Digital vs. Traditional

Otto Rapp- Born in 1944 in Felixdorf, Lower Austria, Ottoeventually moved. He lived and was educated in Vienna, where later he worked as a clerk in the Transport and Insurance Business. After completing service in the Austrian Air Force, he traveled throughout Europe, eventually settling in Stockholm, Sweden. He was a self taught artist who was inspired by many painting he saw at museums and shows in Vienna. He later moved traveled to Canada and was a part of many exhibitions there.

Artists name: Otto Rapp

Title: Mystic UFO

Year: 2009



Description: Mystic UFO is a piece where Otto made a UFO out of many copies of his face. He has the UFO floating out of the clouds just above a normal looking suburban town. The tone of this piece is very dark and soft. Nothing pops out, but the UFO definally catches your eye.

Analysis: This piece is almost symmetrical vertically except for the clouds on the right side, but it doesn't seem to follow the rule of thirds. The UFO is actually centered in this piece, which I feel makes it stand out as the focal point.

Interpretation:The way I interperate this piece is that he is trying to say that his mind is out of this world. I thought of this because as a surreal artist he must think out of the ordinary and maybe he believes that his thoughts are like a UFO, unidentified, and out of this world.

Judgement: I think this is a very successful piece. He incorporated his face into the UFO very well and made the town on the bottom seem real. Ia lso like how the UFO is coming out of the clouds on the right side of the piece.

Rodney Matthews: Born on July 6, 1945 in Paulton, England, Rodney has made a living off of publishing album covers, and picture books.  In 1978, he published "Yendor - The Journey of a Junior Adventurer", his first hard-cover picture book. REcently he has made the album cover for Magnum's 2008 album Princess Alica and the Broken Arrow. (As seen below) 

Artist Name: Rodney Matthews

Title: The Ether Stream

Year: 1986

Description: THe Ether Stream shows a futuristic ship floating on a river or the Ether Steam into the distant universe past planets and stars. This piece shows very mild tones adn cool colors so that everything blends well together.

Analysis: This piece definally keeps in mind the rule of thirds. The ship and the largest orange planet seem to keep the rule in compience. THe cool purples and blues blend nicely with the black background of space.

Interpretation: My interpretation of this piece is that it shows a journey into the unknown. The water looks a bit bumpy in the picture and the path is winding and endless. I think this just shows that life is a journey and to just go with that journey.

Judgement: I think that this is a very successful piece. I feel that all of the colors work very well togeher, and the whole piece has a nice flow to it. The leading line the Ether Stream gives leads to on a winding path through the piece.

The different styles of the two above artists can be seen in there work. In these two pieces for example, the differences are quite noticable. Matthews seems to have a flow to his pice, making every part incorporated with the other with a very simple yet profound background. On the other hand, Rapp makes his focal point the basis for the entire piece. The background of his piece just makes his focal point stand out even more. The bright background of the sky makes the shadows of the clouds stand out as well as the UFO made up of his face.Also, you can tell that Rapp used photography in his piece, while Matthews used paint.