Project III
Inspiration
Vincent Van Gogh
From the gallery visit I then knew I wanted to use Vincent Van Gogh at some point and I decided to use The Starry Night and Almond Blossoms for the two sections. Using a midnight blue and turquoise for the base colors, I used these because of what they mean and the connection they have to each person representing as their background. The Starry Night Vincent Van Gogh made this artwork when he was in the asylum after having a nervous breakdown. The story behind this art is connected to the person at the top right section because of the mental health relation. I have mentioned in previous artworks about my mental health representation, and this one connects to the story behind the art. He just captured something beautiful and still keeping the moving sensation. Almond Blossoms When I was looking into Almond Blossoms, I found out the symbolization of them. They represent purity, hope, love, and bravery. In Greek mythology it is a symbol of eternal true love, and it connects to the person at the bottom left. As a child soon to go into the teenage years, they still have some innocence and purity. Still having the good mindset with a positive attitude, she still has hope in her that hasn't been fully tainted from reality. |
Planning
For my wood piece I split it in half diagonally, the top half being mine. I had already sectioned it into a square grid where I decided to make the portrait of a two by three square by the right. I used a grid maker and inserted my image onto a two by three grid to match it onto the canvas. Something I had to be aware of was the frame around the image that I would add later on, meaning it wouldn’t be a rectangle but instead an oval. I tried cropping it, keeping the corners free of any part of the face so it doesn’t get cut off.
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I had a similar process for my sister’s picture but because of the placing of it, I drew it out with less volume to the hair so it doesn't go out of the oval shape. Something that came in helpful was the diagonal lines on the corner squares of the grid so then I knew beforehand what parts would get cut off. Another thing is also putting on a filter to outline more of the outlines and such as the figure, where the hair stops, where it makes the curves and the outline of the nose and lips.
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To figure out how I would transfer a small grid into something bigger, I first found a common factor between 24 and 30 in order to find something for a smaller version but could easily be enlarged properly. I made it into an eight by ten grid square and transferred it for each inch its actually three inches. I also added the split line diagonally that didn't go evenly through but it helped me know how much space I would have to put the grid portrait onto the one side. The shaded areas was where I placed the portraits and below that I made the actual sketches of them.
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Process
Shown from the third image of the planning process, I made the grid multiplied by three so each square was three by three inches. After putting the grid I also put the dividing line to know where to stop painting the color for each section. I didn't want the portraits to be too close to the middle nor too out touching the edges so I left one square away from each corner. In that two by three section I added the diagonal grid lines in order to help me with making the oval shape so it doesn't come out slanted like in previous tries on the sketchbook. After making the oval I added the sketches of the photos using my photo as the top one facing left and my sister's photo facing right at the bottom. |
I first wanted to start off with making the turquoise like color and I had a dark teal so I added some white and a touch of light blue and mixed it in order to get the color I wanted. With this art piece I wanted to make the background using the favorite colors of my sister and me. Her color was turquoise so I went with using Almond Blossoms because of the background color so I painted it like that but before that I used some tape to not get it onto the upper area and since the brush strokes showed I also made them vertically. After that I used some white paint to outline the oval again and to cover some of the pencil markings. I would later on layer some more white after paintings the actual person. |
Then I placed the tape on the other side of the dividing line and used a dark midnight blue because that is my favorite color so I connected it to The Starry Night. I painted the upper section blue and also left the brush strokes vertically and it didn't layer all evenly which gave it a sky like view. It left some areas lighter and brighter which would come in with the other parts that would be added later on as well. After that I outlined the oval with white paint and covered some of the pencil marking as well that I would come back to layer onto later. |
Next up was the skin color and the hair. Something about the skin tone was the different tones that were used. One of us is lighter and the other is darker so I wanted to make that slight change so I made the darker tone first and continued adding some white to make it lighter and right tone. After painting my sister's face I then added more white and to make my skin tone. We both had similar hair color so I used a dark brown on both but before that I added a base on mine with an amber color because of my slightly lighter hair because of the ends being dyed since I'm currently growing it out. I layered it on to have a solid color and used the outline of the hair to show the difference because mine is wavier and her's is closer to straight hair. |
After sketching out the simplified Almond Blossoms I painted the stems out with a green and painted the white flowers around the areas. I was able to overlay the image of Almond Blossoms to the art work and kind of have an idea where to lay each thing and from then on added the flowers myself in different directions. Since some overlay with one another and at the moment I was only using white, I decided to space them out a little more. The flowers and painting itself went with this section because of white representing innocence and the stems going everywhere such as how a child is growing and creating different paths they’ll choose to go through. |
Compare & Contrast
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Reflection
Working on this piece made me realize the differences of working on a canvas versus wood. It could’ve been the paints I used or the way it would spread around and layer in some areas more than others. Besides that, this was also a personal art piece that connected more to my family rather than just myself but more the connection between two sisters. Just how in the backgrounds they were both made by Van Gogh yet are their own pieces and are completely different. We are the artworks made by the same artist but our own different creations. Possibly something I would’ve changed is my method of painting such as remember to leave a white area for the yellow I was going to put for The Starry Night section so I wouldn’t have the mix of blue with white and yellow but it did give a tone in some of the spots reminding me of the moon with its darker areas but the yellow version.
ACT Questions
1. Clearly explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
My inspiration, Vincent Van Gogh was an effect on my artwork shown from the backgrounds referencing both Almond Blossoms and The Starry Night.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Both of his pieces had either the symbolization of love, hope, or just gave an insight to their vision of the world, something that connects whether from the innocent hope a child has or the way someone can see something differently from others.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Something I discovered was the almond blossoms represent in Greek mythology eternal love and it is sacred like apple blossoms.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme was family connection and the usage of difference arts and color to represent a person in subtle ways.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Everyone views the same thing differently and some can capture that image and present it a whole other way that even the movement is shown in it such as The Starry Night where the sky is there for everyone but some can make it into something beautiful.
My inspiration, Vincent Van Gogh was an effect on my artwork shown from the backgrounds referencing both Almond Blossoms and The Starry Night.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Both of his pieces had either the symbolization of love, hope, or just gave an insight to their vision of the world, something that connects whether from the innocent hope a child has or the way someone can see something differently from others.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Something I discovered was the almond blossoms represent in Greek mythology eternal love and it is sacred like apple blossoms.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme was family connection and the usage of difference arts and color to represent a person in subtle ways.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Everyone views the same thing differently and some can capture that image and present it a whole other way that even the movement is shown in it such as The Starry Night where the sky is there for everyone but some can make it into something beautiful.
Bibliography
Spear, Crystal. “Spring Blossoms in Art: The Symbol of Life.” ArtCorner: A Blog by OverstockArt.com, 14 May 2021, https://www.overstockart.com/blog/spring-blossoms-in-art-the-symbol-of-life/.
S.R. Karfelt on Thursday April 5th, et al. “The Starry Night by Van Gogh: What It Represents.” The Art Post Blog | Art and Artists Italian Blog, 6 May 2021, https://www.theartpostblog.com/en/the-starry-night-by-van-gogh-what-it-represents/.
S.R. Karfelt on Thursday April 5th, et al. “The Starry Night by Van Gogh: What It Represents.” The Art Post Blog | Art and Artists Italian Blog, 6 May 2021, https://www.theartpostblog.com/en/the-starry-night-by-van-gogh-what-it-represents/.