Exhibition Text:
“Comfort” is a painting done with acrylic paint on canvas, with a heavy application of warm colors. This painting showcases a warm and inviting image of myself reflecting upon a joyful day. This piece acknowledges the comfort behind the joy and happiness of ordinary days. This painting was inspired by Picasso’s Rose Period which was a time when his work expressed positivity and a warmth sensation. Picasso’s "Garçon à la Pipe" was the painting that particularly inspired this warm and flowerful piece.
Process
|
Planning
|
Meaning of the Piece
With this piece I wanted to apply a meaning that all of my other pieces have lacked to represent, that being happiness and joy. Just as Picasso I began my art with a type of Blue Period where most of my artwork was involved with sadness. Then this piece began my Rose Period my painting that would show a life and joy in my work. You can infer through my facial expression that I don't necessarily show happiness and life. However, I wanted to express a thought that a facial expression is not the only thing that shows someone is happy. I've always believed that colors play a major role in expressing emotions especially in art. The repeating lack of colors in my other pieces is what inspired me to add colors and emotions that represented positivety. In introducing colors such as orange and pink a cheerful mood was set in my painting which is what I wanted my portrait to display. I wanted to show that I am happy and joyful even though I don't express it as much as I wish to. And like many other people being happy and joyful brings me the upmost comfort.
Experimenting/Developing Ideas and Process
After analyzing each of my sketches and main ideas I was able to decide on a sketch I would want to paint. It was a difficult desicion for me to make but I had chossen to recreate my sketch inspired by Pablo Picassos "Garçon à la Pipe". The first step I took in costructing this painting was taking a picture so that it would be easier to recreate the shadows and different skin tones. Once I had taken the picture I printed it out and sketched on to a perfect square. Once I finished my sketch I evenlly placed a grid on top of it, later on I began to grid the canvass the exact same way. Using the grid I was able to draw my sketch onto the canvass so it would not be unproportionate. The gridding method was the hardest part because I was not recieving a perfect drawing. Compared to using a projector the grid method is not as successful in a large scale drawing. Afterwards, I began to practice blending on another canvass and began to expirement with colors. After that I began the actual painting, I wanted to first start with the parts of the painting which did not involve a lot of blending or variety of hues. I started with the sweater,pants, and necklace. Soon after I started with my hands, neck, and face or anything involving skin tones. Then I began the hair and its different shades, and once finish I began painting the flowers. And lastly I painted the background and ofcourse moved on to the finishing touches.
Initial Picture |
Painting process |
Reflection
The result of this piece was very unsuccessful. I've found paintings to always be my weakness and so the process was hard for me to complete. I felt that the proportion was off in my painting because I had used the grid method which was not as accurate. Also, I felt that the blending technique was hard for me to do and I had trouble with the paint drying to fast. However, I did like the blending in some parts of the face and I also liked the background colors. I also was not sucessful in creating a more specific meaning. My meaning was more of a broad meaning and I didn't really go into detail. Another part in which I felt succesful was comparing my work with my inspiration. I felt as if I used similar colors and a connection could be made from Picasso's piece to mine both in meanings and looks.
Artistic Inspiration
My inspiration for this piece was Pablo Picasso. Picasso was known to be one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. Besides recreating the idea of Cubism, he also created some lifelike portraits with amazing detail. Picasso not only a Spanish painter, but a sculptor, ceramicist, stage designer, and a printmaker. While my inspiration initially involved Picasso's Blue Period which lasted from 1901-1904. This Blue Period was named after the color that was focused on Picasso's paintings for years. The color represented Picasso's feeling of loneliness and depression after one of his closest friends, Carlos Casagemas, had died. His paintings involved scenes of poverty, anguish, and isolation. During his Blue Period lie some of his most famous pieces of work which included “Blue Nude”, “la Vie”, and “The Old Guitarist”. Two years later Picasso then began his Rose Period which became the inspiration to my piece. This new period involved warmer colors such as: red, orange, and pinks. They were generally inspired by the feeling of happiness, love, and beauty. From all his Rose Period work the piece that inspired me the most was “Garçon a la Pipe”(Boy with Pipe). This piece specifically inspired me the most because of the beautiful blending and the flowers/background incorporated to the piece, that added a joyful feeling to it. This piece showcased young beauty which was painted in cheerful colors. However, little is known about the boy Picasso painted, whether it was a circus performer or simply a neighborhood kid. Sold at $104 million dollars it became one of his most expensive works, painted two years before he began his Cubist Period. “Garçon a la Pipe”is a piece that inspired me in meaning and looks. I wanted to incorporate the colors of it which also tie in with the cheerful meaning, and I also wanted to add the pose and style in general. The thoughtful expression and happy colors is a mood I wanted to set throughout my self portrait.
|
Picasso, "Garçon à la Pipe"2014. Web. 05 Dec. 2016
Picasso, "Garçon à la Pipe"2014. Web. 05 Dec. 2016
Biography.com Editors. "Pablo Picasso." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 2015. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.
Sidorova, Kira. "Garçon a La Pipe (Boy with Pipe) by Pablo Picasso - GalleryIntell." GalleryIntell. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2016. |
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.
My inspiration caused my work to display a similar tone of warm colors that gave it a cheerful appearence. Also, Picasso's portrait held a thoughtful expression that I added in my piece as well.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Picassos's paintings specifically ones in his Blue and Rose Period, were expressing his emotions through the use of colors.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspirations?
Picasso wanted to create a painting that would symbolize the way he felt at that point and time in his life, eventhough it might have caused him pain to do.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea is that your emotions can easily be represented through the use of hues, whether warm or cold.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your
research?
An infrence I made was that a strong pain can be caused by a painting that goes back in time to a meory that hurts emotionally.
My inspiration caused my work to display a similar tone of warm colors that gave it a cheerful appearence. Also, Picasso's portrait held a thoughtful expression that I added in my piece as well.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Picassos's paintings specifically ones in his Blue and Rose Period, were expressing his emotions through the use of colors.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspirations?
Picasso wanted to create a painting that would symbolize the way he felt at that point and time in his life, eventhough it might have caused him pain to do.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea is that your emotions can easily be represented through the use of hues, whether warm or cold.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your
research?
An infrence I made was that a strong pain can be caused by a painting that goes back in time to a meory that hurts emotionally.