"Gabinete de Anatomia" Exhibition at Fundação Arpad Szenes - Vieira da Silva

Included in the commemorations of the centennials of the University of Lisbon and its Medical School, the Arpad Szenes-Vieira da Silva Foundation and the Medicine Museum of the Medical School from the University of Lisbon have put together a compilation of anatomical drawings by Vieira da Silva and Arpad Szenes, and from the collection of the Medicine Museum, including anatomical drawings recently catalogued during the investigation project «image in science and art» from the Philosophy Center of Sciences from the University of Lisbon.

Created by Professor Henrique de Vilhena, teacher of artistic anatomy at the Escola de Belas Artes de Lisboa (Fine Arts School of Lisbon) and founder of the Instituto de Anatomia da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa (Anatomy Institute of the Medical School from the University of Lisbon), the collection of drawings from the Medicine Museum is comprised of scholastic drawings completed by its students between the years of 1905 and 1938.

Although the live model lessons took place at the Fine Arts School, it was in the Anatomy Institute of the Medial School, due to its proper facilities, that the study of the dissected body would take place.

Between the students under the instruction of Professor Henrique de Vilhena, one can find names such as Guilherme de Santa-Rita, Calvet de Magalhães, Dórdio Gomes, Frederico Ayres, Carlos Bonvalot, Helena de Bourbon e Menezes, Jorge Valadas, Norberto Correia, Estrela Faria, José Tagarro, almost all of them represented in this exhibition.

Passionate about anatomy, Maria Helena Vieira da Silva was by her personal option Henrique de Vilhena's pupil at the School of Medicine, quite probably during the years of 1926-27 according to dates found on her drawings.

The exhibition is divided in 4 sections: 1. Anatomy of Desire - anatomical drawings by
Arpad Szenes; 2. Fractioned Body - anatomical drawings by Vieira da Silva; 3. Head and Whole Body - anatomical drawings from the Medicine Museum; 4. Trunk and Limbs - anatomical drawings from the Medicine Museum.

Besides the drawings from the two referred collections, "Gabinete de Anatomia" also shows two sets of feminin and male nude drawings from the authorship of Arpad Szenes, one with distinct scholastic characteristcs, probably completed at the Academy of Budapest where he was a student of József Rippl-Rónai (Rippl-Rónai József in its native form) during the 1910s; the other one was completed between 1928 and 1932, possibly in Paris and after already knowing Vieira da Silva.

The exhibition also includes a series of preparatory drawings by Arpad Szenes for one of his most celebrated works: «Le Couple»

Curated by Manuel Valente Alves, with the support of the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian and of the University of Lisbon, "Gabinete de Anatomia" can be visited at Fundação Arpad Szenes - Vieira da Silva (10h00-18h00 Mon-Fri) between May 6 and July 3, 2011.
Closed on Tuesdays and holidays.

12000 Years Old Carved Faces in Lene Hara Cave

While on a search for fossils of extinct giant rats, inside the Lene Hara cave, located on the northeast tip of East Timor, a group of archaeologists and palaeontologists discovered engraved prehistoric human faces on the wall of the limestone cave.

According to their description, the petroglyphs are frontal stylised faces, each with eyes, a nose and a mouth.

Uranium isotope dating revealed that one of the faces, framed by a circular headdress with rays, is around 10,000 to 12,000 years old, placing it in the late Pleistocene. The other face carvings could not be dated but are likely to be equally ancient.

These petroglyphs found in the Lene Hara cave are the only known carvings of faces on the island of Timor that have been dated to the Pleistocene.

Archaeologists and rock art specialists have been visiting the cave since the early 1960s to study its rock paintings, which include hand stencils, animals, human figures, boats and linear decorative motifs. The age of the pigment art in Lene Hara is currently unknown but a fragment of limestone with traces of embedded red ochre was dated previously by Professor Sue O’Connor of The Australian National University to over 30,000 years ago.

Photo by John Brush

The 100 Hour/ 38 Day Skull Drawing.

Illustrator Jacob Dahlstrup took 38 days and 100 hours to complete this pencil drawing of a skull made up of detailed floral and plant life.




video:


Pencil on paper. duration: 38 days/100 hours.
175cm x 150cm
High Quality Poster B1 format 200 grms (100x70cm)
kr 40.00
buy it here (paypal only)

http://www.jacobdahlstrup.com

From Roughs To Rad. Josh Cooley & Bill Presing's 54 Intercontinental Cuties.

Both Josh Cooley and Bill Presing are super talented storyboard artists at Pixar Animation Studios who have recently joined forces on this creative project.

Most recently, Josh received lots of blog and press attention for his Movies R Fun/ Inappropriate Golden Book and Emeryville-based Bill Presing is especially known for his pin-up girl-like illustrations.


above: Movies R Fun by Josh Cooley is available for purchase here

Together the two have designed and illustrated a new deck of sexy and sassy playing cards. Their collaboration yielded 54 Intercontinental Cuties, a real playable deck of cards, with a unique pinup girl on each face representing different places.


above: one of my fave pieces by Bill Presing, Ergonomic Delight

The majority of the 54 Intercontinental Cuties deck represents various countries, but they've taken some creative liberties and added unusual locations, some of which are fictional. Eden, Pangea, the Bermuda Triangle, the North Pole, the South Pole, The Forbidden Zone and The International Space Station are represented in the deck, alongside other countries and places.




I've been following the process by both of them on their own blogs as they created the deck, featuring their respective illustrations. Both Cooley and Presing have blogged about their collaborative efforts since early May and the finished deck of cards was just revealed at Comic Con, soon to be available online.

It's more fun to see how they went from sketches to the final art, than just looking at the final cards, so here's a look at the roughs and finished art of some of the cards in the deck.

First, from Bill Presing.
Bill's thumbnails in his sketchbook:

and his process of getting to the final Egypt card:

the final Egypt card:

sketch and final of the Russia Card:

the Vietnam card:

and the Greece card:

and more of his sketches:





and a few of the finished cards from Bill Presing:




Josh Cooley's process actually seems to involve bathing in macaroni and cheese to get inspired, but you can read about that yourself here.

Josh's rough and final of the Cuba Card:


And Josh did not post as many finished cards as did Bill, so you'll have to see those when you buy the deck. For now, here's a bunch of the sketches for the soon to be released cards by Josh Cooley:






(yes, Josh is aware that Texas is not a country)

The deck will sell for $25.00, soon to be available on Josh's online store.


I spoke with Josh on Saturday (he and Bill are both enjoying well-earned vacations) and he says the cards will soon be available for purchase in his online store. I'll be sure to keep you posted!

Josh 's blog, Cooley!
Bill's blog, Daily Peril

Drawing Lessons for Beginners

One of the most well known forums for artists is Wetcanvas.
In this forum, beginners and more advanced artists have access to a great source of information about several mediums.
Thanks to the generosity of its members, basic drawing classes are easily accessed, permiting beginning artists to develop their skills through easy to follow lessons.
The artist Ann Buckner has made PDF versions available on her website.