Watercolor
Title: Hot Freaks "Together Above" 10/18/2023
Size: 25.4 cm x 38.1 cm Medium: Watercolor Completion Date: 12/17/2023 Exhibition Text:
I intended to make this piece to try and capture the beauty of the music made by my favorite band in a concert that I saw them in. I wanted to be able to show the beauty of this entire scene of seeing this music live. I was inspired by Henri-Edmond Cross and some of his works by including a brush stroke like pattern as well as not detailing the people very much. I also used the idea of leaving some blank space outlines between objects. |
Inspiration:
Artist in Focus: Henri-Edmond Cross
The artist that I took inspiration from is Henri-Edmond Cross. I specifically drew inspiration from his La Promenade and Venice pieces.
The artist that I took inspiration from is Henri-Edmond Cross. I specifically drew inspiration from his La Promenade and Venice pieces.
Check list
Inspiration
Inspiration
- Artist/Culture Inspiration (Critical Investigation)
- 2 photos of inspiration minimal
- 300-500 words of research based around your artist or cultural inspiration
- Accurately cited MLA or AP
- this can happen at bottom of page
- Creatively discussed how you plan to use this inspiration in your work
- Techniques and style inspiration
- Meaning and metaphor inspiration
- Analyze the Inspiration
- What is the artist intent for making this artwork?
- What’s going on in this artwork?
- What was your first reaction to this artwork? Why do you think you had the reaction?
- Describe the Elements and Principles in the artwork.
- Which area of the artwork is emphasized by the artist? Why?
- How does your eye move through the artwork? What choices did the artist make to make that happen?
- What do you think was this artwork created for? Why do you say that?
- What emotions do you notice in the artwork?
- What technique did the artist use to make the work?
Planning:
Check list
- Planning (ideas and intentions)
- 3 planning drawing minimal
- A mix of physical drawn pages and typed journal entries
- Described these drawings (what your plans are)
- Drawing out your ideas
- How you plan to move forward
- This is your Action Plan
- Show and Tell
- Your theme
- How you plan to show and use it
- What emotions or statements are you trying to evoke?
- Your theme
- Steps of Creation
- How do you plan on pulling this off?
- What steps do you foresee?
- What dimensions (scale) are you planning on making your work?
Process:
To start making this piece I sketched the image onto my board. After getting the sketch done, I started to clean it up, making sure that it was easy to understand, included more detail, and wasn’t too dark of pencil so that the watercolor doesn’t get murky. After finishing that, I started to move onto the coloring of the people.
I skipped over the skin color of the people to save that for later and went to color in all of their clothing. For some of them, I had to make sure that there was a big enough difference in the pinks or purples seen in their clothing. Once I finished coloring them in, I moved onto their instruments. I realized that I had forgotten to draw one of the pianos, so I quickly sketched that first. Some of the instruments were hard to see, so I had some trouble with the placement of everything revolving around them, but I did get it all colored in.
From there, I started to add color to the crowd. When looking at the original image, the colors going on with the crowd were all very similar, so I colored them all the same reddish brown. I wanted to show that they were there but not draw too much attention to them, so this simplistic version of them is perfect.
After getting that finished, I moved onto the line pattern in the ceiling. I started by coloring the outline of each spotlight, to help me see what color goes where. After getting the alternating pink and purple on the spotlights, I did the same thing for the ceiling. I did all of the pink wavy lines, and then all of the purple wavy lines. I wanted to express the movement of the sound and music coming from the band by making the lines more wavy. Next I went back and did a final blue set of lines above and intertwining in with the pink and purple.
Then I went back to the people to give them darker pink outlines to show the light shining on their faces. Then I went back to give some background color to the ceiling and walls, making it light at first but then going back for a darker layer. Finally, I added the shining down from the spotlights, finishing out the piece.
Experimentation:
Throughout this piece, I experimented with many different things. One of the smaller things I experimented with was the pencil lines. At first I didn’t want them to be that dark, and wanted the colors to form the shapes rather than the lines. However, at the end, the people got a little lost in all of the colors. I remembered that there were some outlines or pencil markings left in my inspiration, and decided to add those in around different parts to help make the different objects and people stand out better.
The biggest bit of experimenting that I did was with the background, specifically the ceiling. After adding in the brush stroke lines, I saw that the white in the background didn’t really look right or match the vibe that I was going for. I decided to paint a light purple layer over the ceiling to match the color I would put on the walls, but once I started to do that, I realized that it would mix with the colors I already had down, and make it all really messy looking. It would also remove the lines that I made by blurring them. At the time, I let it be and moved onto other parts of the painting. Eventually I had to go back to it, and decided to just paint over it all and see what would happen. The colors did in fact all blend together and it removed a lot of the lines that I made. I then realized that since there was some vague shaping of where the lines were, I could go back over them once the area dried and put lines back in. This wasn’t ideal, however, it created a nice look that I came around to like.
Another bit of experimentation I did was with the colors. The lead singer of the band was wearing a lot of different shades of pink, and I only had one pink color. I was worried at first with how I would be able to create all of the different colors, so I messed around with the pink, adding in different amounts of water. I eventually found that I could get some of the desired lighter pinks by adding in extra water to it. I used this same strategy for many other colors in this piece too, so discovering this helped out greatly.
Critique:
There are some similarities that can be seen between my piece and my inspiration. For starters, the medium is similar as we are both using watercolor paint. The pieces are also similar in the technique of using the line and brush stroke pattern. Another similarity can be seen in the overall composition of the piece in general. We are both making the entirety of the scene be the subject rather than just the people. There are not too many strong points of emphasis.There is also similarity in the directional force of the paintings. They all make you look all over the painting. You start at the center and then notice the bottom and then the top. The value of the color in the pieces are also similar with there being some lighter parts of the same color where it appears. A final similarity is the way that there is an outline to some of the objects, leaving a blank space of the background.
There are also some differences in my work and my inspiration. One difference is the balance of the piece. I have everything more on an equal level of space that is being taken up in the image, while my inspiration has the background being more prominent with any people very small in scale. People in my piece are bigger in scale. The colors in my piece are also more vibrant than that of which can be seen in my inspiration. My inspiration does use some colors that stand out but most of them tend to be dull.
There are also some differences in my work and my inspiration. One difference is the balance of the piece. I have everything more on an equal level of space that is being taken up in the image, while my inspiration has the background being more prominent with any people very small in scale. People in my piece are bigger in scale. The colors in my piece are also more vibrant than that of which can be seen in my inspiration. My inspiration does use some colors that stand out but most of them tend to be dull.
Reflection:
Throughout this piece, I improved my composition and proportion skills as well as my watercolor skills and techniques. My inspiration for this project was paintings by Henri-Edmond Cross. My work does connect to my inspiration with how it is drawing the people with very little detail, and then coloring them in to provide some detail. I am also using a brush stroke like pattern that can be seen in his pieces as well. The biggest challenge I encountered on this project was probably the composition of it all. I had some trouble figuring out where everything was going to land, but I was able to get it onto the board eventually. This project uses some skills that appear in other works of mine and also shows off the beauty of a specific scene. My favorite part was seeing the painting finally come together and seeing how all of the colors mixed together to create this scene. My least favorite part was when I was experimenting with the ceiling and tried to paint over all of the lines which blurred the colors together because it made me think that I messed up the entire piece for a bit. I hope other people can see my work and see how pretty and cool this environment is. I hope that they can see the beauty that can come from music and concerts.
Connecting to the ACT:
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Check list
ACT
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
- this is regarding your research and investigations
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
- this is regarding your research and investigations
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- this is regarding your research and investigations
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
- this is regarding your research and investigations
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
- this is regarding your research and investigations
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Check list
ACT
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
- this is regarding your research and investigations
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
- this is regarding your research and investigations
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- this is regarding your research and investigations
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
- this is regarding your research and investigations
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
- this is regarding your research and investigations
Citations (MLA):
Bibliography:
- MLA or AP format
- MLA or AP format