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For the first painting, I used a paintbrush. It was a quick drawing that took up about 2 periods and I thought it was okay regarding the amount of time I had. I had a misconception of what we were supposed to do, so I tried to apply a bit of Degas’s technique to the green shirt. But for the face and hair I just did my own thing, trying to make it look natural. For my second painting, I also used a paint brush but I accidentally used the normal paint and not the acrylic paint… so it ended up looking sloppy and I was not pleased with the outcome of my second painting. So for the third painting I switched it up a bit and used the palette knife. I drew Hina again and although I was completely clueless about how to use the palette knife, I worked my way through it and I ended up being quite pleased with it. I used a paint brush for the hair so it would look flow-y and natural instead of edgy as it would look with the palette knife. I think the contrast of the textures meshed quite well together.

Edgar Degas and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec are both Impressionists, and are very important people in the history of art. Although denying it at the time, Degas’s technique and style developed into Impressionism, attributing greatly as an Impressionist. Toulouse-Lautrec was also an Impressionist, but we rejected the limitations of Impressionism; a style called Post-Impressionism. The two artists had a similar yet contrastive style.

Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec were similar in style but very different in technique; it looked simple, sketched and had an edgy feel to his pieces. However, Degas’s paintings were very detailed and photograph like, but with more life provided from his technique with his brushstrokes. Both artists have very significant brushstrokes that add a lot of depth and texture to their artwork. For example, in Degas’ The Dance Class from 1874, some noticeable things are his light, almost dull palette, and of course the tremendous detail in the dancers from the front to the very back of the room. Comparing to Toulouse-Lautrec’s painting from 1893, In Bed, it is notable that the colors pop from his bright palette, and his lines are more sketchy and rough. These two artist’s techniques are almost completely opposed from each other. However, Degas changed his technique quite a lot throughout his career. It may have had something to do with his fault eyesight, or the financial trouble that his family was in. In his earlier years, he painted dull colors and bright colors, making an obvious contrast in his painting, Fiocre in the Ballet La Source from 1868. The dull palette makes his paintings look a bit empty, whereas the colorful palette makes it look more energetic and alive. His lines were vague, but rather sketchy, similar to Toulouse-Lautrec’s technique. The style of Post-Impressionism uses vivid colors, thick application of paint, distinctive brush strokes and real-life subject matter, which is what differentiated Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec.

It is interesting to see how these two artists had such similar technique in the beginning of their careers, but Degas developed into a more Impressionist style. These two artists with similar style have such intriguing, inspiring work, but in completely varying ways. I think that no art is better than another, and that I love the way they see things and how they portray them in drawings.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was a French Painter, printmaker, draughtsman, and illustrator in the late 1800’s. Toulouse-Lautrec’s immersion in the colorful and theatrical life of the ‘end of the century’ Paris yielded an artwork of exciting, elegant and provocative images of the modern and sometimes decadent life of those times. He is known along with Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin as one of the greatest painters of the Post-Impressionist period.

REACTION:
While I was looking at some of his work, one of his early drawings, La Toilette, especially caught my eye. From far away, it almost looked like a photograph, but when I looked at it more closely, the combination of colors seemed to intertwine and look very realistic and natural. The colors of tones he uses are exquisite. His work is in much detail, yet it almost looks like a quick sketch, because there are so many tones of shades within a specific area that the drawing looks full of depth, but the outlines he draws are very bold and harsh. The direction, length, texture of his strokes makes his work very unique. The most interesting parts of this piece, and about his overall technique, are his use of lines, the way he draws dark borders around a figure to accentuate the shape.

LIFETIME:
-Born in Albi, France
-First born, younger brother died at one years old
-After death of brother, parents separated and nanny took care of Henri
-At 8, he went to live with his mother in Paris and started to draw sketches
-Family quickly realizes Henri’s talent and friend of his father gave him informal lessons
-1875, Henri returned to Albi because of recognizing health problems
-Henri suffered a number of congenital health conditions attributed to inbreeding
-As an adult, he was 154 cm, retaining child-sized legs
-Not being able to physically participate in most activities with men his age, Henri immersed himself in his art
-He was often mocked for his physical appearance; this led him to drown his sorrows in alcohol
-He died at the age of 36 from complications due to alcoholism and syphilis. His last words were, “Le vieux con!” meaning “The old fool!” This was his goodbye to his father
-After death, mother and art dealer promoted his art
-The Toulouse-Lautrec Museum now owns the world’s largest collection of works by the painter
-Throughout career (20 years), created 737 canvases, 275 watercolors, 363 prints and posters, 5084 drawings, some ceramic and stained glass work, and an unknown number of lost work

ARTWORK:
The art piece I was most interested in was his drawing, In Bed (1893). The use of color is amazing, especially in the bed and the covers. There are shades of yellow, blue, red, black, purple, green, and makes it look abstract. I love how the pillow and sheets are flow-y and soft, but when you see the face it’s in so much detail and it really brings the piece to life. Also you can see the difference of line, like in the wood of the bed frame his strokes are strong vertical lines, whereas the bed is a lot softer. This contrast really brings out how fluffy and comfy the bed looks, and how a bed is supposed to be.

Toulouse-Lautrec’s skilled depiction of people relied on his painterly style, which is highly linear and gives great emphasis to contour. He often applied the paint in long, thin brushstrokes, which would often leave much of the board on which they are painted showing through. Many of his works may best be described as drawings in colored paint.

Edgar Degas was a French artist famous for his paintings, sculptures, printmaking and drawings. He is considered one of the founders of Impressionism, although he refuses the term and prefers to be called a realist. His mastery in illustrating movement is displayed in his work, particularly in his work of dancers which is over half of his work. Earlier in his career he strived to e a history painter, but in his early thirties he instead became a classical painter of modern life.

REACTION:
One of my favorite pieces of Degas’s is The Dance Class. For me, I think that it is most familiarized and famous pieces of his. The detail, use of color, technique, is all absolutely amazing. Our class went to a showcase of his where we saw this actual painting, and it was unreal. It looked like a photographed picture. What I especially liked about this piece was that it was not posed; it was very a very natural, everyday vision that he decided to draw. I also like how there is a random dog near one of the dancer’s feet, which doesn’t have much relevancy to the drawing. Comparing The Dance Class, and Fiocre in the Ballet La Source, you can really see the difference in palette, and how over time his style and technique has changed drastically.

LIFETIME:
-Born in Paris, France: Eldest of 5 children
-Father a banker, mother died when 13: adequately wealthy family
-By 18, turned his room into an artist’s studio
-1853, registered as a copyist in the Louvre
-Enrolled at Faculty of Law of the University of Paris due to father’s expectations of him becoming a lawyer but made little effort as studies
-1870, Franco-Prussian War occurs: Degas enlisted in National Guard
-During rifle training, eyesight was found to be defective, and for the rest of his life his eyes problems were a constant worry
-As years passed, Degas became more isolated due to the belief that a painter could have no personal life
-Was known to work in pastel until 1907, sculpture making until 1910
-Never married, spend the last years of his life nearly blind wandering the streets of Paris until he died in September, 1917

ARTWORK:
Exhibited in the Salon of 1868, Fiocre in the Ballet La Source was his first major work to contain dancers. From 1870, Degas increasingly painted ballet subjects, partly because they sold well and provided him with the income that his brother needed that left his family bankrupt. Degas started to paint café life as well. As his subject matter changed, so did his technique. The changes in his palette, brushwork, and sense of composition confirmed that he was influenced from both the Impressionist movement and modern photography, with its spontaneous images and off-killer angles.

His paintings, pastels, drawings, and sculptures are on prominent display in many museums. Although Degas had no formal Pupils, he influenced several important painters. Recognized as an important artist in his lifetime, Degas is no considered ‘on of the founders of Impressionism’. Though his work crossed many stylistic boundaries, his involvement with other major figures of Impressionism and their exhibitions, his dynamic paintings and sketches of everyday life and activities, and his bold color experiments, served to finally tie him to the Impressionist movement as one of its greatest artists.