Check this out Horror vacui
Choose one artist or style (other than Where’s Waldo) as a model for your sketchbook drawing.
In your sketchbook, make sure you note the artist and title of the piece(s) that inspire you the most.
Make a relevant comment about the ideas and style or build upon posted comments and ideas.
mygbkartclasses 
I find the art of Adolf Wolfi to be the most interesting example; however, I feel like the use of color is important to his style and I don’t really know how to work well with color as of yet
I found a line very interesting in the article, “Some examples of horror vacui in art come from, or are influenced by, the mentally unstable and inmates of psychiatric hospitals, such as Richard Dadd in the 19th century.” This goes to show that no matter where you are, you can always express how you feel in the language of art.
I love looking at each picture for a while and then coming back to it and I always find seomthing knew. Its amazing!
I agree with Jacki, it’s really interesting looking at this kind of art and knowing how tedious yet rewarding it can be.
The tentacle beast was great art
i like to looking at these pictures, it’s amazing and i can find something new. i think it make me have inspiration and skill.
In the fall of Babylon there seems to be some problems with the perspectiveon the building. It’s understandable considering how much was put into the picture.
I love the psychedelic art. the endless amount of color makes it so interesting. there are so many possibility of things you can learn from the art of Horror vacui.
I think it’s interesting how horror vacui has continued from its earliest forms in indigenous tapestries to modern day comic artists. I like the complexity and eeriness of Richard Dadd’s art.
I like how when you look at the pictures the first time, it just looks like a lot of stuff, but then you see little things after a while. I also like how some artists use words to fill in the empty space, some use objects, and others use lines. It looks like very intricate work
What I found interesting about the horror vacui is that although so much is crammed into the picture, there is still a visible story within each piece of artwork.
i find my self wondering how the artists get so detailed, yet keep up the level of quality. it really is amazing.
I didn’t like this style at first, but the more you look at it the more interesting the artwork becomes. It’s amazing how many different nuances there are to find as you examine it in more detail.
Loving the psychedelic art and all the colors – it’s really inspiring and I want to do something with….paints? (how do you get that blend of color?). But Dadd’s picture Fairy Feller’s is so amazingly intricate and it seems as if he’s packed many different styles into one (cartoon, realistic, etc.) and it’s so real-to-life it almost looks like he’s made a collage of pictures! Fantastic!
You are not alone in your admiration of this work. Lots of people chose this artist as a model for their drawings…
It’s amazing how intricate these works are and how much detail there is. I really like the colors that wolfi uses and it’s interesting to look at how these artists use the space and different shapes
An example of horror vacui that I find in my own life are the intricate rugs that I have in my house. One thing that my family is obsessed with is rug shopping, so whenever we stumble upon a new rug store there is no question that we will enter. Three weeks ago, my family and I were in Los Gatos and we walked into a new rug store and there was a specific rug that I will never forget. The precision, time, and effort that was put in to make this rug was infinite. It was filled with different patterns that seemed to never end. This is why I love the style of horror vacui because each time you look at the piece you will find something new.
Yes! Rug patterns are a great example of this style woven into harmonious precision and “significant form.’
I found the horror vacui interesting because the more you look at the intricate art, the more you are able to see tiny details that make the art that much more complex. I also wonder how much planning the artist had to do before creating their art because of the lack of empty space- I think it’s crazy that they found a way to fill up every blank spot!
Good point – it all depends upon the artist. I think the rug art Alea referred to involves lots and lots of planning which is not so true of some of the outsider artists who just let it flow.
Upon looking at some of these pieces, it’s quite frightening because there is so much going on. There is the obvious “big picture” image, and then as you zoom in to a section, there is another “story” going on. I can actually relate this style of art with the Rosenquist style because of the great attention to not only the piece as a whole, but also if you looked at cross sections.
That’s an interesting connection I wouldn’t have thought of…..that’s a nice way of relating them.
This style of art is very interesting because it’s a bit hard to look at the whole picture and be able to tell what’s going on. You have to look at the piece in parts at a time to be able to see what the art depicts. I really liked the illuminated manuscripts. They are very detailed and colorful.
Although he had a unfortunate and disturbing past, I found it interesting learning about Adolf Wolifli’s musical incorporation to his artwork. The fact that his decoration in his work eventually led to full musical compositions is really crazy to think about. On a more general sense, I agree that these pictures were often hard to look at, and sometimes difficult to find the heart of the work because there are so many eye catching attributes.
The musical connection is a great one, isn’t it. And, did you see the scale of some of his works? They are quite large for this type of detail.
it seems like many different people were a part of making each picture, which leads to it having many styles and feelings in one
The intricate patterns and textures of this art style in ancient cultures is very aesthetically pleasing, but pieces that feature horror vacui style primarily I find particularly overwhelming. Because I enjoy art as a relaxing exercise, I find empty space and simplicity more appealing than obsessive detail. As a texture technique though I find this art style successful.
It’s definitely not a style for every taste, especially if you are picking up on some of the obsessive nervous energy. But some of these pieces can be quite meditative. It all depends upon the repetitive mark used.
The wikipedia article on horror vacui mentioned Edward Gorey’s illustrations. I really like the way he used this style– by filling in the spaces with all that detail, he was able to really draw attention to the main objects in an illustration. While other artists have used this style to create many stories in one piece, he used it to zero in on one. His themes of solitude, depression, and all things sinister are emphasized by a lack of empty space. This is especially evident in his alphabet illustrations.
I love those illustrations and it sounds like you are a fan too…I like seeing them in this context.
I hate this style because its too cluttered and hard to look at. The yarn stuff is ok and i like the stuff by Todd Schorr because its crazy… just because of the weird creatures not because of the exaggerated detail… i think the exaggerated detail is stupid. Also the stuff by Edward Gorey is cool too. NOT a fan o da crazy detail, its dumb and looks awful… in my humble opinion….
I find the diversity of this style to be very intersting. I have seen example that only involve shape and black and white then exaples that show scenes with people and recognizable objects in them.
Yes,once you start looking for it….a lot of different styles have this compositional approach in common….
There’s so much detail in each one that it’s hard to take it in all at once. I really liked the illuminated manuscripts, and the references to egyptian art and “Where’s Waldo”. The fall of babylon is a crazy picture… I still can’t figure out what’s going on with the tentacle guy in the lower left hand corner.
It definitely commands out attention, doesn’t it? I like the historic precedents for this aesthetic…..so many cultures have this tendency.
I really like style of horror vacui, especially in Adolf Wölfli’s painting “General view of the island Neveranger, 1911” from Wikipedia. It’s insane how much effort must have been taken for the amount of detail in every part of the image, as well as the bright color, all together creating a very busy, but not unpleasant image. Each little part can be seen as its own, or the image can be seen all as one, both with very interesting results.
That’s such a fascinating aspect of his work, the parts within parts, and worlds within worlds….
it said that some of the people who did this kind of art were crazy, like richard dadd. I defintely see that you would need to be kind of crazy to really fill everything in on the entire paper
Some people just find it fulfilling and meditative…..it’s a process that grows on you……
It is has an interesting form to it because everything in the shape to coloring is very chaotic and full.
I think that horror vacui is a very interesting style of art. I found it fascinating that many of the artists who created this type of art were mentally unstable, and that some of them, like Richard Dadd, actually did their artwork while in a psychiatric hospital. I also realize the difference between this and other detailed art – there is something sort of disturbing about it, and it does make sense that the people who did this art had mental problems, because the detail is unneeded and extremely overdone. I like this art when it is abstract, but when it is realistic I find it overwhelming and distracting. However, I admire the effort that went into them and find them interesting.
But there are also those who have this aesthetic tendency who do not have mental problems….for them it is meditative, a way to show artistic conviction, and often a cultural tradition…..