Title: SERVE: HEAVEN
Size: 23cm x 15cm Medium: Block Printing Date: September, 2016 The piece “SERVE: HEAVEN” is the first part of a two part series, exploring the religious theme of angels. The piece was created to give off the impression that this is a soldier of heaven, a being in servitude. It was made through the block-printing process, inspired by the painter Ingres in anatomy and religious themes. |
Brainstorming/Planning Sketches
The first thing I did while planning was chose a theme. I took an interest in Religion first, as someone who isn't religious but is obsessed with the imagery associated with it, and Christianity specifically. I'm especially interested with Fallen Angels and what humanity is. Right away I sketched out ideas for what my angel would look like, having a clear idea in my mind of how to make the focus the wings. I also sketched ideas for feather design, but this didn't make it to the later block print sketches, seeing as at the scale it would have been extremely difficult to do. |
Process
The first thing I did after creating my planning sketches was create one to the scale of the block print. I did this in pen, to get an idea of what it would look like as a print. Then I transferred that onto my linoleum block by covering the back in led and tracing it. I went over this with my pencil to make the lines darker after the image was there. Next was carving; I tested out the tools by the corners, then moved to the body, where I practiced doing details. After the entire body was done I carved out the rest of the background, around the wings. After adjusting my plan for the wings (getting rid of the tiny feathers, a large place in their place), I started at the base of wings, where they met the back, and worked up to the ends and out. I went through the process of creating a print before I was sure I was done carving to see how it would look and what i needed to carve out more/reshape. After that I carved out a lot more of the background and worked on the shape of the feathers. After another print I changed the shape of the face. Deciding on a final copy, I let the print dry and scanned it onto a computer, where I cropped it using Photoshop.
Experimentation
The experimentation during my project was largely the design of the wings and size of the lines. I had originally designed the wings to have individual feathers along the Marginal secondary covers (the part of the wing that extends from the figure's back, that all other feathers come out of; where the bones are, beneath). After realizing that this would be extremely hard to achieve with the block printing technique, I changed the design so that that area was blank. Those feathers are meant to still be there, but are those that tend to blend together anyways. Diagrams hardly outline these feathers themselves. I also experimented with line size; I didn't know what would look ideal when it came to the actual print being done, so I carved away little by little (especially in the details). My uncertainty with carving affected how deep I carved into the print, which affected me later when unwanted background showed in my piece. I had to take extra time to carve deeper in all the white parts in my piece (except feathers, which I had applied more force into and were overall deeper).
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Research
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I did a lot of research into Angels, as I began to create my piece. I learned about what angels traditionally are in the bible, what role they play, what they were created for, what they were usually like. The thing that resonated most with me was learning that Angels were so powerful, they often struck fear and awe into onlookers. Researching Angels reaffirmed my theme, and the direction of the piece. I applied it as I created preliminary sketches, creating a strong presence.
I also researched a lot about Ingres, my inspiration. I didn't know a lot about him, his life, work, or why he did what he did. I read about him and learned a lot about what shaped him as an artist and his art style, which interested me. After researching Ingres was when I decided to use him as inspiration for my piece. He inspired me to take on another theme, of anatomy. While his depiction of angels was limited, and I could have given them more traditional symbols of angel-ism (like clothes, for example), I decided to let his accuracy in anatomy influence me more. I had done my planning sketch without clothes to get proportions correct, but then I decided to keep it that way, and add only detail. I knew that this choice would add to the strength of the next piece in the series, exposing the fallen angel in every way. The last thing I researched in my project were wings. I was excited to have the wings, and very interested in how bird wings could influence angel wing design. I used a reference picture to draw the shape of my wings initially, and this design & feather arrangement stayed fairly consistent throughout the project, but I did look into the different parts of bird wings and how a bird's bone structure compare to that of a human. |
Artistic Inspiration
My artistic inspiration for this project was Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres of the Neoclassicism art movement. Ingres was an icon among french painters in the 19th century, excelling in his classical approach to paintings. He was especially skilled in anatomy, which was important to me while creating my piece and inspired me to study the figure I was creating closely and figure how the anatomy would influence the piece/how I could manipulate it to convey what I wanted, while keeping in mind accuracy. Ingres also fit into my theme of religion well; he, as many painters of the time, had many paintings with religious influences/subjects. He’d included religious figures, and even angels at times. His depiction of angels had little to do with my own (I stripped my figure of the traditional clothing, created my own wings, etc), yet having a painter that was also influenced by religion could only be beneficial to my piece. I took note to the power Ingres put on some of this holy imagery in his work and tried to apply this when I was creating my piece and conveying feeling.
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n/a (n.d.). Art Renewal Center. Retriever September 27th, 2016, from http://www.artrenewal.org/pages/artwork.php?artworkid=7125&size=large
Harris, B., & Zucker, S. (n.d.). Khan Academy. Retrieved September 27th, 2016, from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/romanticism/romanticism-in-france/a/ingres-apotheosis-of-homer
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Reflection
My piece didn't turn out at all like what I wanted. The lines aren't strong enough, there's a lean that throws the piece off, the design of the wings is weak, and the smooth lines I hoped would turn out for the details, didn't. I could have done many things better, starting with how I gave no mind to the medium. I gave little consideration to how I would use the black and white aspects of my piece, and didn't reflect upon my German expressionism work from last year until a classmate said they were being influenced by the movement. I did try and use space, but I don't think the way I did was executed very well. The blank spaces haunt me.
At a time during my project, when creating my first print to see how the piece would look, I found my empty spaces weren't deep enough, and that the carving I did showed up in thin lines on the paper. I didn't explore the idea that this could have strengthened my piece at all and filled space, like I'd seen in other block print works. Reflecting on this decision I wish I would have kept it in the background, only carving deeper in the figure. I regret my approach to creating my initial designs, as well. I feel I didn't apply my research on wings to them as much as I should have. Comparing my design to my diagrams, the bone structure was completely disregarded.
I struggled, in the piece, while creating the halo above the figure's head. It was difficult to center it perfectly symmetrical and round and I do not believe I did. Further into the christian-influence imagery, I believe the wings and halo did a sufficient job in telling the observer who/what the subject is, and the stance does a fair enough job of implying warrior, but it feels empty to me, the one who knows what I was trying to convey. I could have added in light sources, or implied visible energy, or given some surrounding place or design to add to it in any way
As for my anatomy theme I think I should stick to pencil when drawing figures. Working without shading was difficult for me, and I didn't to the best job I could have. The block printing process also takes away from small details that made me satisfied in the beginning, like when I learned how to draw the back of a foot but most of the details was taken away during carving. There's also an unnatural lean and I'm dissatisfied with the shoulders. Going back I would redo my theme, subject, art movement, everything.
At a time during my project, when creating my first print to see how the piece would look, I found my empty spaces weren't deep enough, and that the carving I did showed up in thin lines on the paper. I didn't explore the idea that this could have strengthened my piece at all and filled space, like I'd seen in other block print works. Reflecting on this decision I wish I would have kept it in the background, only carving deeper in the figure. I regret my approach to creating my initial designs, as well. I feel I didn't apply my research on wings to them as much as I should have. Comparing my design to my diagrams, the bone structure was completely disregarded.
I struggled, in the piece, while creating the halo above the figure's head. It was difficult to center it perfectly symmetrical and round and I do not believe I did. Further into the christian-influence imagery, I believe the wings and halo did a sufficient job in telling the observer who/what the subject is, and the stance does a fair enough job of implying warrior, but it feels empty to me, the one who knows what I was trying to convey. I could have added in light sources, or implied visible energy, or given some surrounding place or design to add to it in any way
As for my anatomy theme I think I should stick to pencil when drawing figures. Working without shading was difficult for me, and I didn't to the best job I could have. The block printing process also takes away from small details that made me satisfied in the beginning, like when I learned how to draw the back of a foot but most of the details was taken away during carving. There's also an unnatural lean and I'm dissatisfied with the shoulders. Going back I would redo my theme, subject, art movement, everything.
ACT Questions
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
I can identify the connection when it was most prevalent; while designing my piece. I studied Ingres's creative choices when painting/drawing the human body and applies what I observed to my sketches/
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author regarded him in an unbiased way, giving a historical background and examples of work to explain who Ingres was as a painter and give his themes context. The author also took a special consideration with giving the reader an idea of the level of Ingres's influence while also staying unbiased.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I furthered my knowledge about culture around Ingres's time; I knew Nude portraits were seen as somewhat controversial, and that royalty and religion sometimes ruled over the artistic world. Learning about the public's reaction Ingres's nudes versus his turn as a religious painter built off that prior knowledge and gave a useful example.
4.What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
It was mostly a biography about Ingres. It was meant to explain who the painter was, what influenced him, and how he has influence himself.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I assumed that Ingres was influenced by the culture he lived in to paint christian images. When I noticed he followed a trend when it came to the design of the halo and angels, I assumed this was because it was a popular thing to do, less taht he might have had other influences.
I can identify the connection when it was most prevalent; while designing my piece. I studied Ingres's creative choices when painting/drawing the human body and applies what I observed to my sketches/
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author regarded him in an unbiased way, giving a historical background and examples of work to explain who Ingres was as a painter and give his themes context. The author also took a special consideration with giving the reader an idea of the level of Ingres's influence while also staying unbiased.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I furthered my knowledge about culture around Ingres's time; I knew Nude portraits were seen as somewhat controversial, and that royalty and religion sometimes ruled over the artistic world. Learning about the public's reaction Ingres's nudes versus his turn as a religious painter built off that prior knowledge and gave a useful example.
4.What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
It was mostly a biography about Ingres. It was meant to explain who the painter was, what influenced him, and how he has influence himself.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I assumed that Ingres was influenced by the culture he lived in to paint christian images. When I noticed he followed a trend when it came to the design of the halo and angels, I assumed this was because it was a popular thing to do, less taht he might have had other influences.
Bibliography
Cartington Shelton, A. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retreived September 27th, 2016, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/J-A-D-Ingres
Harris, B., & Zucker, S. (n.d.). Khan Academy. Retrieved September 27th, 2016, from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/romanticism/romanticism-in-france/a/ingres-apotheosis-of-homer
n/a (n.d.). Art Renewal Center. Retriever September 27th, 2016, from http://www.artrenewal.org/pages/artwork.php?artworkid=7125&size=large
Harris, B., & Zucker, S. (n.d.). Khan Academy. Retrieved September 27th, 2016, from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/romanticism/romanticism-in-france/a/ingres-apotheosis-of-homer
n/a (n.d.). Art Renewal Center. Retriever September 27th, 2016, from http://www.artrenewal.org/pages/artwork.php?artworkid=7125&size=large