ADVERTISING AS ART

I know before I've posted how to be creative with advertising (see it here) but in this post let's talk about how advertising and art have been linked. Hopefully many of you watched the final episode of Mad Men this past Sunday, if not it's OK... but you should start watching Mad Men ASAP, and as viewers you would know when the advertising group (SC&P or McCann Erickson) would present their ad to their client they would really try and create a feeling sparked by the creative work. Art is just the same, art is only good if it creates a feeling within the viewer. Anyone can throw paint or charcoal at something, but if you can make someone feel something and move them with the specifics of what you did or the meaning behind it, then you've done your job and your work should be in a museum.

Advertising and Art have always had a close relationship for the obvious reason, they're both visual ways of communicating something. The beginning of that is Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and his lithograph prints and posters specifically. Even though he was a very skillful Impressionist painter, draughtsman, and artist in general his work with prints of the dancers of Moulin Rouge are what started the connection between Art and Advertising.

Throughout Art History we do see a lot more artists attempting to make the connection between Fine Art and Advertising. Another successful artist who made the connection is Andy Warhol. He started out early doing ink blot drawings of shoes and ended up creating massive collaborations. We all know of his Campbell Soup Can...

Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Cans, screen print, 1962 Display view at MoMA, New York

Andy Warhol, Absolut Vodka, screen print, 1986

Another artist who has combined with advertising is Norman Rockwell, like in this "Out Fishin'" Ad created for Coca Cola in the 1930s. This piece specifically creates a feeling and a world that you'd want to live in.

It's hard to tell when Art and Advertising combine which it better belongs to. They say any advertising is good advertising. Yet just a few lucky advertisers come along and create a feeling and a connection with the viewer that are memorable for many years to come. That is the connection with Fine Art and that is how you know you are a truly talented advertiser.

ILLUSTRATORS VERSUS FINE ARTISTS

Why is there an ongoing battle between illustration and more traditional drawing or painting? Throughout my studies in college I have had some teachers who criticize students for drawing in a more illustrative manner. I understand in the educational scenario that students should work on anatomy and realism while we have the model in front of us. But there are plenty of artists out there today that are getting many commissions and sales as an illustrative artist.

Now, there is a difference between illustrative drawing and cartooning. Cartooning is typically when the subject matter is making a statement or story with the figures not being correct anatomically. Cartoon in the Fine Art sense actually refers to the full design or plan drawn out for a full scale painting or drawing. Illustration in the art world can me two different things as well: illustrating can refer to decorative or explicative images that compliment text, or it can refer to simplified and outlined figures that are anatomically correct.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Henri_de_Toulouse_Lautrec.Troupe_de_Mlle_Eglantine.JPG)

Illustration has changed a lot recently and is now becoming a more popular art form. But Artists like Henri Toulouse-Lautrec were known for their illustrative works in the late 19^th Century. Some people still consider his artwork paintings or printmaking, but I see it still consider it illustrative because of the forms in the drawings.

A more current artist, Felix Hemme also has an illustrative style that he sometimes uses in a more abstract manner. 

(http://www.felixhemme.com/medias/album/bord-du-lit-1-jpg)

I think illustrative art is becoming more and more recognized as a fine art form. To be honest, I don’t know why people would be upset if illustrative artists were considered fine artists. I admire their work and find it inspiring. So we need to stop being such snobs and start admiring our fellow artists. Let’s try and work towards not being the stereotypical snobby artist like people think of us and work as a team to extend our borders. 

+Let me know if you guys have any suggestions or things you want me to talk about or artists to write about!+