Kathe Kollwitz inspired drawings for my summer project.

Two drawings inspired by two of Kollwitz’s works, the one on the left is a close up of her drawing of a mourning mother/widow, inspired by her own experiences. The one on the right is my version of one of her many self – portraits.

Kollwitz worked primarily in woodcut and lithography. I will be trying my hand at lithography in a couple of weeks. I’ve looked it up and its fairly straightforward just a lot of stages and a lot of washing plates. Woodcut on the other hand is simpler, you get a piece of wood and some shape implements and carve out an image. Which you then ink up and place paper on and repeat and add to as many times as you want to create a more details image. The expressionists favoured woodcut as its difficult and hard going to carve. But this made it more emotive and more expressive. It also worked well with harsh subject matters and really lets the image and its story shine through in simple black and white. Though Kollwitz trained as a painter, most of her work consisted of series of lithographs or woodcuts and pencil and charcoal studies. She also created sculptures. Though after her dismissal from the Prussian academy is lost her large sculpture studio. And was unable the carry on with that avenue of her work.

The Japanese also used woodblock printing. Though some printing techniques may seem tedious they were and are quicker and more reliable than replicating images by hand. Moveable type and printed image are essential to communication design. They make art accessible, affordable and efficient. Mass production of art and text is part of illustration. Prints can be mass produced but they can also be limited edition or single copies giving them infinite value.

Book used for help with this post –  Martin, J. (1993) The Encyclopaedia of  Printmaking Techniques. Quarto Publishing.

Summer Project – Illustration – German Expressionists

I realised I should probably post about my summer project. Our brief was to explore “what has gone before”. Now when you type the history of illustration into Google, what comes up is pretty vague and useless. Perfect excuse to buy some illustration books off amazon. The book that I found most helpful was “Illustration, a visual history” by Heller & Chwast Abrams. As it containes the main illustrative movements and styles. Which was really helpful for me as I didn’t really know a lot about the history of illustration, and I didn’t want to pick my favourite illustrator, Mike Mignola. I wanted to go further back, see if I could trace some of my favourite styles back to their origins. I also really love history, if I hadn’t got into DJCAD, I would be in second year at Stirling studying history and religion. So the first half of my project sketchbook is just written research and pictures exploring the history of illustration. I eventually settled on the work of the German Expressionists, specifically Kathe Kollwitz. This period of German history is an era that fascinates me. I studied Germany’s inter-war years for my Advanced Higher and wrote my dissertation on it as well. So finding Kathe Kollwitz, was amazing, a woman who lived and worked pre WW1 to the end of WW2. Her work is so refreshing and simple to me, as well as her story. She drew the reality of war and the inter – war years in Germany, something which isn’t really discussed. She was a woman beyond her time, and so were her parents, when she told her father she was getting married he feared it would ruin her artistic career. It didn’t, in a way her career flourished when she and her husband, a doctor, moved to Berlin. She really cared about the war torn impoverished families who visited her husbands clinic. Her political and moral sensibility probably had a lot to do with this, but also the fact that she herself was no stranger to sorrow, as she lost her son in WW1. Her opinion towards war changed greatly from this moment onwards. In December 1943 she wrote in her diary:

“Every war already carries within it the war which will answer it. Every war is answered by a new war until everything is smashed … that is why I am so wholeheartedly for a radical end to this madness and why my only hope is in a world Socialism, Pacifism simply is not a matter of calm looking on, it is work, hard work.”

Kathe Kollwitz was a pretty amazing lady. I find her work so inspiring, its expressive but its not fake. Its real and gritty. I admire her bravery.

Links and References :

Here is a link to the Kathe Kollwitz Museum website : http://www.kaethe-kollwitz.de/museum-en.htm (accessed 24.9.2013.)

Heller, S. Chwast, S. (2008) Illustration: A Visual History. New York. Abrams.

Kollwitz, K. (1955) The Diary and Letters of Kathe Kollwitz. Henry Regnery.