Julian Opie

Artworks:

Julian Opie's art is mostly characterised by his very distinct use of lines and colour choices, which contribute to the unique visual language he has developed. His lines are clean, bold, and simplified, usually emphasising shapes and outlines, often highlighting the contours of his subjects with acute precision. This minimalist approach allows him to capture the essence of his subjects while eliminating unnecessary details, showing the heavy influence that this style had over his art.

In terms of colour, Opie employs vibrant and saturated hues, often using bold, distinct flat blocks of colour to fill in his simplified forms. This deliberate colour choice, influenced by his love of pop art, adds a sense of vibrancy and energy to his artwork, enhancing the overall visual impact.

His artistic process which combines photography, digital manipulation, and traditional artistic techniques, allows him to create artwork that is both contemporary yet also timeless. Through his distinctive style, Opie is able to distil the essence of his subjects, capturing their individuality and creating a unique and intimate feeling connection between the viewer and the artwork.

In summary, Julian Opie's process involves photographing his subjects and digitally manipulating the images to simplify and highlight their essential characteristics. His use of bold lines and vibrant colours further enhances the essence of his subjects. It helps give off the emotion that the subject wants to build and creates a perspective lens for the viewer to see them through. Making artwork that is visually captivating and emotionally evocative.

Julian Opie's art is a testament to his mastery of line, colour, and technical skill. His ability to simplify complex forms while maintaining their essence, along with his deliberate colour choices and innovative use of technology, contribute to the distinctiveness and appeal of his artwork.

My Response:

Below is the artwork I've created inspired by the style of Julian Opie:

I used the famous circular eyes of his art style as well as the gradient that he uses to shade and highlight his art pieces. They create shape and tone on the hair , face and clothing.

As Opie's style is simpler in tone, I only had to use three tones, one higher, one normal and one slightly darker. Instead of just using a stylised black line for the mouth, I used a muted shade of pink to highlight the lips and bring more colour variation to the face as Opie's style usually consists of only one shade of colour.

Process and Problems:

Here the issue I encountered was drawing it all on one layer which made colouring difficult as the shapes weren't completely anchored. I could not add colour or bend the lines the way I wanted them to.

I solved this issue by duplicating each individual section and erasing the one beneath it, then connecting the lines together before colouring with the different strikingly simple tones.

Below: my issue was not connecting the lines together, this created a rift in the shapes and I was unable to portray the shapes of the clothing.

To fix this, I separated each colour layer to the clothes in the right order and recreated each shape again. Therefore when each layer was a complete connection, I was able to easily finish the bottom section. This also allowed me to make the lines smoother and neater and I was able to create highlights and shadows on another layer on top as all the layers weren't stuck together.