Will Summitt- In Class

CHUCK CLOSE

Chuck Close is an artist. His art is canvas painting of actual people. He starts by taking multiple still photographs, which are neutral (as in no emotion). The next step is graphing grids on a photograph and then putting four times as many grids on the canvas. He then puts a base coat on, and “corrects” the painting as he goes. He does this by slow rotations, and observing how to correct the photograph so that it resembles the original photograph, but using abstract colors. I find the art Close produces fascinating. In writing I learned that there are many stages, and that to create a final draft you must first create multiple base layers, or steps to the final product.

LUPE FIASCO

Lupe’s approach is far different than Close’s. Lupe’s creativity comes from many different places. His approach is by listening to a beat or a song multiple times, and thinking of a creative piece to express that music. He will then record a small bit, and go back to listening. He says that much of his inspiration comes randomly, sometimes he’s driving, sometimes he’s sitting, and other raps need to be voiced standing up. It seems that it is mostly emotional, and the environment is the primary factor contributing to spontaneous art and flow. This can aid me in that I need to spend a lot of time with key phrases, and not procrastinate. This is because opportunities for inspiration come at unexpected times, if you aren’t prepared you may miss them.

FRANK GEHRY

Based on this article Frank Gehry’s method is quite simple. He is given requirements for a project, begins with those (parking, front door, etc..). After this he creates a first draft to scale. He says drawing in scale is easy and that his first drafts normally resemble the final product by a surprising amount. He uses shapes and things that he is familiar with, and causes me to believe that his talent comes through practice, and a creative visual image. This is somewhat how I approach my writing, although it isn’t normally successful for me. However I find that spontaneous images occur, I just can’t apply it to writing.