Hand crafted book by William Morris
Hand crafted book by Elbert Hubbard
Roy Croft

Elbert Hubbard had a great influence on arts and craft movement. He knew how to make things. At age of 16 he was selling soaps door to door. He was a natural salesman. Although he was a successful man at early age he was not happy. His visit to England he was exposed to hand crafted books by William Morris. Who is called founder father of Arts and craft. He believed in honest craftsmanship and harmony with nature. William Morris books were highly decorative and he was interested in medieval designs. Hubbard was so inspired by the ides that he decided to make his own. He opened a private press called Roycroft press. Participants were called Roycrofters they were much interested in philosophy and art. At Roycroft there were many people working/ making diverse items. Such as printings, bookbinding, metal, leather, and making furniture. They were all handcrafted. They were much influenced by William Morris designs and illuminate scripting. They produced massive productions and over 500 people worked at Roycroft. The Roycraft had strong influence on American Architecture, decorative art and design in early 20^th century. Hubbard thought of himself as cultural authority and cultural currency. Some people thought Hubbard as a rebel because of his moral issues however he was creative energy to others.

graffiti

Ancient ancestors have expressed their art on walls whether it was painting, or carving. They wanted to mark their existence and express their art in some type of forms. Many of cave painting were subject of animals, and their life of the time. Graffiti is not too much different from early cave paintings. Both type of artist use walls as their canvas and express their feelings, emotions through art. Honestly I did not have much

of appreciation of graffiti art before until I watched a film about it in our history of design class. I thought graffiti’s were distracting, messy, and not pleasant to look at. However learning about graffiti I was able to appreciate more.

It was fascinating to see how every country/ regions

have their own unique taste of graffiti. Graffiti is not just someone doodling on a wall but rather it has deeper meaning than that. For example in 1980s in New York graffiti was emotional cry for young people. Sharing their state of mind. In Paris they see graffiti as trace of moment. Also in London, they view as honest form of expression. Graffiti can be a secret language and people who want to see it they see

it and get inspired.

Nowadays graffiti art doesn’t only stay on walls. It’s on cloths, hats, and bags.

Not only that there are graffiti sculptures, indusial designs, interior designs, and architectures. I have much deeper appreciation for graffiti artist for their boldness to paint on walls and their devotion.

Comic book style used by a pop artist Roy Lichtenstein

The title of this image is Hopeless by pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. It is done in 1963 oil on canvas. Before I get into talk about this painting brief summary of comic book is necessary. During early comics were short and shown on Sunday newspapers. Then actual comic books were being published. Dominant product was Superman. Super hero comics were popular for kids to read. During WW1 there were comic books for military to encourage and to entertain. After the war people were interested in reading about American dreams, romance, and close to home. During 50s there were science fictions, gory and horror comics. Also there were comics that impact on reality such as divorce, and sexual immorality. Comic book artist and publishers were receiving negative criticisms because there were people who thought comics were bad influences for children. Some parents gathered together to burn comic books. After negative criticisms comic books had to get prove in order to get published to make sure drawing are not too gory, sexual, and appropriate for children to read. The new subject of comic books were that are reality and realistic. Drawings and contents were more realistic and things people can relate to. This image is the one of the evolutionary result of the other. The artist took style of comic books and used printing technique, which is called “ ban day dots”. The artist used the visual shorthand language of the comic book to enormous painting. The artist quotes, “ one of the things a cartoon does it to express violent emotion and passion in a completely mechanized and removed style. To express this thing in a painterly style would dilute it…” (983)

Works Cited

Kleiner, Fred S. Gardener' Art through the Ages. Thirteen ed. Vol. 2. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2009. Print.