Senior Thesis 2011
2011
Description
This series of portraits was completed as my senior thesis spring 2011 at the University of Michigan School of Art and Design. The first three stand seven feet tall, and four feet across. The last two are four feet across and two feet tall. They are all currently for sale. Please contact jaffe.rose@gmail.com for further information.
This artists statement accompanied my work during the three weeks of the show:
I practice the art of illustration and my language is line. Each subject I draw has a storyline, a narrative that sits below the crease behind an ear, the folds of an eyelid, the curve of a spine. A study of the human figure, through technical practice and rendering techniques, allows me to venture into a study of the human essence and thus into the folds of personal narrative. I squeeze, pinch, and manipulate the face and body to reflect emotion, expression, and energy. Lines speak, and I articulate them in a way that tells a story.
The ‘Five’ series of portraits is a compositional narrative of each of my closest friends, who are influential, inspirational and important people in my personal and creative world. I’ve included myself as a subject in this series to examine my own lines. It is this self-reflective practice that is indicative of my desire to translate the multi-layers of a human being into simple form. Line quality, size, texture and form influence the storyline of each person. According to Milton Glaser,“Drawing is seeing.” These larger-than-life portraits are themselves a practiceof close inspection and truthful scrutiny, a means of better drawing, seeing,and understanding the people who surround me.
This artists statement accompanied my work during the three weeks of the show:
I practice the art of illustration and my language is line. Each subject I draw has a storyline, a narrative that sits below the crease behind an ear, the folds of an eyelid, the curve of a spine. A study of the human figure, through technical practice and rendering techniques, allows me to venture into a study of the human essence and thus into the folds of personal narrative. I squeeze, pinch, and manipulate the face and body to reflect emotion, expression, and energy. Lines speak, and I articulate them in a way that tells a story.
The ‘Five’ series of portraits is a compositional narrative of each of my closest friends, who are influential, inspirational and important people in my personal and creative world. I’ve included myself as a subject in this series to examine my own lines. It is this self-reflective practice that is indicative of my desire to translate the multi-layers of a human being into simple form. Line quality, size, texture and form influence the storyline of each person. According to Milton Glaser,“Drawing is seeing.” These larger-than-life portraits are themselves a practiceof close inspection and truthful scrutiny, a means of better drawing, seeing,and understanding the people who surround me.
Fields
Cartooning, Drawing, Illustration
- The Five Show
My Senior Thesis Exhibition at the University of Michigan - Artist Statement:
I practice the art of illustration and my language is line. Each subject I draw has a storyline, a narrative that sits below the crease behind an ear, the folds of an eyelid, the curve of a spine. A study of the human figure, through technical practice and rendering techniques, allows me to venture into a study of the human essence and thus into the folds of personal narrative. I squeeze, pinch, and manipulate the face and body to reflect emotion, expression, and energy. Lines speak, and I articulate them in a way that tells a story.
The ‘Five’ series of portraits is a compositional narrative of each of my closest friends, who are influential, inspirational and important people in my personal and creative world. I’ve included myself as a subject in this series to examine my own lines. It is this self-reflective practice that is indicative of my desire to translate the multi-layers of a human being into simple form. Line quality, size, texture and form influence the storyline of each person. According to Milton Glaser,“Drawing is seeing.” These larger-than-life portraits are themselves a practiceof close inspection and truthful scrutiny, a means of better drawing, seeing,and understanding the people who surround me. 
Each of these pieces stand 7 feet tall.
This piece is of a grandfather figure to my step twin brother and sister. It is done with pen and ink washes and stands four feet tall by four feet wide.
A more conceptual piece, this drawing is about the beginning and the end of a life. By juxtaposing the two figures, the beginning stares into the eyes of the future, the start to the end, the naive to the experienced. After spending some time with grandmother who is aging rapidly in the last legs of her life, she reverts back to ways of an infant, as the circle of life closes and the times on a life that seem so far from each other, come together.
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Stretching my fingers and pushing the limits of pen and ink rendering, below are examples of my ability to work directly with the medium of pen and ink. I use black India ink, metal quill tips, thin brushes, and Micron Pens. Illustrations done for a slew of independent projects.Drawing, Illustration, portraiture2011 -
Born and raised in Washington DC, my artists hand is a weapon for opinion. I was a political cartoonist for the Michigan Daily newspaper for three years, examples can be found in my portfolio archive. I seek ways to translate our political figures into a language of line. Prints of any of the following illustrations are available for sale.Illustration, Drawing, Cartooning2011 -
A short lived but fascinating exploration of the world of printmaking. These illustrations reveal my exploration of the ethereal quality of trace monoprint portraiture. Subjects include a professor of ceramics at the University of Michigan, a model photographed by Max Collins of the University of Michigan, and my younger sister Olivia.Print Design, Drawing2011 -
During my four years at the University of Michigan I worked on three publications. The Michigan Daily, Consider Magazine, and the Gargoyle. For Consider I was active on the art staff -- brainstorming ways to highlight the weeks content and harness an audience. The Gargoyle gave me free reign to explore ways to draw in viewers -- and I used the opportunity to push the boundaries of an 'expected' publication cover.
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The following are a sampling of covers completed over three years.Publishing, Illustration, Graphic Design2011 -
Below are examples of covers I completed for Consider Magazine at the University of Michigan 2009 - 2011Illustration, Drawing2011 -
My second project for Howland Research, published through the Triple Anvil Press, is a series of illustrations of Winston Churchill. The publication is an essay on the history surrounding an important letter written by Churchill. The essay is by Richard Marsh, a retired attorney and president of the Winston Churchill Society of Michigan. The publication, including a facsimile of the letter, is scheduled to be in print mid year 2012.
The official letter from the Illustrator published along with the drawings:
Illustrating Winston Churchill for Richard Marsh’s essay on this important letter pertaining to Churchill, Pierre Flandin, and Ralph Wigramis an honor and an inspiration in three ways.
The library where the author’s Churchill books, letters, and documents are preserved is a remarkable space. Its creation occupied six months of the professional life of a cabinet maker, fabricating, fitting, and finishing each piece of alder wood. The second inspiration is the books in that library, most of them significant association copies, and the variety of Churchill letters and documents,several formerly in the collection of Malcolm Forbes. And, if one needed a third inspiration, it would be the enthusiasm of the author himself, his encyclopedic knowledge of thirteen generations of Churchill family history, and his generosity in sharing the history of artifacts in the collection, including the letter that is the subject of this essay.
Before rendering the final illustration, based on the iconic scene of Churchill and Brendan Bracken standing amidst the rubble of the bombed House of Commons, I read March’s essay. As the essay reveals, when Adolph Hitler entered the Rhineland in 1936,Churchill was one of the few individuals who foresaw the consequence of not challenging Hitler at the only point in time when Hitler could have been defeated without the horrific cost that was eventually paid.
As you read the essay and contemplate the details of all the illustrations but the last, I hope you will share my sense of inspiration. As you encounter the rendering of the final illustration, I hope you will share my sense that the entire terrible war might well have been avoided.
Ann Arbor RoseJaffe
July 2011
***The third illustration is a drawing is inspired from a GETTY image reproduced by the New York Times in a 2010 article. The original photo depicts Winston Churchill inspecting the bombed out remains of The Debating Chamber in the House of Commons during World War II.Drawing, Illustration2011 -
This is an excerpt from a June 2011 presentation I was a part of, pertaining to the the Hamlet Project. Delivered at University Commons, Ann Arbor --
The artist and illustrator, John Austen, lived from 1886 until 1948. He illustrated in the style of Aubrey Beardsley for only a decade, early in the 20th century. During that time, he illustrated only one of Shakespeare's plays. We are glad it was Hamlet , and pleased that he did over 80 illustrations.
One vignette illustration appears on every page of this near century-old edition. Two years ago, when a copy of the historic edition came into the Howland Research collection, it was recognized that the characteristics of line, composition, and gesture, in Austen's black and white vignette illustrations would make them ideal for water coloring.
This year, Ann Arbor artist Greta Barnard and I were invited to collaborate on the project. We approached every aspect the art of John Austen with the same respect that our textual collaborator, Jasmine Noel An, showed for the historic text of the Globe edition, which was the text utilized in the antique Austen edition. Austen’s original black and white illustrations were scanned at 300 dpi, and enlarged to four times original size. The background tone of the old paper was removed using Photoshop, and the illustrations were reproduced, using micron-type waterproof black ink, on watercolor papers, specifically Stonehenge, BFK Reeves, and Arches.
The final product is scheduled to be published mid spring of 2012. More information at http://www.howlandresearch.com/watercolor, Drawing, Illustration2011 -
Cartoons done over the past three years for publication in The Michigan Daily, Consider Magazine, Cartoons and Cocktails and personal use.Illustration, Drawing2011 -
The following are examples of pen and ink line work I have scanned black and white and colored digitally. Figures in various contexts with a splash of color and a stroke of comic air to create examples of basic line work in illustration.Illustration, Drawing2011 -
Design examples:
Business card design (front/back) for Detroit based DJ
Logo Mockups for Invite Only Management LLC
Logo Mockups for local pesto maker in the Washington DC area
Cover image of music video for Fromuth Productions (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZbaDR4Imwc)Branding, Design, Graphic Design2011
