Tittle: I´m ok.
Medium: Acrylic paint/Mixed media Size: Two 2 foot by 1 foot canvases. |
Exhibition Text:I wanted to create a painting that express the feelings of happy and sad. There are so many other artist out there that paint about the same thing. Because sadness and depression and happiness are feelings that almost everyone can relate to. That feeling of falling apart and trying to hold on is something I still struggle with today. Everything in school and not meeting parents expectations of me has really taken a toll on my physical and mental health. And it often goes unnoticed. So I wanted to make a painting that expressed that.
|
Experimentation:
. I was excited to begin this painting. However, I have never done a DipTych painting before so I was curious on how I wanted to execute the whole thing. I looked up ideas for my project on google and at first, I was thinking about creating a piece in the style of the painting American Gothic by Grant wood. And I used a projector to project that painting onto both of my canvases. I took two different pictures of myself and replaced the original faces of the painting with my own. And then I traced the images. I then took the canvases home after school and began to paint. Once I started painting I didn't like the direction it was going. So scraped my original idea and started looking at more painting for inspiration. I looked at other paintings like the Diptych of Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza. But then decided to take a more abstract approach.
Process:
Because I originally had another idea in mind for my painting I had already began painting something else on the canvas I was using I tried used a white paint to cover it. But, the white paint was too sheer and was taking too many layers to cover it up so I just took a piece of extra canvas that I had and cut out a good amount to cover that area on the actual canvas that i'm using and I glued it on. I began with doing my makeup and taking a few pictures of myself. I wanted to do a more abstract look with my eyeliner. So I drew a large circle around my eye with my black eyeliner and from there, I made some triangles coming out form that circle almost the the shape of flames. And that was what I did for makeup. After that I set up my phone camera and took multiple pictures of myself in low lighting. I looked through my pictures and picked which one was my favorite. I didn't know what I wanted to really add to the photo, so I just started randomly editing it, upping the brightness and structure. I upped the contrast and saturation as well until I got the look that I wanted. I opened photos on my computer and connected the computer to my own projector. After I had the projector set up how I wanted, I shut off the lights in my room and projected the photo onto my canvas. Before I set up my canvas for the sketch, I painted it all read because that what I wanted the primary color to be. For this painting, I wanted it to be more colorful and out there so I started blocking in the contours of my the face with different shades of reds, blues, and yellows. Primary colors. I did lighten/mix secondary colors as well for my face. After that dried, I painted the background with large globs of black, yellow, blue and red paint with a pallet knife. Some areas were thicker than others, and I decided to scratch some lines into the thick paint as well to add more texture. I dropped shades of pink, red, blue, orange, yellow, black and white along the arms and shoulders of my body. I then varnished the whole thing with a glossy varnish. Just as soon as I finished this whole paragraph my screen refreshed and Weebly deleted everything that I had wrote and I had to spend extra time rewriting it. That was something that frustrated me a lot because I had Spent a lot of time coming up with the right things to say and how I wanted to say them. I wanted to give up but I pushed myself to keep writing because I knew that I could do it.
For my second painting, I had to figure out what I wanted to do for the contrast. The first thing that I thought of was through color. I used black and white as my colors for this painting. I mixed different amounts of black and white so I could have a variation of grey tone. I kept the color blocking concept that I had in my first painting but used shades of grey, black, and white. I painted the face and waited for that to dry. I then added highlights and painted the background black. After everything dried, I mixed a little bit of white paint into a cup of water. I used a small brush and dipped that into my mixture, making sure it was full of it. I took that brush and lightly pushed it on the top edge of the canvas allowing the diluted color to drip down. I repeated that in layers of grey and blacks as well. After all that was dry, I used a bottle varnish and dripped that down the top edge of the painting as well, since I used matte acrylic paint, the glossy varnish gave the areas that it dripped on this wet illusion. And I did that in layers as well so it would protrude off the canvas to create texture.
I put the paintings side by side and took a picture. And I was finished.
For my second painting, I had to figure out what I wanted to do for the contrast. The first thing that I thought of was through color. I used black and white as my colors for this painting. I mixed different amounts of black and white so I could have a variation of grey tone. I kept the color blocking concept that I had in my first painting but used shades of grey, black, and white. I painted the face and waited for that to dry. I then added highlights and painted the background black. After everything dried, I mixed a little bit of white paint into a cup of water. I used a small brush and dipped that into my mixture, making sure it was full of it. I took that brush and lightly pushed it on the top edge of the canvas allowing the diluted color to drip down. I repeated that in layers of grey and blacks as well. After all that was dry, I used a bottle varnish and dripped that down the top edge of the painting as well, since I used matte acrylic paint, the glossy varnish gave the areas that it dripped on this wet illusion. And I did that in layers as well so it would protrude off the canvas to create texture.
I put the paintings side by side and took a picture. And I was finished.
Artist Inspiration:
I became inspired by the painting Face to face by Giora Angres. I loved his use of color in the paining and even though his work isn't insanely detailed, it allows room for interpretation. And not only does he include abrupt areas of color, he also includes texture within the paint, leaving some areas with think lines of oil paint and other with just a wash of it.
|
Compare and Contrast:
My painting compared to Face to Face by Giora Angres, is similar in a lot of ways, but still quite different. Both our pieces included a lot of color although mine is less vibrant. I don't think I see any shades of black at all in Angres' painting, just dark blues and purpled to create the shadows and outlines. Another different between our pieces is that one of my paintings is made using just black and white acrylic paint. Angres' painting is made is oil paint. The backround in Angres' painting is light and colorful while mine is almost all black and hints of color in the first one.
Reflection:
In the end, I am pretty satisfied with how my two paintings came along. It was a stressful process due to a lack of motivation and such but i'm happy I got it done with good quality. I liked how my first painting came out a lot, although I wish I used a matte varnish. I just didn't have one available to me at the time. For future reference, I would bring the projector a little closer to my canvas for the second portrait because the way I have it now is that my face in the second paining is a bit larger than my face in the first one which bothers me. Other than that, Im happy with how my final piece came out and Im glad I got to try something new in art.
ACT questions:
1. Clearly explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration upon your artwork?
- I can clearly explain and describe how I am able to identify the cause and effect relationship between my inspiration and my artwork through my stylistic choices and color.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
- I wanted to create a painting that expressed the feeling I was having at the time and wanted to find an interesting artist that could inspire me to step out of my boundaries. There are so many painting that depict mental health. I just wanted to create one for myself.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- I came to the conclusion that so many artist create their world and base it on a feeling or a struggle. Because, everyone has had to deal with some type of struggle or unwanted feeling in their life. It is relatable. So, so many people create similar things.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspiration research?
- The theme around my inspiration research was obviously mental health. But, above that, I wanted to try something new with my art and really step out of my comfort zone.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the bases of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
- Like I had said previously, a conclusion I came to while reading my research was that there are so many paining out there representing a struggle or some kind, because it is relatable.
- I can clearly explain and describe how I am able to identify the cause and effect relationship between my inspiration and my artwork through my stylistic choices and color.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
- I wanted to create a painting that expressed the feeling I was having at the time and wanted to find an interesting artist that could inspire me to step out of my boundaries. There are so many painting that depict mental health. I just wanted to create one for myself.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- I came to the conclusion that so many artist create their world and base it on a feeling or a struggle. Because, everyone has had to deal with some type of struggle or unwanted feeling in their life. It is relatable. So, so many people create similar things.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspiration research?
- The theme around my inspiration research was obviously mental health. But, above that, I wanted to try something new with my art and really step out of my comfort zone.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the bases of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
- Like I had said previously, a conclusion I came to while reading my research was that there are so many paining out there representing a struggle or some kind, because it is relatable.
Bibliography:
http://angresart.com/bio.html