On Wednesdays, we look at artist/designer statements or About pages and discuss the vocabulary they use to describe their work. Today we’ll look at the About page of CJP, a British artist that specializes in highly detailed drawings.
Here is the text from his About page, in italics.
CJP is an art director turned photographer turned artist who retains a bond between each discipline, often overlapping his skill sets to create his illustrations and art.
His highly detailed works reflect his passion for the natural environment and the tools we use to interact with it, along with the visual and hidden narratives these items have to divulge.
Now my comments:
Obviously, this is a very short About page. He says a little about his background, mentions his motivation, and hints at what makes his work unique. It would be interesting to know more about the goals he has for his work, his process or the techniques he uses to create such amazing details, and how his work has evolved over time. Many artists have very short About pages, and I think including these extra details can really help their audiences to appreciate their work more fully.
Next, let’s look at the vocabulary he uses. In the first sentence, he uses the verb turned several times. This means he was an art director, and then became a photographer, and then became an artist. A bond is like a connection between two things, and a discipline is a subject or something that you study, so he’s saying that he uses all the skills he learned in each job together to make his current work. He also talks about overlapping his skill sets. A skill set is a group of skills that you use to do a job or to make something, and overlapping means parts of one thing are the same as the parts of another thing. So he’s saying that he uses all of his skills together in his work.
In the second paragraph, he describes his works as highly detailed, which means they have a lot of details. Reflect means to show, so he’s saying that his work shows his passion for the environment. To interact with someone or something means to talk to or do things with it, so his work shows the way people use tools in the environment. At the end, he talks about the visual and hidden narratives these items have to divulge. To divulge means to give information or share a secret, and hidden means something you can’t see. So, he’s talking about the stories these items tell about the way they are used. He may also be describing the little, hidden animals in some of his work, as you can see in the video.
Some artists are not very comfortable talking about themselves or their work, so they write very little. A good language coach can help you to know how much to write about and what to talk about when you describe your work. They can also help you to choose the best language to describe your work so that it’s easier for your audience to appreciate what you do.
At Artglish, we help artists and designers to write a statement or About page that best describes their work. We focus on choosing the best vocabulary and language to help you share your work with others. If you want to learn more, click here to join The Studio and try some free ways to improve your English, or check out our Lessons page to learn how Artglish can help you succeed.
I’ve chosen 5 words or phrases for you to focus on today. They are in bold. If you don’t know them, look up the meaning, synonyms, antonyms, and other forms of these words. You can find links to Merriam-Webster dictionary sites at the bottom of this page.
To see CJP’s About page, click the link below:
http://www.cjpart.co.uk/about