The Refused, but were ridiculed by the establishment as The Impressionists. (This could be likened to being called The Doodlers, today.)

This revolution of individual artist's freedom to work outside the academy and the academy's standards changes art forever. By the end of the 19th Century the academic salon system had grown so big and political that it could not evolve with modernity, and like the dinosaur it was, went extinct. In 1893 one critic reviewing the art salon at the World Columbian Exhibition in Chicago containing the works of such Victorian luminaries as Bouguereau, Leighton and Waterhouse remarked, "This exhibition has done more to set back the advancement of art than any event in the past twenty years."

In 1913 The New York Armory Show would seal the coffin on the Victorian Salon System and give way to the twentieth century modern Gallery System. An exhibition by artists and for artists. You can see by the poster left that the artists are referred to as "guests", this was a private invitational exhibit, not a state funded juried show. Instead of paintings shoehorned together like a patchwork,"salon-style" each painting would be displayed by itself, "gallery-style". Instead of one huge institutional juried show there would be hundreds of little independent private shows run by the artists themselves. Each small "ism" could find its own niche, and its own followers. These would become the model for today's successful trade shows like Comic Con and Illuxcon.

In the 21st Century this evolution has continued. The Gallery System is now under threat by artist-run websites. Today artists do not even need the galleries or publishing houses gathering millions of followers on-line circumventing the exclusivity of the galleries. Today there is a venue for any kind of art you can imagine and you can follow along directly with the artist. Whether this is a better system is arguable. A direct Democracy of Art where page views and followers equates to quality, or is there still a role for the juried show in contemporary art? Check back in a hundred years and I'll tell you how it turned out.

So this week as you put the final touches of varnish on your painting for selection in the Spectrum Show lets all remember how far we've come, and where the future may take us!

Enjoy.

WOC
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Flight of the Paladin

February 15, 2012, 9:29 am
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A brave and stalwart paladin riding his steed into battle against a rampaging fire breathing dragon! The classics are always the most fun.

This recent project made for an excellent example of my process and I thought I would share some of that with you.

For a full, streaming evolution watch the painting unfold on video:



©2012 William O'Connor Studios
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Artist of the Month-Caspar David Friedrich

April 26, 2012, 9:31 am
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"The Abbey in the Oakwood"
1810
oil on canvas.
National Gallery , Berlin

A ny one who has been following my Artist of the Month series will notice a trend.  Its something that I didn't notice it until I looked back over my blogs.  A preference for landscapes.  Corot, Keifer, Sloan, Hasui.  I think this is because I so rarely get commissioned to do landscapes and I have a passion for the outdoors, hiking and all things that grow.  When left to my own devices I prefer to paint landscapes either fantasy or plein aire.  This leads me to the master landscape artist Caspar David Friedrich., (1774-1840).


There are so many excellent landscape painters in history, (Gainsborough, Turner, Rembrandt, Vermeer, et al.), but for me it is the Romantic overtones that makes Friedrich's work so powerful.  These are not merely landscapes.  In the tradition of other Romantic artists like Wordsworth, Keats and Beethoven, Friedrich's work does not extol the glory of the church, the greatness of his patrons or the virtuosic talent of the artist, he is illustrating the titanic power of nature and how minuscule we mere mortals are when confronted by it.  Lonely and destitute penitents move like wraiths between the tombstones in the shadows of a once glorious cathedral ravished by the supreme power of Time.   The lattice of windows is mundane in comparison to the shapes of the tree branches. The mightiest ships of the greatest empires are crushed like toys in the ragged jaws of ice flows.  The spires of a church pale in comparison to the Divine beauty of nature's own spires.

Friedrich's compositions at once show us the beauty and devastating power of nature, the complex grace that can be discovered in a simple study of a tree, and our place in this Great Masterpiece.

Enjoy. (click on thumbnails for larger versions)

WOC    

 













"A Man and a Woman Contemplating the Moon"
1830
Oil on Canvas.  
National Gallery, Berlin


"Study of a Tree"
1806
Pencil on paper















Listen to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (1801) for a better understanding of Friedrich.



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War of the Dragonborn

May 29, 2012, 6:55 pm
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On May 21st the publisher of the videogame Skyrim filed a trademark request for the word "Dragonborn".

In 2007 I was called out to the Wizards of the Coast D&D offices in Renton Washington to help concept this race and so I feel a particular fondness for the scaly brutes, kind of like a godfather. I remember struggling with the design because it could not have any draconic features (horns, wings, tails, long necks, etc.) and it was looking too much like reptile men.  I finally pulled from more of a cultural context than a visual one.  I thought of a cross between Klingons and the Gorillas from Planet of the Apes, but Dragon-Men!, and the rest drew itself.  I've always liked them, (except for the Boobs.  You try having heated debate  in an office board room on why Dragons don't have breasts, and you realize how surreal this job is.)Also, I conceived that this race would be steeped in ancient tradition and tribal custom.  For that I drew upon an Asian aesthetic to their costuming.  Overlapping scales and plates, with no use of buckles would make them look different and older than the other races.

Both companies have a rightful claim to trademark anything they want.  WotC was there first, but it doesn't possess a trademark, and its likely that Skyrim's trademark will not effect D&D.  If Skyrim's trademark effects D&D then this race will go extinct in 5th Edition. To whoever wins the War of the Dragonborn I wanted to share a few images from their inception during the early development of 4th Edition.  My little dragon babies, they grow up so fast!

Enjoy. (click on images for larger view)

If you have any questions about the concepting of this race, please leave a comment.

WOC


 


 






















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Dracopedia Student Art Contest

June 3, 2012, 8:25 pm
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With the release of Dracopedia:The Great Dragons coming out this month I thought I would celebrate by having an art contest for students. A great opportunity for young artists to get their work seen and win some cool prizes.

Guest Judges are: Lars Grant-West, Dan Dos Santos and Todd Lockwood.

Go to: The Dracopedia Project to join and learn all the details.

WOC
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Wargriffin

July 22, 2012, 2:50 pm
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Wargriffin is the story of a young girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to join in WWI wit her griffin.  A young adult fantasy-adventure novel.  This was a fun story to illustrate trying to capture the bleakness of the western front with the fantasy of dragons and mythical beasts.  I'm attaching my sketch and mock-up cover for the book.

Enjoy.

WOC












©William O'Connor Studios
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Astolpho and the Hippogriff

September 7, 2012, 11:40 am
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Ever since childhood I have been fascinated and enchanted by the heraldry and pageantry of medieval costumes.  Studying medieval and gothic romance literature in college only deepened my love for the aesthetic of knighthood.  The epic poem of Orlando Furioso by Ariostos has been a favorite story of mine for over a decade and from time to time I re-engage with the fable for inspiration.  This image illustrates the paladin Astolpho and the magical hippogriff he rides on his various adventures in that story.

Enjoy.

WOC


Below are a detail and wip image, plus some historical images of the same subject....enjoy.








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Varus-Where are my Legions?

September 12, 2012, 8:04 am
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 "Varus"
Anselm Kiefer
1976


As any who have been following my blog know I am a complete history wonk, especially when the history of the world and the history of art collide.  I am always trying to teach students that to understand art you must understand the history behind it.  This September I am reminded of possibly one of the most important events in history and the art inspired by it.

In September 9 ad. the entire three legions of Caeser Augustus' expeditionary force was wiped out by German Tribal Forces in what has come to be known as The Battle of Teutoburg Forest.    Led by general Varus, 20,000 Roman legionnaires were slaughtered and never found.  It is recorded that til the end of his life Augustus would wander the imperial palace muttering "Varus, where are my legions!"


Varus Massacre Scene from "I Claudius" 




 But the history of this battle doesn't end there.  This region would become one of the most fought-over and contested parcels of land in history.  For the next 2000 years hundreds of battles and over a 15 million lives would be lost on this ground only about the size of the State of Massachusetts.



 In 1815 the battle of Waterloo would take place less than 200 miles away between Napoleon's army and Wellington's German allies killing a total of over 30,000 soldiers.


In 1900 a newly unified Greater German Empire under its Kaiser erected a monument on the site of the Teutoburg battle heralding new age of German Nationalism and Teutonic manifest destiny.


By the height of WWI at the Battle of the Argonne Forest and the war of the Western Front would again tear this region apart claiming in some estimates 10 million lives!



 
Battle of the Ardennes Forest from "Band of Brothers"

Only thirty years later this battered ground would be the site of some of the most bitterly fought over land of WWII, as Hitler's counter offensive in the winter of 1944 at the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes forest killing another 50,000 soldiers on both sides.  Some historians have suggested that it was Hitler's strategy to recreate the Battle of Teutoburg Forest and the German victory over a superior invading army that led him to conceive the offensive.


In 1976 when the German artist Alselm Kiefer paints his image "Varus" he is not merely painting a landscape.  He is painting the layers of blood and lives and souls that had died in that forest.  He is painting the hallowed ground where Varus and thousands of ghosts still walk, there names carved into the very forest itself.


When we begin to understand history, we can begin to understand art.


Thank you


WOC


















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Artist of the Month- H. H. Richardson

September 24, 2012, 3:59 pm
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The Norman William Public Library
Woodstock, VT.
1884

When I was a young boy I became fascinated with all things medieval.  Knights, heraldry, castles, Renaissance faires, you name it! As a young artist the aesthetic of the middle ages was extremely formative in my stylistic development.   

As an American student however my exposure to medieval art was limited to photographs in books, and relics behind glass in museums, with one very dramatic exception: Romanesque Revival Architecture. 


Steinheim Castle
(abandoned 1953.  restored 1996)
Alfred University. Alfred, NY
1886


I remember discovering the Woodstock Vermont Library (above) as a young man where my family often vacationed.  The distinctively Romanesque Revival stylistic hallmarks of the low round arches with stout pillars,  rustic stone work and high gabled roof immediately put me in a mind that this was medieval.  Rainy afternoons in the library reading Tolkien, I could imagine being in the library at Minas Tirith or Rivendell.  Later, when I went to college at Alfred University I was inspired by the ever present Victorian stone tower of Steinheim Castle that loomed like a Romantic ruin over the campus. (above)

Romanesque Revival was a brief and often overlooked nineteenth century architectural movement that took place between 1870 and 1890 which replicated the European medieval architectural styles of the Romanesque period (1000- 1350).  The heavy, austere and imposing silhouettes of the style did not lend itself to many applications, and this aesthetic was usually limited to armories, libraries and churches while the more popular and decorative Neo-Classical style was used for landmarks like the US Capitol and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  After WWII many Romanesque buildings were torn down for being out-dated, dark and ugly, to make way for new, modern, light, climate-controlled office buildings. Romanesque Revival and other Beaux-Arts Revival styles were disparaged as fancies, appropriate only for theme parks,  their forms having completely trumped their functions. (Does any building in Manhattan need arrow loops and a portcullis?) Ironically, what has saved many of these buildings over the past fifty years has been urban decay.   In cities where development and economic growth was not robust many of these old edifices were left derelict, with no budget for demolition, restoration or replacement.  Subsequently there are few examples of this style to find in their original condition, but when you do it is a real treat.

New York Asylum for the Insane
(National Register of Historic Places 1973. abandoned 1994)
Buffalo, NY
H.H. Richardson
1870

Although Romanesque Revival was adopted in Europe, Americans took a particular liking to the style, and the most influential champion of this movement was the architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886).   In 1870 Richardson completed the New York State Asylum for the Insane in Buffalo.  This towering medieval citadel exuded strength, power, austerity and security.  The Insane Asylum would launch Richardson's career, and make him synonymous with American Romanesque Revival Architecture, creating "The Richardsonian Romanesque Style". 




 
 
Trinity Church
Boston, MA
H.H. Richarson 
1877














Woburn Public library
Woburn, MA
H.H. Richardson
1879










Thomas Crane Public Library
Quincy, MA
H.H. Richardson
1881










While Richardson would go on to design many more Romanesque buildings, The Richardsonian Style would inspire hundreds of Victorian architects all over the United States.  The Medieval Revival Movement championed by such artists as Sir Walter Scott, William Morris, Burne-Jones and the Pre-Raphaelites who sought to return art and architecture to a more genuine time of art-making, using rustic techniques and styles, and combining exterior design with interior applied arts like ceramics, furniture and textile design.  This Arts-and-Crafts movement was influential up until the turn of the century, and even inspire 20th century architects like Frank Lloyd Wright.  It is ironic that this movement which tried to re-examine genuine artistic themes was later disregarded as inauthentic. Next time you're walking through the city or you pass an old church or university, take a closer look, and you'll probably find the influence of Richardson in the buildings that brought a touch of Medieval Europe to America.

Alexander Hall
Princeton University. Princeton, NJ
W.A. Potter
1894











Union Station Hotel
(restored 1985)
St. Louis, MO
T. Link
1892
















 Lovely Lane Methodist Church
(National Register of Historic Places)
Baltimore, MD
S. White
1884














First Presbyterian Church
(partially demolished 1936;  NRHP 1979)
Detroit, MI
G.D. Mason
1889











Old City Hall
Toronto, Canada
E.J. Lennox
1899














Kingbridge Armory
Bronx, NY
1917


























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Life Imitating Art: The Post Apocalypse

November 4, 2012, 4:34 pm
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As millions dig out from the destruction of Hurricane Sandy, and begin to piece their world’s back together again, I am poignantly reminded of so many images that I’ve seen before.  Gas lines, food hoarding, a breakdown of the social order as the infrastructure of society goes out overnight.  As many heroic stories of first responders and life saving deeds are heralded, and the dark and awful stories of crime make it into the headlines, there are a million other stories, the stories of the day to day life that becomes the new Normal after a disaster.

I realized that these stories are the subject of an endless number of tales both contemporary and ancient that have been depicted in art for centuries, from Noah’s Arc, to the Decameron, to Road Warrior.  The stories of how fragile our social network is, and that we all live only one catastrophe away from loosing the fragile web of society that has been woven for millennia.  For most of these stories they were foretelling of some fictional future calamity such as the Second Coming or Nuclear Holocaust.

In the post 9/11 culture the concept of the Post Apocalypse Story was reinvented because we had all just lived through a horrible disaster.  Although 9/11 itself is rarely depicted metaphors for the sudden and horrific attack by an alien or outside force was dealt with in detail as the War on Terror was waged.  2005’s War of the Worlds starring Tom Cruise depicted in stark reality the impact of the destruction of our society would have raising issues of survival and responsibility to one’s morality over one’s family.  The award winning and critically acclaimed Battlestar Galactica which ran from 2004 until 2008 was another metaphor of all out war and destruction that placed the very fabric of society and morality into the crucible of the post apocalyptic world.

Today another type of post apocalyptic story runs through our culture as our disasters evolve.  Now it is not war or man-made (or alien-made) destruction that is wrought upon society but rather environmental disasters beyond our understanding or our control.  With Katrina in 2005 and the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008 our culture became threatened by mindless forces without reason or agenda.  The fear became not how to fight back, or to win, there was no way to win, the asteroid would not be diverted, the army wasn’t going to save the day, the bomb had already gone off.  Instead the story became how do we survive after?  How do we hold onto what is most important to us individually in a world where the future is unknowable and in the end, there is no safety net.

The popularity of shows like The Walking Dead premiering in 2010 and McCarthy’s 2006 novel The Road, are poignant commentaries of how we all try to survive in a world where randomness seems to be the only reliable constant in a culture where jobs, homes and whole seaboards can be wiped out without warning.  In the new post apocalyptic drama its not nuclear war or aliens or even zombies that threaten our survival, but  the creeping entropy of chaos that lurches ever closer to those we love.  In these stories we are able to explore what kind of people we want to be, and what kind of people we may become when the veneer of society is stripped away and we are left with the abyss of the unknown looming ahead of us, left to decide what is important.

Thank you

WOC























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Muddy Colors

November 25, 2012, 5:00 pm
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I am proud to announce that I have been invited to be a member of the Muddy Colors blog.  This site that shares the work and ideas of some of the industry's best artists and is one of the most insightful blogs on contemporary art today.

My Artist of the Month series will now be posted at this site, and I hope that you all will follow me and the other artists as we discuss our trade, craft and art.

Thank you.

WOC


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Bonsai WIP

May 18, 2013, 5:52 pm
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Although I have studied for many years as a painter, even artists have hobbies.  Some cook, some do sculpture, I have a love of Bonsai.  The combination of horticulture and sculpture is very appealing.  Where as a painting may take me several weeks a bonsai takes several years even decades.  Unlike painting there are variables that are uncontrollable to the artist.    A Bonsai tree evolves.  From year to year to it takes on new shapes and new colors, and the artist is required to enhance those features rather than control them.  Above all Bonsai art teaches patience, a trait that I sorely lack.  You must be willing to dedicate years or decades before the work is finished, and then be willing to start all over again. 

Below I have included a few images of a juniper bonsai that I began two years ago from a poor specimen that had been uprooted and discarded to the side of the road.  I brought home to my garden and worked on this found object to give it a second life as a tree of art.  It still has many more years of training and pruning and love before it fulfills its potential, but in that time I hope to learn the art of patience....

















 Once lopping off enough limbs to fit the tree into my truck I've potted it up for trimming.

















Pruned and protected for winter I hope it survives the trauma....


















The following spring the tree has miraculously survived and undergoes additional pruning....


















Second Spring the tree is repotted into a training pot and given a slant....


About five more years of pruning, wiring, jinining and repotting should bring this discarded juniper to it full potential.

Thanks.



WOC




©2013 William O'Connor













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