Artwork: Dry Point
Exhibition Text
"Overcoming" is about not letting your emotions take control over you. A way to do this is by keeping the bigger picture in mind. The whole idea behind "Overcoming" is not letting one small inconvenience get in the way, and using the inconvenience itself to over come the problem. "Overcoming" was inspired by "Starry Night" and " The Smiling Spider", both of which focus on emotions. There is many ways to portray emotion such as line, color, value, facial expressions, and placement. All of which can be seen in "overcoming".
Inspiration
Vincent van Gogh.(1889), Starry Night, 73.7 cm x 92.1 cm
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Van Gogh was apart of the Post-Impressionism movement. This movement focused on from and patterns. While creating Starry Night Van Gogh wanted to convey emotions. A signature of Van Gogh's work was nature, he often used this a the subject of his work. Starry Night is a result of Van Gogh own emotions and observations. Everything from the color, size, and placement of the objects that appear in the piece are intentional.
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Odilon Redon.(1881), The Smiling Spider, 47.5 cm x 37 cm
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Odilon Redon was an artist apart of the Symbolism movement. The Symbolism movement greatly focused on symbols and the meanings of those symbols. Forms, shapes, lines, and color were important elements of the movement. Redons work often featured nightmarish dark creatures. His work was greatly influenced by poems by Edgar Poe and Charles Baudelaire.
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Planning Sketches
In the first sketch I wanted to convey the feelings of overcoming a tough time period/experience. In the first sketch the spider has a singe tear falling from it eye to represent a common defense mechanism people have when they are faced with a problem.
Overall I liked the placement of everything in this sketch. |
In the second sketch I anted to convey becoming stuck on what to do about the challenge/problem.The face of the spider out of the three sketches is closest to the original express on the spiders face in "The Smiling Spider".
Again like the first sketch the spider portrays a common human response when they are faced with a problem, discomfort. |
The last sketch is showing overcoming the problem. The house on the hill represents to problem its self, the plant represents using past experiences and the problem itself to overcome it. The spider itself has irises shaped like a crescent moon similar to one that is seen in the sky. This represents keeping the bigger picture in mind.
In the end I decided to go with the third sketch. |
Experimentation
My first print I took to much ink off of the plate, which caused everything to look fated and washed out. As well in some areas there spots that you can where I completely missed ink causing it to transfer and look like smudges.
From the first print I learned that IO didn't need to scrub as hard as I was and not to concentrate on area to long because this would remove more ink than I wanted. With my second print I left to much ink on the upper left corner, again I scrubbed to hard removing to much ink. However the image was more clear and less washed out then my first print. I noticed that areas where I left to much ink it appeared fuzzy. |
Process
The last step was to actually print the image. In order to print the image there were steps that needed to be taken in order to keep the machine clean. First you had to lay down 2-3 pieces of drawing paper, then place your plate having the side with the ink facing up, and lastly place a piece of water color paper on top of that.
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Reflection
Overall I am happy with the way that my final print turned out. However if I were to go back and do this I would have spent more time on planning where I was going to crosshatch.
An obvious similarity between my inspiration and my print is that "The Smiling Spider" features a spider and so does my print. A similarity between my print and Van Gogh's "Starry Night" is that both are meant to convey emotions. Also like "The Smiling Spider" my print is in black and white.
A difference between my inspiration and my piece is my inspiration has many complex parts happening at once. For example in "Starry Night" there is many little details and in "The Smiling Spider" each hair stroke had to be made individual. My piece is more organic shapes and geometric shapes.
ACT Response
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My inspiration focuses on emotions which influenced the meaning of my piece, but also what I wanted to show through my piece.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
It is not necessary to draw a face with an expression to convey emotions. Things such as line, color, and value can portray emotions just as well as a face.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
The way a person reacts to a situation can reveal a lot about what kind of person they are, as well emotions are a complicated and vary with every person because everyone is not the same.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
A central idea/theme of my research was human emotions, and how these are portrayed on our faces.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Humans are always reacting to the world around them, some of these emotions are easier to distinguish apart from each other. However it is not always simple to recognize how we feel.
My inspiration focuses on emotions which influenced the meaning of my piece, but also what I wanted to show through my piece.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
It is not necessary to draw a face with an expression to convey emotions. Things such as line, color, and value can portray emotions just as well as a face.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
The way a person reacts to a situation can reveal a lot about what kind of person they are, as well emotions are a complicated and vary with every person because everyone is not the same.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
A central idea/theme of my research was human emotions, and how these are portrayed on our faces.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Humans are always reacting to the world around them, some of these emotions are easier to distinguish apart from each other. However it is not always simple to recognize how we feel.
Bibliography
“MoMA Learning.” Lee Bontecou. Untitled. 1959 | MoMA, www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/vincent-van-gogh-the-starry-night-1889/
Studio. “Odilon Redon, Studio International.” Studio International - Visual Arts, Design and Architecture, www.studiointernational.com/index.php/odilon-redon.
Studio. “Odilon Redon, Studio International.” Studio International - Visual Arts, Design and Architecture, www.studiointernational.com/index.php/odilon-redon.