Author/Artist Name

Michael CrabtreeFollow

Files

Download

Download Thumbnail Sheet (7.2 MB)

Download Pen ink and watercolor on paper (819 KB)

Download Oil on canvas (1.9 MB)

Download ceramic vessel (1.0 MB)

Download ceramic (1.2 MB)

Download Charcoal on paper (2.3 MB)

Download ceramic tile (826 KB)

Download ceramic tile (729 KB)

Download ceramic figure (731 KB)

Download Oil on canvas (1.8 MB)

Download Ceramic (814 KB)

Download Ceramic (808 KB)

Download Photoshop (8.6 MB)

Download Ceramic (722 KB)

Download Ceramic (718 KB)

Download Colored pencil on paper (663 KB)

Download Photoshop (4.4 MB)

Download Photoshop (6.2 MB)

Download Mixed media (801 KB)

Download Mixed media (957 KB)

Download Mixed media (1.2 MB)

Academic Level at Time of Creation

Senior

Date of Creation

Spring 5-11-2022

Artist Statement

Storytelling inspires much of my art, whether from personal experience or from literature. I have always loved illustration and creating scenes where there is an implied narrative. I often try to make mysterious settings and strange structures or figures, but many of them are based on my memories of places or things that I have seen. My wife and daughter and our dog pop up again and again in my work but typically in unusual scenarios. I have painted our dog guiding a ship with a lantern and I have placed my wife and daughter in the background of a Mardi Gras illustration. I want to be an art teacher, and many of the lessons I have learned in school and through my experiences working with young people have influenced my work and how I think about art. One of the most important things I have learned about being an effective art teacher, which has changed the way I make art, is that students should make work that is meaningful to them. I try to remember this when I am making my own work. Book illustrations continue to be an inspiration to me and I feel that my love for narrative art has led me to really enjoy learning about art history. I am especially amazed by relief sculptures from the Romanesque period. The artists of this time used perspective and hierarchical proportions in unique ways to translate their messages into a visual form, often defying conventions of pictorial space to further their storytelling. I try to include some of these techniques in my own work. The illustrator Edward Gorey is a major influence on my work. He is an artist that I keep coming back to for inspiration again and again. His work has a timeless quality to it and he finds humor in the macabre. His unique style and characters are drawn using pen and ink with precise cross hatching and fine lines. I have been lucky enough to see a few of his works in person; they are surprisingly small and delicate. Esther Pearl Watson is another artist who inspires my work. She paints in a naive style that is humorous, but also expresses a sense of wonder and joyfulness. I love her series of paintings depicting her fathers homemade spaceships. She has a unique approach to painting that has a simple charm that I strive to find in my own imaginative paintings. When someone looks at my work I would like them to feel curious about the story I am trying to tell. This is why I like to work from my memories and experiences. I think that many people share similar experiences or feelings about the world. Maybe my work will remind someone of a place they have been, a person they have met, or an interesting experience they have had.

Advisor/Mentor

Rebecca Williams; Mike Martin

Description

This is a collection of work I have created as a student at Murray State University. Storytelling inspires much of my art, whether from personal experience or from literature. I am fascinated by illustration and creating scenes where there is an implied narrative. Developing technical skills in several mediums has also been a goal of mine as an art student. I believe that drawing from life enhances the more creative work that I have made, so that is a skill that I enjoy and will continue to practice. The work included here is done in oil paint, charcoal, photoshop, and ceramics.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Michael Crabtree Art399 Portfolio

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