Vast Shallowness
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Critical Investigation
InspirationI thought for a long time about what opposites I have dealt with a lot in my life. I thought at first creating and destroying would be a good pair, but I couldn't relate to those terms in a way that would let me create two illustrations for it. Existential crises are universal. Most people feel them and I thought that would be a great place to start when it came to the dyptic! What I struggled with during my existential crisis was meaning. MEANING. Meaning within someone's life can change very much with time but the concept of representing meaning with vastness and a less meaningful representation with shallowness, symbolically and literally was something that was very interesting to me.
The reason why I chose Vincent van Gogh for the vastness half of this diptych was because he had such a tragic and confusing story., that it made sense to use him. When someone is famous, people don't always think about the real, up close story of this man with serious mental illnesses. Serious mental illness problems run in my family, and I have had issues with this, too. In HL Literature, we talked about how there are people who are icons within a particular area; We were talking about Nelson Mandela. While nelson Mandela is an amazing man who did so much against apartheid, there were thousands of people who fought against apartheid, Nelson Mandela being the most well known one. This is an example that applies really well to art. One artist can lead a movement, but there are so many artists that contribute to what the "ideal artist" should look like. Making this piece kind of put me back in to my existential dread, but it was so relaxing to deal with the small details within the first half of the piece |
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Planning
Planning Sketches
Process, Ideas, and Intentions
Brainstorming |
Physical Process
Sadly, I forgot to take more pictures during the process of making these pieces. In the pictures above, the face required a small-ish amount of time, but the background took a lot more time because there were so many colors used. The color I used most was called peacock green. It is a prismacolor color, and a lot of the background was made using this color. the majority of this piece was making curved lines, which got tedious, but gave it a very nice look that creates a lot of movement.
When it came to the second, flatter looking piece, i am not gonna lie, I spent a lot less time on it. I think when there is no blending, it just naturally takes a lot less time to do, and I am used to doing lots of blending, so when I did my critique, I was very embarrassed to expose it, but it ended up getting a good reaction, which was a relief. The sketch made was a simple profile view, and one of my friends stated that the arm looks very un-anatomical, so when i do my gouache piece, I will use more reference pictures to make sure that she looks very "realistic". That's in quotation marks because it's not realistic in the overall look of it, but when it comes to the basic sketch it will be anatomically correct.
When it came to the second, flatter looking piece, i am not gonna lie, I spent a lot less time on it. I think when there is no blending, it just naturally takes a lot less time to do, and I am used to doing lots of blending, so when I did my critique, I was very embarrassed to expose it, but it ended up getting a good reaction, which was a relief. The sketch made was a simple profile view, and one of my friends stated that the arm looks very un-anatomical, so when i do my gouache piece, I will use more reference pictures to make sure that she looks very "realistic". That's in quotation marks because it's not realistic in the overall look of it, but when it comes to the basic sketch it will be anatomically correct.
Materials
Experimentation
Critique/ Compare & Contrast |
ReflectionThis part of the illustration project was highly successful. Colored pencil is a medium that is easy to get used to, because every student uses pencils daily and
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ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause/effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork.
I think it is very evident within the way I blended the face, and used no blending in the background of the van Gogh inspired piece that van Gogh was the inspiration. As well, the
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
What I found to be true is that many people who publish the art explain what they believe the art is focused around and also explain the artist's approach and beliefs.
What kind of generalizations have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration? I learned that many people try to label people as a singular thing. Lots of people want to put a single label on people, which is a problem, because generalizations can lead to assumptions, which, as my mom used to say, is lazy thinking.
What is the central idea around your inspirational research?
My main idea involves the juxtaposition of struggle and gratitude. Using darker themes and mixing them with art that includes jo. This sounds like a cliche, but after you've dealt with horrible issues and abuse, things get easier.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I assumed that the reader had at least a basic understanding of the art movements, so when including my research, I gave a limited amount of background information.
I think it is very evident within the way I blended the face, and used no blending in the background of the van Gogh inspired piece that van Gogh was the inspiration. As well, the
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
What I found to be true is that many people who publish the art explain what they believe the art is focused around and also explain the artist's approach and beliefs.
What kind of generalizations have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration? I learned that many people try to label people as a singular thing. Lots of people want to put a single label on people, which is a problem, because generalizations can lead to assumptions, which, as my mom used to say, is lazy thinking.
What is the central idea around your inspirational research?
My main idea involves the juxtaposition of struggle and gratitude. Using darker themes and mixing them with art that includes jo. This sounds like a cliche, but after you've dealt with horrible issues and abuse, things get easier.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I assumed that the reader had at least a basic understanding of the art movements, so when including my research, I gave a limited amount of background information.
Bibliography
“Aestheticism and Decadence.” The British Library, The British Library, 17 Feb. 2014, https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/aestheticism-and-decadence.