Jared
Nickerson and Pawal Nolbert
What is
digital media today? Why has it become more mainstream and what types
of art pieces are created? In Digital Art: Painting with Pixels,
we hear about the different types of media used to created these new
works of art (Miller, Ron). We have the ability to use computers to
make 3D models, websites, blogs, and animations that we could have
never dreamed to create before the technological movement.
Not
only has technology advanced to allow us to have more opportunities
to create works of art, but it has given us new inspirations and
different ways to see things. But who, specifically, is creating
these pieces for the world to see? What do they want the world to
see?
For this project we
are assigned to talked about two artist's, and compare not only their
works of art but themselves as artists as well. The two digital media
artists that I have chosen to discuss for this essay are Jared
Nickerson and Pawel Nolbert. I chose them because their pieces really
drew my attention and caught my eye. I will first discuss what their
lives were like, and what led them to become digital media artists
today.
I will then discuss
specific works of art that they have created, and why I chose them
over other pieces the artist's made. I will analyze and interpret
these pieces, along with talking about how they were made. Lastly, I
will talk about the comparisons and contrasts between the two
artists, their works of art, and their artist styles. All of this
wrapping up to show a new advanced type of art. First, I will be
starting with Pawel Nolbert.
Pawel Nolbert aka
HelloColor is an independent artist, illustration, and designer
working out of his shop in Warsaw, Poland. He
has a Bachelor's
of Computer Science and Information Technology, with an emphasis in
Digital Imaging in 2003-2006. He had become the creative director,
illustrator, and visual artist of HelloColor in 2004 while still
attending school (Nolbert, Pawel – Linked In). In the past he had
worked for Index as a graphic designer, and Ars Thanea as the senior
designer and illustrator. He has said he “I envision, develop, and
execute ideas for various clients around the world.”
He
has gained experience by making various art for companies like
Google, Apple, and Disney. He has also been printed in publications
like “Springer “Digital Da Vinvi””, and “Computer Arts”
Magazine. (Pawel Nolbert – Experience and Experiment). With ten
years of experience, he has developed advanced skills in image
making, graphic design, photography, interactive design, and more.
The
piece of art that I want to discuss is called “Banana Splash”. It
is part of a work called “Objective” which contains five
different artworks, created in 2016. Using thick paint as the medium
against his digital creations, he explores the ways that it will
affect his art. In “Banana Splash” we see a painted banana and
instead of it smashing on the surface, it is instead pulling apart,
or in a sense, splashing.
I
chose this piece because it looked silly and I wanted to learn more
about it. The other pieces of “Objective” have the same look to
them, yet the banana was much more whimsical. To me the
interpretation is that things can be more than what you believe they
are, because you expect the banana to squish, yet it splashes. It is
placed against a black and white background divided horizontally, and
with the positive and negative space, it brings out the yellow of the
banana.
It
is easy to see the ends of the banana peel look like heavy brush
strokes, indicating his other medium. It also has splashes of yellow
color on the surface, making it really look like it is splashing into
it. It is very abstract versus a real banana, but a lot of his work
is like that. I believe he likes to work with abstract images over
realistic ones (Pawel Nolbert – Objective).
Next, the artist I
am going to talk about Jared Nickerson. He worked out of Seattle,
Washington, but is originally from Nova Scotia. He is the co-founder
of renowned vector community, and Blood Sweat Vector or BSV for
short. He mainly works with branding, video games, character design,
and textile design.
Not only does Jared
take his digital media to new places, he also takes it to the musical
realm. He is a music producer, song writer, and vocalist for his band
“Dead astronauts”. His motto is “create art for yourself and in
time everyone else will follow” (Nickerson, Jared – JThree
Concepts). He has made designs for Adidas, Facebook, Maxim,
Microsoft, and Nintendo, and plans to work with other industries in
the future.
The piece of art
that I have chosen to discuss is called “Pseudo's Daughter”. I
chose this piece because I like anime as well as he does, and it
really caught my attention. It was a collaboration with Camilla
D'Errico, and it was based off her Mountainhead character. In the
piece, we see a girl attached to mask that goes onto her head, and it
has monsters at the top.
There are two
different versions, one with the mask, and one without. The only
other difference between the two is that the one with the mask has a
pink background, and the one without has a gray background. The pink
really draws the eye to the piece as the rest is mostly lacking
color, and it is more interesting to me than the one without the
mask. It feels like it has a deeper meaning than the other.
She appears to be
holding something, I assume to be a gun, and looks as if she is ill.
While there is no interpretation attached to the picture, I feel as
if she is sick and the machine is supposed to help her, yet the
monsters make it worse. The machine has logos on it, and that makes
me believe that Jared wanted to add those to show something he loves
to work with. He says it was edited with Adobe Illustrator, and that
all digital additions and monsters were created by him. He states
that there is a third version that was created with a mustache, but
that is was not released (Nickerson, Jared – Pseudo's Daughter).
His work is both abstract, and is more defined and realistic.
When looking at
both artist's, we can see that Pawel's work is much more abstract.
While they have both worked for reputable companies, Pawel is more
focused on Illustration and design, while Jared is more into branding
and logos. They both make beautiful pieces of work, but can easily be
distinguished when compared to the others work.
When we look
specifically at “Banana Splash” and “Pseudo's Daughter”, they
both have abstract features to them. Pawel's is completely abstract,
while Jared's just contains some aspects like his monsters and the
animation of the girl. “Banana Splash” has you drawn more to the
color, while “Pseudo's Daughter” is mostly in black and white.
The only color in it, is in the background, and in her eyes. Jared
has a lot more going on in his piece when you look closely at the
machine on the girl's head, but his picture is also much larger.
Jared's work was
made from a different source, while Pawel's work was created with not
only digital media but with thick paint on the artworks themselves
after the fact. Pawel's other pieces of art are also very abstract,
while Jared's all seen to have some type of image or photo as the
base, along with an addition of digital media. Pawel's are still life
compositions, while Jared's contain more movement.
In conclusion, two
artist's were discussed that brought different techniques to the
table. Pawel brings his illustrating abilities along with his use of
original mediums. Jared brings his branding and animating abilities.
They both are abstract yet Jared is more realistic, and Pawel uses
color and still life in his favor.
In digital media,
you can always come up with something knew. I believe both of these
artist's are amazing representations of the types of artists and
artwork that digital media has to offer. They use their skills as
best as possible to do something that they love everyday. Both
artists are from different backgrounds, with different experiences,
and yet they both came to the same place of loving art and digital
media.
They both play with
the mediums in their pieces and come up with new ideas for their
works of art. They have different characteristics that they focus on,
but both are still putting all of themselves into their work. When it
comes to digital media, you have to love what you do to be
successful, and welcome progress and advances in technology that
allow us to advance our own abilities, and these men both do that in
their own ways. They both want to show the world that digital media
is something that incredible, can be used in a multitude of ways, and
has a lot to offer the artistic community.
Bibliography
- Miller, Ron. Digital Art: Painting with Pixels. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books, 2008.
- Nolbert, Pawel. “Objective”. Accessed November 22, 2016. http://www.nolbert.com/work/objective/.
- Nolbert, Pawel. “Experience and Experiment”. Accessed November 22, 2016. http://www.nolbert.com/about/.
- Nickerson, Jared. “Pseudo's Daughter”. Accessed November 22, 2016. https://www.behance.net/gallery/107606/Pseudos-Daughter-aka-Mountainhead.
- Nickerson, Jared. “JThree Concepts”. Accessed November 22, 2016. http://www.jthreeconcepts.com/#/p/about/.
- Nolbert, Pawel. "Pawel Nolbert." Linked In. Accessed November 22, 2016. https://www.linkedin.com/in/hellocolor
