Monday 22 August 2011

Favourite Martin Haake Moments...

I have chosen 3 of my favourite Martin Haake's images.

Image 1,             Cover for 3x3 magazine, selected for "communication arts" annual.
This image is made up of textures, shapes and symbols to create a bold soldier figure against a simple textured background.
The figure seems huge in scale with a triumphant curved body in comparison with his small head. The male figure is broad shouldered and muscular with a confident stance, he doesn't look like he was/is in battle but on parade or show of achievement. His uniform looks smart showcasing stars on his impressive and tassled shoulder pads and also his array of stunning medals that fill his torso. His sword is attached to side side but his hand is close by, just in case.
The figure seems exactly central in the image, with his fastening seams and buttons outlining the middle, this central vertical seam adds to the structure of the figure giving him a stern grounded feel.
His bright pink head adds to his manliness, showing emotion and recent triumph. this colour also runs through his stars and cuffs, although his hands are not in the matching pink but the left one is beige, while the right hand is merely a transparent line drawing, I think the left hand being beige is because it is close to his sword it is not relaxed, still restless and full of adrenaline encase it is needed again.
His array of medals are of mixed media, line drawings, collaged elements, ect, this shows diversity with the soldiers talents and with Haake's artistic talents.
The main shapes are made from block colours of printed texture, the background is contrasting colour scale with the lighter colour, yellow, being the dominant colour with is overlaid by the faint smears of black, which seems to be a more oil based like gum arabic.



Image 2,                       Book illustration for 'Charge' by Justin Pollard
This image again just uses few shapes and colours to compose a simple layout. Using a collage technique from found elements and made textures the image is of 3 male soldiers resting against separate trees, they are wearing similar uniform but in different colours, blue, pink and beige, I don't think this is to show that they are on opposing sides of the battle or are different ranks but just to look more aesthetically pleasing.
The 3 men look relaxed, chest out and high to show that they are resting and have a manly physique, while their one hand, that is showing, is behind their head, they are so relaxed that one soldier has lay down his gun and another has took of his hat, I don't think there will be an threats any time soon.
Again the image is formed by print textures  but with some collaged shapes. The background is very interesting, two slightly parted irregular shapes forming the foreground of land and background, one is made from a section of delicate hand-written text, the other from a busy geometric pattern and this leaves a large white space to the right, giving is a dream like feel. Even with all the repetition in this image, the 3 soldiers, the 3 trees, the section of text- which forms more of a pattern then legible text and the geometric patterning, the image still has a sense of calm.


Image 3,                                   Illustration for WIWO magazine.
This image is under the section 'collage' from Haake's website, even though most of his other work is based on collage, this section houses the images that use digital heads.
This image is more active that the others I have selected, it is of 3 men sailing a paper boat in the ocean, the boat appears to be quite settled in the water with faint movement lines around it and no sharp waves but the men seem to be working hard to navigate the boat with telescopes and protractors. The origami paper boat reads 'zertifikat'- this is a internationally recognized German language exam.
The 3 men are wearing smart navy suits with ties but the central, larger man, has more interesting red tie and top hat, this man seems be more dominant and in charge of the boat, he is central, larger in scale and is controlling the wheel so is therefore the captain, like Image 1 this man has broad shoulders and chest with a smaller head which emphasis his impressive body. The ocean is of a less pigmented texture, with a variety of different waves of line and block shapes, the ocean also has black triangles dotted around, this could also be waves or shark fins. The clouds appear to be photographs of clouds and are gathered in the left corner behind the boat, this could mean that where the men are heading could be brighter in terms of weather conditions and in future life. The sky is similar to Image 1 with the pale yellow and streaks of faint black. The boat appears to be central in the image but at an angle, where as the 3 men and their tools are in the 'golden section' of 3.

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