HOW DID HOWARD ARKLEY INFLUENCE YOUR PAINTING?

POINT: Howard Arkley was an Australian artist born on May 5th 1951 in Melbourne. He is
renowned for using the airbrush which he was introduced to at a 3 year art course at
Prahran College of advanced Education in 1969, later known to become his trademark.

EXPLAIN: Howard Arkley utilises the practice of black outlines which was influenced by the
German printmaker Albrecnt Durer. To him, it is an artistic device that ‘ locks colours and
textures into the composition yet it also emphasises the neatness of the suburbia’. In my
artwork of the Great Wall of China, I have outlined the wall however not the sky. As
mentioned, the bold outline locks the colour into place and the wall is stationed in one
location in an orderly manner. However, the sky is free and has no limits therefore I
refrained from outlining it as to show the opposition between the two.

EVIDENCE: My Great Wall of China artwork was influenced by the Fabricated Rooms 1997-
1999 on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. In an article written by Stephan
Zepke 1998, he links it to showrooms for the Fabricated Rooms and showrooms are
designed for nothing to happen in them. However, an eerie feeling forms when you first
encounter the artwork and one will believe there is another meaning behind the suburban
ubiquity. After all, Howard Arkley’s artworks are created to show the intriguing tension
between the beauty of suburbia and its darker, more menacing side. In my artwork of the
Great Wall of China, the real meaning was to acknowledge those who died constructing the
wall and the reason the wall was built in the first place. Known for its size and being an
extremely famous landmark, it is said that the corpses of the builders who died while
constructing were put into the wall and it was originally built to help prevent northern
invaders from entering. In Fabricated rooms, the colours are openly pastel and not bright
solid colours often used in his other artworks, therefore I used washed out yellow and red to
give off the same effect. His use of pastel colours rather than the usual bright colours with
patterns and textures was able to exude an ominous impression which I mimicked.

LINK: Howard Arkley influenced my paintings with employing techniques such as the
practice of drawing bold outlines and creating tension with the way my artwork is
interpreted by conveying the significance of the meaning behind it.