Contemplation is comparable to Self Assurance as it demonstrates a similar theme. The significance of this piece is that one needs to indulge themselves in self meditation in order to find happiness in the little things occurring within their lives. This painting was inspired by Sean Yoro Hulo and Pablo Picasso.
The Ephemeral Art of Andy Goldsworthy. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2018, from http://experimentwithnature.com/03-found/andy-goldsworthy/#.W2_Tbs5KgdU
PLANNING:
This is a found object that Andy Goldsworthy transformed into a sculpture. Andy Goldsworthy is a British artist and is unknown for his sculptures and photography. I admired the composition of the warm hues in the piece. The reason being was I was longing for a vibrant background for Self Assurance and warm colors could really assist me towards emphasizing such a color a scheme. The smoothness and clean craftsmanship in the piece captivated my attention. I was looking for intricacy and detailing in my paintings and the pointiness of the leaves and the texture were the elements I incorporated in the tree branches presensented in my painting. The shadow on the right side of my face was also comparable to the orange and yellowish leaves in Andy Goldsworthy's piece. Warm colors are efficient when it comes to displaying feelings of anger and I wanted to balance that emotion in my work.
Pablo Picasso. (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2018, from http://imged.me/img/
This is an abstract painting by Pablo picasso. Pablo Picasso was from Spain and was known for his contributions towards alternating art forms such as, sculpting, painting, designing, and poetry. The movement and the asymmetrical vibe in the piece was worth looking into. The lines presented on the face were travelling in all sorts of directions. This feature was crucial towards the composition of the sea in Contemplation. The goal was to incorporate alternating hues and tones in the waves of the sea and to utilize a similar technique in the sky as the water reflects the color of the sky. Such a color scheme allowed me to make the shadow in the water more realistic and apparent. The cool colors were quite prominent in this painting, hence I decided to use this scheme in Self Assurance as well. From that I had warm colors on one side and cold on the other, which ended up enhancing the true importance of my theme.
Sea Level – Le street art aquatique de Hula (image). (n.d.). Retrieved July 15, 2018, from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/418834834073976787/
This is a form of street art by an artist named Sean Yoro Hula. She is known for her street art and has a strong passion towards underwater photography in order to obtain different perspectives. The interesting feature about this piece is the facial expression of the woman within the artwork. It appears to be that she is alone all by herself and is meditating by taking a few deep breaths. The detailing on her face reveal that she isn't mentally healthy. That's why I chose to display a side of pose of the face with a tear coming out to make the theme more comprehendible. The reflection of the women wasn't perfect due to the ripples in the water. I tried to present a similar theme by making the waves in the ocean more significant in the shadow. The background was obviously on a street but I wanted to associate the sky with my piece, hence I utilized the grayish tone of the street in the clouds that I incorporated in Contemplation.
PLANNING (SKETCHES)
This was the very first sketch that I created before the composition of Self-Assurance. I knew that the painting was a series to Lost but I wanted to layout the base of the piece. Hence I drew the upper body and altered the hairstyle in this sketch. I observed several youtube videos in order to perfect the movement and waves presented in the hair. I also divided the face into four quadrants to balance the features of my face. I had always had trouble with accuracy when it came to the facial features. I did use a projector hence I didn't give a lot of attention to the eyes, nose, or the lips. I tried various shading techniques in order to display the hair as realistically as possible and to provide the sketch with some depth and form.
This was the second sketch that I created. I wanted to compose an outline for Contemplation before starting to work on it. I had visualized it in my head, but I needed to see it on paper. The actual base of the painting wasn't as complex as the actual detailing that had to be incorporated within the piece. If the base didn't come to be as clean and accurate than the detailing would've not enhanced the theme or the overall composition of my artwork. I wanted the hair in a specific style and they had to flow. I was looking for unity in my work and due to the reoccurring movements in the painting, I made sure the hair had the same element. The ocean did lack detailing in the sketch, because I wanted to make the waves with paint rather than draw them out ahead of time. Everything needed to be as natural as possible.
This was the very last sketch that I created prior to the composition of both of the pieces. The reason I sketched this random face was to evaluate the expression I needed to incorporate in both the paintings. In this sketch I made the eyes quite bold as they were facing the audience and appeared to be intimidating. I didn't want the face in the paintings to display an innocent attitude. In order for one to be truly living in joy, they have had to experience some sort of complication within their life span. That's why the face in Self Assurance is straight and not over dramatic. In both Self Assurance and Contemplation the eyes had a sparkle to them and this sketch assisted me towards perfecting the eyes. The nose in this sketch is realistic as it did require a lot of patience and intricacy on my end. I had to paint the noses in both of the artworks and that is usually done with shadows and hues that are darker from that of the skin tone. That's why I was learning about the origin of the nose, where it ends, and where certain lines need to be added. That's why the noses in my pieces were not as cartoonish as they typically would've been.
PROCESS (EXPERIMENTATION) Several plans were considered before Self Assurance and Contemplation were constructed. I went out and ended taking pictures of the lake, trees, and myself. It was important for me to obtain the results that would make the theme of my paintings more apparent. My photography assists me dramatically when it comes painting because my visualizing skills aren't as advanced as actual observation. If I can look at the tones used in the lake for example, I can easily make similar hues and incorporate them within my paintings. After taking some random pictures, I began to paint. When I was painting Self Assurance I utilized a technique that had swirls associated with it on my face. As I was getting further with the technique it felt as if the blending was off. My goal wasn't to paint alternating colors in a bunch of spaces and then leave the piece like that. I also experimented with painting the nose in Contemplation. I began using a neutral color in order to emphasize the hole in the side of the nose. Due to that color the nose occurred to be inaccurate the hole was too big. I was using a thick brush as well, which must've caused the issue. I had to switch from the thick brushes towards the thin pointed ones in order to get the intricate detailing completed. I also captured a picture of the sky in order to evaluate the type of texture that needed to be presented in my painting.
PROCESS: 1. The very step included building the canvases and applying gesso to them 2. Once the canvases were fully composed I began to project the image on the projector and traced it onto the canvases 3. After the tracing for both of the paintings were finished, I outlined some features again in order to make them prominent 4. I prepared all the brushes and paints that were needed for the pieces. I applied both acrylic and oil paints for both of my artworks 5. I began painting Self-Assurance first and started painting the background 6. I applied a dark black and brown with a tint of white for all of the tree branches 7. Once the tree branches were all painted, I began to fill in the empty spaces presented in the background 8. One the right of the painting were all of the warm colors, I didn't use one solid color for each of the spaces, Hues such as red, yellow, brown, and white were incorporated to make the blending clean and to make the colors as neat as they could possibly get 9. After the right side was completed I began working on the left side. I applied cool colors for that side to present the clash in the twi feelings one goes through when they are trying to find happiness in their lives, which was my theme. 10. For that side of the painting hues such as blue (different shades) , green, purple, and white were put into effect 11. I began working on the left bottom hand side and decided to apply black, gray, and white. The reasoning behind this decision was to highlight the depressing thoughts one possessed and who they'd need to time in order to fade and not be as relevant, which enhanced my theme. 11. It was time to paint the face, hence I started divided the face into several sections. I started out by filling the spaces but there was no blending in the face. 12. Considering that I used white and a neutral color to cover the spaces and began blending with those colors and added other hues like pink, brown, and mustard, as well as many more. 13. After fixing the tone of the face, I painted the lips with a rusty red and added a tint of white and moved onto the eyes. 14. For the eyes I used black paint with a thin pointed paintbrush to outline them and I made the eyelashes with the same materials 15. I began working on the pupils, I painted the pupils black 16. The iris of the eyes were painted with brown, black, and white hues 17. The sclera was painted white 18. I then incorporated a border for the painting and it was a nude skin tone to give emphasis to the entire painting and I painted the hair with a base color of brown and added shades of white, dark rusty colors, and some purple 19. After Self Assurance was completed, Contemplated was supposed to be worked on 20. I began with painting the sea. I started off with a blue base color and added streaks of white, pink, purple, yellow, brown, red, and more blue. 21. In the center of the sea I had outlined the shadow previously, hence I applied the skin tone as well as the tone of the water in order to present the shadow 22. Once that was completed, I worked on the hair. Hues such as brown and white were utilized in order to accomplish that. 23. I began painting the face, I applied a dark tone of pink to begin with and applied a neutral skin tone with white paint to carry the skin color forward. 24. I had some issues painting the nose, hence I combined the skin color with a tint of brown to add emphasis to the nose and painted the nostril with a neutral skin tone, which made the nose look peculiar, 25.Regarding that aspect, I went back and redid the nostrils and painted them with a darker brown 26. Once the nose was completed I worked on the eyes, by outlining them with black and using black, brown, and white for the iris 27. After the face and ocean were completed the last thing remaining was the sky 28. I painted the sky with same colors as the ones applied for the sea, but oil paints were more relevant in the sky than they were in the ocean 29. I painted clouds with white and gray tones by moving on of my thick paint brushes in a circular direction 30. Once the clouds and sky were finished, I painted the sun with a yellow and orange tone. 31. I retouched some of the parts were the blending was off and made sure everything was accurate.
REFLECTION:
Self Assurance and Contemplation are highly correlated with the theme of the artworks, which deals with self awareness and finding pleasure in your life despite the struggles one must've faced. Due that it's evident that both of my paintings are efficient as they fulfill the purpose behind their creation. The composition of both Self Assurance and Contemplation allowed me to discover my strengths and weaknesses. While I was painting Self -Assurance I worked really well with the blending in the background, such as on the tree branches and the empty spaces. I was also efficient at outlining the intricate features, such as the eyes and lips. The blending of the nose was something that I personally felt proud of, because the bone structure was well presented in my perspective. In my other works I have struggled a lot with making everything seem as realistic as possible but in this painting my overall craftsmanship has improved a lot. One thing that I struggled with when it concerned Self-Assurance was painting the shadow on the face, as I wanted it to blend well with the tone of the skin. At times it became too dark and didn't leave a satisfying effect. After several tries and adjustment of colors it appeared to be somewhat acceptable. When it came to Contemplation the part of the painting that went well for me was the composition of the waves in the ocean. It flowed quite smoothly for me and as I progressed further it was quite soothing to continue on with it and the same went for the painting of the sky. The part that I struggled with included the painting of the nose and the border. The reasoning behind the difficulty I experienced with the nose was due to wrong outlining of the nose and not adding enough shadow to it. The borders were a struggle because the paint kept getting into the actual piece and that ruined the composition of some of the features in the painting. I had to repaint and outline some of the features and elements in the artwork again. I would consider improving on with the movement of the brushes that I utilize in order to paint, because I do get slightly carried away and the unwanted color gets to the areas in which it's not needed. Also, incorporating tape on the areas in which I don't want paint will help as it'll prevent the disorientation in the piece and I won't have to paint the same things a couple of times.
ACT QUESTIONS:
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your art work? Andy Goldsworthy was known for his demonstration of several emotions through the utilization of elements from the nature in artwork. I applied a similar technique in both of my artworks as I incorporated trees in Self- Assurance and a lake with the sun and clouds in Contemplation. Those features in my work made the theme of finding comfort and happiness in one's life relevant.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author ( from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration? The author that wrote about Andy Goldsworthy artwork occurs to be a true admirer of his work. This statement can be proven due to the utilization of the specific adjectives the author displays in order to make the audience become aware of the value of his work. The author states words such as organically and intuitively, which portray the fascination he or she possess towards the method Goldsworthy applies in order to create art through nature.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration? The generalizations and conclusions that I have learned about people, ideas, and culture is that they sugar coat the definition of joy and pleasure. For to live a sufficient life, it doesn't mean that everything good needs occur in their lives, there will be times in which they will become demoralized and once they grow out of that phase, they will truly be appreciative of everything they've overcome and learn to live a happy life. That's why I utilized Pablo Picasso as one of my inspirations, because his art was quite strange and different, as it didn't follow a typical style, he experimented and that is what life is all about.
4.What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research? The central idea or theme around my inspirational research was that one needs to give themselves some time and slowly learn to find pleasure in little things and set their sadnesses aside but no forget them fully. That's why artists such as Andy Goldsworthy, Pablo Picasso, and Sean Yoro Hula were utilized for my artworks. They both display their hardship and struggle from the intricacy and highly accurate detailing in their work, as it requires time in order to excel at something.
5.What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research? The inferences that I made while reading my research was that the world has their own preconceived conceptions of almost every situation and they don't allow imperfections in any scenario, when they themselves are imperfect. Several individuals believe that if one is surrounded with derision they will not be satisfied and or view their life normally. The reality of the truth is that we all have problems in our lives but with such situations come times with a lot of appreciation and feeling of fulfillment.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1. The Ephemeral Art of Andy Goldsworthy. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2018, from http://experimentwithnature.com/03-found/andy-goldsworthy/#.W2_Tbs5KgdU
2. Pablo Picasso. (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2018, from http://imged.me/img/
3. Sea Level – Le street art aquatique de Hula (image). (n.d.). Retrieved July 15, 2018, from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/418834834073976787/