In this months update:
- Artist of the month: Habiba Green
- What on earth is operation Nightwatch?
- Whats new from me.
Artist of the month: Habiba Green
I came across Habiba’s work on Twitter, in a tweet she disclosed more about her artwork and techniques. I loved this because it showed a vulnerable side of the artist and she also attached one piece of her artwork (the first piece in this post) which I just loved. The minimal colours she used and represents the uncertainty of emotions well.
Drawing and painting have been Habiba’s passions since childhood. After graduating in Graphic Design from the ULL with a specialism in commercial graphic design, she completed her training in Bristol and London, United Kingdom.
Habiba’s work focuses on portraits and the human figure, along with botanical elements, using watercolours, digital painting, and gouache. She would describe her work as autobiographical but it also incorporates other people’s experiences to explore emotions so that she can connect as deeply as possible with the viewer.
Her creative process is inspired by feminism and literature, materialising different concepts from her favourite writers. Habiba has collaborated on exhibitions in Barcelona, Madrid, London, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, as well as organising her own commemorative exhibition on International Women’s Day: SHE, where she participated alongside twenty leading contemporary artists.
Habiba has worked for brands and music labels, including Smirnoff and Sony, and has illustrated book jackets for leading contemporary Spanish writers for clients including Penguin Random House. Her latest project is a collaboration with Jillian Dempsey, illustrating Dempsey’s Global Ambassadors.
QUESTIONS
1. What inspires you to create artwork?
I get inspired by going to art galleries, so much so sometimes I rush home because an idea has come out and I feel that that creative energy can’t be wasted. Other times I can get inspired in random situations.
2. Your artwork features simple colour pallets how did you decide this?
Over the years my style had been progressing with a concept called “more is less”. It consists of creating consistency in an almost minimalist manner. Therefore, you create an illusion up to the viewer’s imagination if that makes sense. At least, that’s my intention aesthetically!
3. What are you looking forward to in your art career?
I want to connect through my art as much as I can, and if possible be more and more able to support other artists by collecting their artworks. My aspirations are definitely in the gallery sector.
Keep evolving and never stop creating.
4. What would your advice be for young or starting artists?
Be yourself, never stop creating and concentrate on your work. Follow your path is the only way. It took me ten years to realise that.
5. What movie/tv show or book would you recommend?
I will recommend a film that I’ve watched recently, it’s a short film, but is beautiful and has a great message. It’s called Nobody knows. By Hirokazu Koreeda. Be careful though, it can be quite sad.
A book will be Opus by Satoshi Kon, it is an art and a very important manga to me! You won’t regret it.
Thank you so much for the interview, it’s been fun! Also for granting me the “ Artist of the month”. Such an honour.
If you would like to find out more about Habiba you can head here.
What on earth is the operation nightwatch?
Prepare to have your mind blown
Recently I attended a talk: AI at the Rijksmuseum: revealing the secret life of art at The Next Web conference. Presented by Robert G. Erdmann — Senior Scientist & Full Professor — Rijksmuseum & University of Amsterdam
He demonstrated how the Rijksmuseum has been using AI to restore the Nightwatch painting by Rembrandt.
The Nightwatch was painted in 1642 and later in 1715, the painting was trimmed so that it would fit between two doors at Amsterdam’s City hall. Those trimmed pieces were lost, luckily another painter had made a copy of the entire piece including the missing pieces.
However, it did not look exactly the same, the artist had different techniques and colour pallets so the Rijksmuseum has been using AI to ‘merge’ the two and produce a painting that is as close to the original as it can be. They used 3 different AIs to identify the structural differences, painting techniques and style. Later on, they were able to restore the missing pieces in the museum.
But that’s not all!
He also demonstrated how AI can be used on other art pieces to identify things like:
- What kind of paper/canvas they used
- Any scratches or changes in the paper
- Separate the ink from paper
- Arrange and sort the whole art collection at the museum into similar patterns without any information about the paintings themselves.
- Search an individual painting for sections
I am going to expand on that last point because this blew my mind. Using the AI you can search the entire painting, for example, you can search for a red block with white specs and it will highlight those areas for you an example can be seen below.
This blew my mind because as a developer by day and I have coded a search bar many times on a website and every time you have to tell it where to look and it will only match words rather than the overall subject. So to be able to search for something so complex as specs in a painting and not have to tell it anything is simply amazing.
This just shows how far technology has come and I am sure the Rijksmuseum and others will continue to use AI to restore artwork, identify more information about the artwork, and allow people to take a closer look and find out more than you would by reading a plaque on the wall.
New artwork yay!
I have been creating more art this month which makes me feel great! and I hope all of you enjoy viewing it.
When did I stop jumping in puddles?
One day, walking home alone, I was in my head feeling sad. Then I stopped when I saw a child jumping around in a puddle, they were smiling widely. I paused, when did I stop jumping in puddles?
I admire children, they tend to make fun out of anything in front of them, being present in the moment is something they are masters of.
In the picture here I am recalling my childhood, from the jacket I wore to the blue wellingtons with white stars. Looking back at one of my happy moments and maybe, just maybe it will get me jumping in puddles again. I released this as a one of a kind and the buyer will also get a print sent to them.
Pain and grief
Recently I have been going through the stages of grief because I lost my dog in April and I loved her the most in the world. Recently it’s been anger so it inspired me to do a grief series as I think everyone can relate and allows me to use my emotions to create art. This is the first picture of that series and has not been released yet.
Panda Puzzle
Inspired by a friend of mine called puzzleMePanda who is a streamer.
Panda Ball
Pandas and basketball? Yes. Also, I love basketball and this is a little representation of me.
I will be releasing more art soon on makersplace! So if you want to know when they are released follow me on there.
Thank you for reading this far I hope you found it insightful!