INTRODUCTION to the CLASS

 

    Ishmael Adams

    Doris Cacoilo 

    Studio Research 1 

    2/5/2026 

      Part 1: Smart History: Why Art History isn't like Math 

     " In addition, throughout history, most works of art were made for a specific purpose, to address a specific audience, and often for a particular location. They may not have even been understood as art until they were isolated from that original context."

    People throughout the course of history that have extracted and studied historical objects in order to have a greater understanding of a world that came and possibly even went before their time. In that elusive mystery of time came people who could only ever know half or even a quarter of the original symbiology of an object. Stories that are lost to time, never to be discovered or spoken, that could be turned or reshaped into a completely different meaning without the context to keep it's original meaning. 

    "Art history uncovers just how significant we understand and feel images to be now and through history."

Art as a subject is a communicative medium able to in a way reach people across time. From paintings, to music, to statues, to even architectural buildings art has a way of reaching people no matter how far back you go. Art history is able to showcase these various art forms and pieces that could've otherwise been lost to time forever. With that exposure to otherwise deceased art forms and pieces, it allows modern artists to not only observe these pieces, but to also copy these pieces and improve them for a new age.  

    Part 2 : Art Influence 

    I've never been influenced by one artist in particular for inspiration for my artwork, but comic book artists and mangaka have been severely influential to me in both creating the specific type of art I do and a large part of why I wanted to be an artist at such a young age. Comic book artists like Chris Samnee, Oliver Coipel, Mike Del Mundo have been just a select few of the amount of different comic book artists that've affect why and how I do my particular brand of art. Mangaka like Vagabond author and artist Takehiko Inoue, Naruto author and artist Masashi Kishimoto and Chainsaw man author and artist Tatsuki Fujimoto are also great influences on my artwork via their collective mixes of line work, sketches, black and white art and being able to have a successful career as both an artist and writer. Looking into art for professional study to learn from other artists to get better has been a continuing goal of mine to improve myself as an artist. In terms of art history, though I understand it's importance in the grand scheme of art I've never really gravitated towards art history as a subject, though I am open to becoming more knowledgeable on the the subject. As for genres I'd like to explore further as a subject is oil paint in terms of being able to paint more consistently.  

Watchful Eyes and Outstretched Hands - Charcoal 

Blue Head Balloon, Oil Paint

Head in a Box, Charcoal/Graphite

Self Portrait, Charcoal  

Life and Death, Charcoal 

    I'm Ishmael Adams a Junior Illustration major for New Jersey City University (NJCU). I've been drawing since I was around five, mainly using graphite pencil and ink pen for my work before I came to college. I enjoy sketching the most out of all the art related things I do, but drawing digitally so far has been a very close second as compared to most other mediums digital is the most versatile with a whole host of different tools at my disposal. Ever since I was a child I always wanted to create things, creating worlds, characters and stories that could last several lifetimes. 

    Most of the stories and artwork that I do make I base it off of a great deal of the subjects that I naturally gravitate towards. Most of the time these subjects include fantasy elements, sci fi or a mixture of both genres. Growing up I read a great deal of both genres so it's not particularly surprising that it comes through in my artwork.