This piece, three panels diving themes into reflection on my effect on the world, myself, and how the world affects me, is centered around the idea of the seven deadly sins. shown through the visual repetition and signified through the symbols the viewer's job is to find (and remember) them all. Painted in the action painting style of Jackson Pollock, figures were created with watered down paint and gestural movements as the paint spilled onto the canvas.
Planning
Planning started all the way in the go at this project, which stopped relatively quickly. The first idea I latched onto had less cohesive, as three separate images across the panels. I had some more ideas along the way, none of which were as good, and only one overlapped lines. Going into the second try, I stated over, finding a whole new inspiration and drawing a picture before drawing the lines around it. Being inspired by the seven deadly sins, I just drew the parts of my life influences by all the parts and tried to create a flow along. This stage was very important to the process overall.
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Process
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I started with the center panel, since the lines would be based off of this one, being the center of the piece. I started by covering the canvas in white paint and filling a cup with black paint, then mixing in water so the paint would drip batter. There was no planning sketch done on the canvas itself; the picture was done free-hand, with reference to the much smaller sketch. The general outline was done before filling in any areas (like shadows, where more paint was applied and often in bigger areas) or any of the facial features. The eyes were left out intentionally.
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To prevent getting paint on any surrounding objects loose paper should be set down (here it was underneath the area the canvases hung over). From the center panels the sides were done, laying each on either side to create lines that would exit one and enter the other. The same action painting style was attempted, creating the rough figures free-hand. These smaller forms were much harder to create, and the paint moved around much more than the last time. If the paint was too runny, more paint would be added to the mixture. If a figure is immediately disfigured, then a paper towel should be used to soak up most of the paint, move around what stays and wipe away most of the damage. If the paint dries, paint over it in white a few layers and try again.
For all figures, quick and gestural movements are used. Elaboration only makes the lines thicker. The third panel is painted similarly to the first, being laid down next to the center one and letting the lines overlap this way. after the figures on the third panel are made, the crown on the center panel is attempted using a smaller brush and alternating between drops of paint and lines. The last piece of the puzzle would be the symbols at the top. these are painted on quite ruggedly so as to fit the style, but proportion should at last be attempted.
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Experimentation
To get the paint to drip more, water was added. This process sometimes made the paint difficult to work with: either it had too much paint or too much water, and it's hard to tell beforehand. At times the figures being created would drip, or move away from their intended shape, and therefore had to be changed. When wet, paper towels, tissues and wet wipes were experimented with in soaking up paint and wiping away most of what remained, also moving around the paint to salvage the figures. After, white paint would need to be applied to the surface of any black or grey spots that remained. Throughout this process, some parts of what would be kept and what would be redone touched, and so there was experimenting with the way in which to make these lines look natural still.
Most of the project would be considered experimenting, since it was all free-hand. The shapes created by the style of painting needed to be experimented with and design adjusted along the way accordingly. Also, experimenting with the splatters of paint in usage of all the space available without making the piece cluttered at all. |
Inspiration
Artistic
Pollock, Autumn Rythm. 1950, enamel on canvas.
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The Artistic inspiration for this piece came mostly in the form of Jackson Pollock. Pollock was a pioneer in the extremely recognizable painting style, Action Painting. In this technique, the paint is contained in large quantities and dripped and poured onto the canvas. Taking this interesting style of approaching art, I took cups of color and filled them, mixing them with water so they would drip easier (this made it take longer to dry
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and caused problems such as it dripping off the side of the canvas and moving the canvas before drying had a risk of moving the paint). The technique is based in a very gestural way of creating form, and while Pollock created abstract works of art based mostly around the falling of the paint and less on subject matter, I used this to create recognizable images.
Cultural
The concept behind this piece is seven deadly sins, and how they manifest in my own life. The Seven deadly since are, traditionally: gluttony, lust, avarice, sadness, anger, Acadia, vainglory, and pride. In modern culture they are known as Gluttony, Lust, Greed, Wrath, Envy, Sloth, and Pride. The sins are supposed to align with a certain punishment in Hell; for example, for the sin of pride, one would be broken on the wheel, or for Envy put in freezing water.
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The seven deadly sins also all have symbols associated with them. Lust is a cow and the color blue, Greed is the frog and color yellow. The symbols associated with each, in the literal sense of line symbols, are integrated into my piece at the top along with each figurative depiction.
Reflection
The piece at a fair amount of both successes and failures. The center panel was extremely successful, lines creating adequate form. The picture was so successful it changed the plans for the entire piece, changing the technique to action paint all over. Other forms, such as the cat, involved a great deal more of struggle and turned out, in the end, a badly executed form. In terms of the metaphorical meaning, some are done well just as others aren't. For example the horns are a recognizable and easy to spot representation, the unmade bed can be recognized but not well interpreted, and the crown in the center panel cannot be seen or recognized. The figures are well enough spaced out so that it doesn't appear too crowded, and with some investigation the pictures are quite easily distinguishable from one another, and so that would be considered a success. The symbols aren't recognizable to most, but the least successful part about them would be the size of ones to each side compared to the ones in the center. Still, overall, I believe I applied technique and knowledge adequately and the piece was successful.
ACT Response questions
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?