I have been thinking about the artist challenge over the past two days, debating with myself over and over between three or four ideas, and just had this light bulb thing popped up in my head tonight.
This week's artist challenge is "Michael Elliott"! Michael just completed his 365 project with the 365 albums full of wonderful works. Please see the link below for his 365 albums:
Correct me if I am wrong (which is often), from going though the albums, IMHO it appears that some of the characteristics of Michael's
"Color Shots" are: mostly wide angle with intriguing POV, well-balanced vivid colors, deep DOF, strong sense of 3-dimension, dramatic....
Here is one (of many) that takes my breath away...
"Black and White shots" are: mostly wide angle with interesting POV, deep DOF, mostly high contrast, artistic use of patterns, confident .... pretty much really amazing.
Just a few days ago..
I haven't asked for his permission yet, hope this is alright ( @michaelelliott )!
The challenge ends on Sunday 12 Aug Midnight, London Time. Please tag "Challenge-Elliott".
what a fitting choice! I just left a comment on his 365th shot earlier saying I think he's in league with Jay Maisel and is one of my favorite current artists. :) woot woot!
As fabulous as Michaels photography is, I'm not entirely sure that this is what the 'Artist challenge theme" is really about. After all Michael is an other 365er, not an iconic artist in the sense of the challenge. Maybe thats just my opinion. No offence to you Michael, I love your work.
Alright,... if Michael doesn't permit me to choose his works for this challenge, I will gladely hand over this artist challenge to anyone who cares to host. :-)
An artist is an artist, whether he/she knows it or not. To me, Elliott is one. Personally, I wouldn't give art historians so much credits though. Some of them don't have a clue what they write about. (PS - oops, here we go...attacking snobbish clueless art critics again...)
@viranod - Nod I just saw this (my notifications box exploded as you can imagine :) I am flattered beyond words and of course its okay - I am honored by your thoughfulness - THANK YOU! This should be fun to watch!
@shirljess@jsw0109@lorraineb@viranod@jtrudell - What ever you guys decide is cool. If you want to use me let the games begin - could be a lot of fun. Maybe using fellow 365ers can be a fun twist now and then as many people here are much more familiar with each other then the iconic legends, though I get its about learning about them.
@viranod@michaelelliott -- oh Nod, what a most excellent choice! I am happy to say I have met this artist and he is genius, he is kind, and he is just awesome! Oh how I wish I was still in NY for this week!
Thank you. BTW, last year I choose Steve McCurry for one of 2011 Artist challenges, a definite iconic artist. Submission rate wasn't as high as I expected, though they were wonderful works.
For this week's challenge I choose someone I consider an artist (even though "just another fellow 365er") whose photos I can hang on my living room walls, probably replacing some Thai iconic artists my wife put up just because of the "names". And if I am not banned from hosting this challenge, I'd say "GO, study Elliot's works and try his style!". Why not "Support your local artists!!!" One day Michael may become famous :-)
Can you guys/girls produce the kind of works he produces? If you feel "umm, that is a challenge!" then you will definitely learn from this.
I say got for it as Michael is most definitely an artist & TBH I haven't heard of most of the guys that are put up in this challenge so at least I know Michael's work & love it :)
@viranod not sure my image is appropriate for this thread but you've already put it up :) @lorraineb I do agree with you and can't believe someone can be bored of Iconic Artists. Nevermind.
@viranod Careful Nod, I commence my final honours degree study in October, with Art of the twentieth century! Ok, so can you pay for my tickets to NY now. The French countryside looks nothing like the scenes in Michaels shots! ; )) @houdiniem Who are your favourites then Emily? : )
@viranod No worries Nod, I'm pretty sure I will 'have' to read some pretty awful, boring books to pass it. Art evokes all kinds of emotions, thats usually the point of it, there are a huge amount artists and works that I love, and quite a few I just dont. : )
@lorraineb good luck with the degree, I did a degree in Fine Art and yep unfortunately there's some hard going books and views. I am a painter by trade so people like Lucien Freud, Degas, Kossoff.....but really inspired by all sorts of art and fashion so too many to name :)
@houdiniem I guess this really get into me. Can you please help with this week's Artist Challenge and also the Camera Setting Challenge (CSC), I am going to delete the account in 5 minutes. Thank you.
@viranod I've not heard about the CSC and not really the person for that as I have no idea about cameras! :)
keep the challenge as it is as it's started and people are happy with the choice.
Hey guys not sure what has transpired here. But being real - come on - we know I'm not, nor is anyone else on this site, in the same sentence as the legends we study. I only said yes for the fun of the challenge and the commraderie of this community. But perhaps that type of challenge should be a different discussion. I would love to try to do a pic like @aspada or @peterdegraaff (in fact I have as they have been inspirational to me among others).
But if the purpose for which this specific challenge was created is to help us study and learn about art from the legends, then we should not mess with that spirit and leave well enough alone.
@michaelelliott My 'conversation' was never against Nod, just questioning his thought process and seeing that everyone was happy about it, I even joked about getting tickets to NY, and was more than happy to give his choice a go. I even thought the same as you, how I would re create one of Peters amazing images.
I tried to find the original thread when we decided to start the Artist challenge up again, to find the ground rules, how tight or free they were, but couldn't find it.
If Nod really has left them maybe we should ask the runner up to make the choice, although I'd give it a days grace to see if he comes back, heres hoping!
@michaelelliott :) As I've thought many times in the past... you are a really amazing person Michael with a high intelligence and thinking process that is solid and wise. Totally agreeing with you on this one.
@lorraineb@aspada - thx. So who ever goes forward with the challenge please do not use me as the artist. We can always show the influence of our fellow 365ers in our projects and give mention in the captions. But let's continue to honor the spirit of art education for which this challenge was created.
Nod thank you very much and hope you come back and thanks to all the others for the nice comments above, but I've rec'd more than enough attention already :-D
@michaelelliott you just may end up being one of those legends Michael. You deserve to be. I've seen your work, and I've seen Jay Maisel's. How anyone can NOT see you as an artist of that caliber is mind boggling to me.....I remember someone saying (not in a thread, but to me directly) that they thought Maisel was a bad choice because he wasn't a legend. To him, legends are dead, not alive. I think that's the problem with our civilization... we tend not to respect an artist's art until the artist is dead and cannot enjoy the adoration. And I disagree that people not in NYC can't take shots inspired by your own. I've done it more than once and I'm surrounded by silos instead of skyscrapers, cows instead of taxis. Granted, I have my own style and generally stick to it, but I have done a couple "inspired by" shots (you probably know which ones they are)
@jsw0109 - Thank you so much Jeff for such wonderful and generous remarks. I greatly appreciate it and like I commented back to you on my album - you're a guy with a big heart and a lot of passion and you contribute a lot to 365. I see both sides but I don't want to be the subject of any discord in 365 land.
@lorraineb@michaelelliott - I was only aware of this discussion because he had put up an image of mine without my consent first which I wasn't totally happy with. It appears he has deleted his answer to me which suggested he is going through a rough time in his personal life so I feel this may have been the main factor. I do hope he reappears!
I owe you all an apology for leaving the way I did - irresponsible. And it has absolutely nothing to do with Lorraine or Emily, @lorraineb@houdiniem. Just me.
Michael (@michaelelliott ), if you change your mind I would like to continue to use your photos, and run this challenge.
@nod I am so happy to see you back, I had an idea you would. Life can throw us some rough times, which is why photography can be used as a release from that. So you need to be here, I'm off to take a closer look at Michaels work now, as Jeff says, no matter where we are we can adapt what is in front of our eyes. : )
- Nod I'm glad too you're back. When ever I'm stressed I grab my camera and head out into the City to get lost in my photography. A few hours later everything feels easier to take. You had a fun and wonderful idea to use fellow 365ers - kudos for that!. However there was an important basis for the creation of this challenge - to learn about art history and the artist who create it. So while I was game to go along and lend myself to the cause (heck I'm not the one who'd have to shoot it) and very flattered and honored, I think its best we stick with the orignal intent :-)
There will be a challenge with a new artist. I am going to go with a Thai/Asian living icon named "Thawan Dutchanee" Most of you may not have heard about him in the West, but he is very influential in Southeast Asia. Almost god-like figure around here. His works are very interesting and many well known paintings are only in red and black. If anyone has any objection please respond now as I will post a new thread once I have gathered enough online materials on him. I assume living Asian masters can be used as well. Thanks.
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Peter @peterdegraaff whats your opinion on this?
An artist is an artist, whether he/she knows it or not. To me, Elliott is one. Personally, I wouldn't give art historians so much credits though. Some of them don't have a clue what they write about. (PS - oops, here we go...attacking snobbish clueless art critics again...)
@lorraineb @jtrudell
http://365project.org/discuss/themes-competitions/6982/artist-challenge-steve-mccurry
For this week's challenge I choose someone I consider an artist (even though "just another fellow 365er") whose photos I can hang on my living room walls, probably replacing some Thai iconic artists my wife put up just because of the "names". And if I am not banned from hosting this challenge, I'd say "GO, study Elliot's works and try his style!". Why not "Support your local artists!!!" One day Michael may become famous :-)
Can you guys/girls produce the kind of works he produces? If you feel "umm, that is a challenge!" then you will definitely learn from this.
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@lorihiro @jsw0109 @paulaag @rockinrobyn @jtrudell @lorraineb Thank you for your comments. Breaking (or bending) the rules once in a while when the Big Brother isn't watching can be fun and enjoyable :-)
@lorraineb I do agree with you and can't believe someone can be bored of Iconic Artists. Nevermind.
@houdiniem Who are your favourites then Emily? : )
http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Art-Donald-Kuspit/dp/0521832527
I have not read the book, only some youtube interviews and those available on the web.
PS - apologies, if this get to be long I will start another thread.
keep the challenge as it is as it's started and people are happy with the choice.
Hey guys not sure what has transpired here. But being real - come on - we know I'm not, nor is anyone else on this site, in the same sentence as the legends we study. I only said yes for the fun of the challenge and the commraderie of this community. But perhaps that type of challenge should be a different discussion. I would love to try to do a pic like @aspada or @peterdegraaff (in fact I have as they have been inspirational to me among others).
But if the purpose for which this specific challenge was created is to help us study and learn about art from the legends, then we should not mess with that spirit and leave well enough alone.
I tried to find the original thread when we decided to start the Artist challenge up again, to find the ground rules, how tight or free they were, but couldn't find it.
If Nod really has left them maybe we should ask the runner up to make the choice, although I'd give it a days grace to see if he comes back, heres hoping!
Nod thank you very much and hope you come back and thanks to all the others for the nice comments above, but I've rec'd more than enough attention already :-D
Michael (@michaelelliott ), if you change your mind I would like to continue to use your photos, and run this challenge.
- Nod I'm glad too you're back. When ever I'm stressed I grab my camera and head out into the City to get lost in my photography. A few hours later everything feels easier to take. You had a fun and wonderful idea to use fellow 365ers - kudos for that!. However there was an important basis for the creation of this challenge - to learn about art history and the artist who create it. So while I was game to go along and lend myself to the cause (heck I'm not the one who'd have to shoot it) and very flattered and honored, I think its best we stick with the orignal intent :-)
There will be a challenge with a new artist. I am going to go with a Thai/Asian living icon named "Thawan Dutchanee" Most of you may not have heard about him in the West, but he is very influential in Southeast Asia. Almost god-like figure around here. His works are very interesting and many well known paintings are only in red and black. If anyone has any objection please respond now as I will post a new thread once I have gathered enough online materials on him. I assume living Asian masters can be used as well. Thanks.