Dry Point
Exhibition Text:
The intention behind this piece is to represent an own acknowledgement of death. This piece was created by transferring my drawing onto a plexi glass and making an ink copy, also known as a drypoint. “When Reality Strikes” was a piece heavily influenced by Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker”, as piece which displays a similar position of the body as my piece and symbolized the constant thoughts of a torn body.
Process
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Planning
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Tools
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Meaning of the PieceThis piece is part of a series with my block print "At the Moment". Unlike my block print, this piece is meant to recognize the fact that life, and the happiness that come along with it, does not last forever. This is a recurring reality that has struck at me multiple times throughout my life; therefore, I decided to name this piece "When Reality Strikes". I used a skeleton to represent death and partially myself to an extent, the skeleton holds a similar pose compared to "The Thinker", and I did this intentionally to represent the idea of a thought that I have had but chose to believe was unreal. The bird and the heart follow the theme of my block print in which life and a messenger are symbolized. They contradict, however, due to the fact that the bird is no longer holding on tightly to life, yet it decides to let go once it notices the reality of death, which is represented in a torn body such as "The Thinker". This feeling "The Thinker" showed to demonstrate is what truly inspired me to create this piece.
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Experimenting/Developing Ideas
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My Etching Outcome |
Once I had finished my final sketch that was drawn to the size of my plate, I placed my plate above my sketch and taped the edges on so that my plate would stay in place. I then began to inscribe my design, in order to add value and form I inscribed deeper into the plastic to get a dark shade and lightly to create small shadows. Also, every now and then I would take my plate off the paper and bring it up to the light to make sure I was inscribing all of my lines. Once I felt satisfied with my piece I prepared my tools in order to print it. The printing process became very time consuming and dirty due to the ink. However, the first step I took in creating my print was placing rags on the table for my color paper and a bucket of water to start soaking my paper in. Then I placed news print paper over the table so that I would not get ink all over it. Once I had all my tools ready, I set my timer for five minutes and placed my paper inside the water while I worked on my print. I was able to deduce the amount of ink I would need and placed a very small amount on my plate. Then I spread the ink all over the my design and with small pieces of news print paper I began to remove the ink. I did this by getting a small clean piece of paper and smudging it over my design until the ink was removing. I repeated this process multiple times until my design was starting to appear. Once I removed all the ink and the design was distinguishable I place my plate and my color paper on the roller and it resulted in a successful print.
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Artistic Inspiration
My artistic inspiration for my dry point was Auguste Rodin. Auguste Rodin was a French sculptor who was known for his many iconic pieces, like “The Age of Bronze”, “The Kiss”, “The Thinker”, etc. His sculptures displayed immense detail and played a huge influence on modern art. Among his most famous work lie “The Thinker”, which began to be exhibited as an independent piece in 1880 and was enlarged in 1904. “The Thinker” was originally part of one of Rodin's bigger sculptures known as “The Gates of Hell”, here it was shown as the centerpiece initially given the name “The Poet”. “The Thinker” was used to represent Dante which was the author of the poem Divine Comedy, the root of inspiration for “The Gates of Hell”. Here “The Thinker” is seen hunched over and leaning forward observing the circles of Hell. “The Thinker” was used to represent a person with a torn body, a damned soul, a free thinker, and was determined to symbolize Dante’s suffering through poetry.
This piece was also inspired by one of Michelangelo's pieces, and has now become one of the most famous sculptures out there. The expression of a man lost in a thought is what inspired others to recreate this piece and myself to gain inspiration. The aspect that distinguished this piece is the pose “The Thinker” had, after analyzing this piece I truly gained an appreciation to what this pose represented. “The Thinker” had a hunched over pose leaning over his hand, and as said in the title, showed a man in deep thoughts. This body pose inspired me to incorporate it into my piece to show the suffering expressed. I mainly focused on using the pose in my piece to reflect the deep thought a person goes through the way Auguste Rodin did. This feeling of concentration and uncertainty is a feeling and element that I wanted my piece to be able to state. |
Auguste, Rodin, "The Thinker". 2013. Web. 23. Oct. 2016.
Auguste, Rodin, "The Thinker". 2014. Web. 23. Oct. 2016.
Engbrox, Sylvester. "The Thinker." Accueil. N.p., 2004. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
Biography.com Editors. Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, 12 Nov. 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2016. |
Reflection
This piece did not turn out as successful as I had planed it to be. The thing I had the most trouble with would have been the process of etching. Once I started to scratch I found the process very difficult, due to the fact that I could not see what I was scratching. I would have liked to also have added shadows by stippling in order reflect a detailed and cleaner look. The thing I did like, however, was the way I printed my dry pint. The process was harder than printing a block print but the outcome came out cleaner and defined. Also I believe the meaning my piece is trying to display is clear, and it shows to have a strong meaning visually.
Connection to the ACT:
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your work.
Auguste Rodin's piece "The Thinker" cause me to create a piece into which I incorporated the same pose he created. However, the true inspiration was the meaning reflected across through the creation of "The Thinker". Auguste Rodin's piece was meant to represent a torn body, free thinker, and damned soul which was exactly what I wanted to show in my piece.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach the author from my research has regarding Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker" is that Auguste Rodin was capable of expressing a mood through a single sculpture that distinguished it and made it become the famous piece it is today. He mentions how Auguste wanted to represent a torn body with a damned soul, which he was able to display through a single sculpture/pose.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspirations?
The conclusion I have made is that a certain idea as simple as a pose can hold a great deal of representation that creates inspirations to many other people and cultures.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my inspirational research is how a certain mood or feeling can be represented in a simplistic yet beautiful form.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your
research?
I can infer that within that certain ideas are often reached through others ideas, even when it is a well known artist. Within my research I discovered that Auguste Rodin had found inspiration for his piece through one of Michelangelo's pieces.
Auguste Rodin's piece "The Thinker" cause me to create a piece into which I incorporated the same pose he created. However, the true inspiration was the meaning reflected across through the creation of "The Thinker". Auguste Rodin's piece was meant to represent a torn body, free thinker, and damned soul which was exactly what I wanted to show in my piece.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach the author from my research has regarding Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker" is that Auguste Rodin was capable of expressing a mood through a single sculpture that distinguished it and made it become the famous piece it is today. He mentions how Auguste wanted to represent a torn body with a damned soul, which he was able to display through a single sculpture/pose.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspirations?
The conclusion I have made is that a certain idea as simple as a pose can hold a great deal of representation that creates inspirations to many other people and cultures.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my inspirational research is how a certain mood or feeling can be represented in a simplistic yet beautiful form.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your
research?
I can infer that within that certain ideas are often reached through others ideas, even when it is a well known artist. Within my research I discovered that Auguste Rodin had found inspiration for his piece through one of Michelangelo's pieces.