Analysis of Antonio Lopez Garcia's 'Mary's Hands'

'Mary's Hands', 1964
Antonio Lopez Garcia
Pencil on paper

Antonio Lopez Garcia's 'Mary's Hands' is a realistic drawing with pencil onto paper, representing two hands washing an object over a bowl. Garcia has not used definite lines to represent the outline of the image, however has used different layers of light and dark shading to portray the shape and form of the picture.

The use of only monochrome colours create a large contrast of light and dark, giving the drawing a dramatic effect. The whites in the piece are typically symbolic of purity and cleanliness, whereas the blacks could be representative of evil or death. The fact that the background and most of the image is white could be symbolising that 'Mary's hands' are pure, and the subject of the picture shows are washing, also representing cleanliness and purity.

Garcia has used a mixture of soft and hard pencils to create different effects relevant to the subject. The use of soft pencils add tone and shape to the image, also adding a layer of shadow and creating a three-dimensional illusion. The use of hard pencils, however, adds more detail to the picture, making it look more realistic. For example the sharper lines in the wrinkles of the hands and the markings or outline of the bowl create a layer of shape and definition, adding to the realism of the drawing.

Antonio Lopez Garcia

Antonio Lopez Garcia was born in Spain in 1936, a few months before the Spanish Civil war. He is most famous for his paintings and sculptures. Although he was given the opportunity as a child to carry on the family tradition as a farmer, an early liking for drawing caught his uncle's attention. His uncle was the local painter of landscapes, and so gave Lopez Garcia some of his first art lessons. In 1949 he moved to Madrid to try to get into the competitive Real Academia de Belles Artes de San Fernando. One of Lopez Garcia's many inspirations were Picasso, and after getting the opportunity to travel to Italy, he studied Italian paintings from the Renaissance period; it is believed that these styles are what inspired his own.

In 1957, a lot of Lopez Garcia's works had surreal elements within them. They contained figures and objects that appeared to float in space, as well as images removed from context. This surrealism remained in his works until about 1964. During the mid 1960s, Lopez Garcia started to add more elements of 'magic realism' in his works. 'Magic realism' is a genre where magical or unnatural elements are a part of the natural, realistic environment. An example of the use of this genre is Lopez Garcia's 'The Apparition' (1963), where a child is hovering mid-air against a wall, gliding towards an open door. Lopez Garcia started to paint panoramic views of Madrid. He worked on these paintings for many years, however some of his works were never finished.

The main mediums that Lopez Garcia uses include: pencil drawing, oil painting on board, carved wood sculpture and bas relief in plaster ('relief' meaning 'to raise'; it is giving the impression that that the sculpted material has been raised above the ground). Focusing mainly on his pencil drawings ('Mary's Hands'), he records tone by using many different grades of pencil to portray the contrast between the darkest greys and the 
whites. The use of pencil gives the drawing a grainy texture that, from far away, makes the image look softer. He has not used hard lines to represent the outline of the picture, but has used the background and the light and dark contrast to convey its shape and form.

Antonio Lopez Garcia

'Mary's Hands' (c.1964)

Pencil on paper

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/354869645610971447/

David Hockney - 'Layers'

David Hockney

David Hockney was born in Bradford, England on July 9, 1937. He is a painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer. During his lifetime Hockney has lived on and off in California and Los Angeles, inspiring him to produce many paintings of swimming pools, using the newfound acrylic paints, giving the work a vibrant outlook. Hockney is a large contributor to the Pop art movement of the 1960s, and is thought to be one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. On an interview on the Telegraph, Hockney stated that “making marks always appealed to me”, and that “I’ve always assumed that one of my relatives must have been a cave artist who liked making marks on the wall.” He also mentioned that it is “hard to represent horrible things, because by their nature pictures attract us.” This shows how Hockney wanted to give pleasure to the people looking at his paintings and other works. He does this by using very bright and vibrant colours within his paintings, as well as using a cartoon-like style to portray an almost childlike perception of the subject.

A Bigger Grand Canyon

‘A Bigger Grand Canyon’, 1998

David Hockney

Oil on sixty canvases

81x291 inches

http://www.hockneypictures.com/home.php

David Hockney’s ‘A Bigger Grand Canyon’ portrays many different themes, one of them being ‘layers’. The title of the piece shows that Hockney wants to emphasise the enormity of the Grand Canyon; he does this by putting together sixty 16 x 24 inch canvases. This draws attention to the vastness of the Grand Canyon because it shows that in order to capture the whole picture, Hockney needed to layer smaller canvases to create a larger image that presents the Grand Canyon’s beauty and awe altogether.

Hockney uses a diverse range of shades and tones to show each layer of rock and soil within the Grand Canyon. This contrasts with the trees and plants in the image - they seem to lack life and abundance as they should, and the focus is set largely on the rocks surrounding them. The colour red is very prominent in this piece, boldly standing out over the little greenery that there is. Again, this highlights the greatness of the Grand Canyon, showing how it is bright and full of hope.

Photo Collages

‘Still Life Blue Guitar’, 1982

David Hockney

Composite polaroid

24.5x30 inches

http://www.hockneypictures.com/photos/photos_polaroid_03.php

‘Pearblossom Highway’, 1986

David Hockney

Photographic collage

78x111 inches http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=112574

David Hockney has produced many photograph collages - the style he uses however is different to most. As shown in the examples above, Hockney has taken many polaroid pictures and joined them together in a collage to complete a full image. The difference is that it didn't matter to him if the polaroid pictures were perfectly aligned, giving a view of the subject from many different angles, as if being seen from the normal human eye; thus giving it an element of Cubism. He named these collages 'joiners'. This also links back to the theme of 'layers' in a physical way because of the way that the smaller images have been layered up to create a bigger picture, giving it a whole new outlook and perspective.

Combining the David Hockney Concepts

Taking these two approaches of David Hockney: a vivid landscape and photo collages, I've created my own image that combines these techniques.

'A Bigger Tuscan Landscape', 2014
Hannah Jesudason
Photographic Collage

In the style of David Hockney, I put together a photo collage of a landscape in Tuscany by taking separate photos of parts of the landscape, and then layering them together to create the full image. I also used the subject of a landscape - a common subject used by Hockey, to portray the full and complete beauty of the view. I also used a saturating effect on a computer software to bring old the reds and blues in the image, making it more bold and vibrant.