Artist Emulation Project

Part 3:  Reflection Blog Post.  Generally you want to discuss your process, how the process helped you develop your artistic process, how well you employed our artistic habits, and to what degree you find the end result aesthetically pleasing.  You may wish to refer to the following prompts in developing your reflection.

1.  Describe your goals:  Clearly and briefly describe the main formal tenets of your chosen artist's style.  Expand to explain what you were attempting to communicate to the viewer based upon the overarching goal of emulating the artist.  Be specific as possible.

Salvador Dali used lighting and shading in order to make a realistic painting, although it had surreal subjects. His style is extremely realistic, using tiny paint strokes in order to create the shading and value so consistent throughout his style. In terms of subjects, his paintings convey the dream world and the subjects that lie therein. Often, the subject exists in a strange landscape, complete with surreal colors and sometimes exaggerated or perfect forms in order to invoke a feeling of surrealism. 

2.  Explain what you learned about the practice of painting in the process.  What stylistically, conceptually, and or expressively of your emulation did you find most exciting creatively?  What processes were most difficult?  How did you expand and develop your painting ability?  

I feel like I became more efficient as the painting progressed, but at the same time felt more disconnected to the subject and less immersed. I was definitely able to improve my technical abilities as the project went on, and I think that with enough time, I would be able to realistically paint a subject - which was my goal for my project. I was able to use compositional techniques as well in order to create a twisting island that I hoped was pointing towards the castle. I thought the idea of creating my own subject from my mind was the most exciting for me. Normally, we have to paint a real thing and observe it, and it was fun for me to not be so held down to the subjects standards. The repetition was challenging for me, as well as the extreme amount of focus and patience it took to paint the same type of wave for a week. As I said before, I think my artistic process benefited profusely from this process, especially because I was not copying a subject, instead creating my own. 

3.  How much of you is in the painting?  How much of the artist?  In what ways did you deviate from the style of the artist?  Why?  

I think the surrealist aspects of the painting are inherently Salvador Dali, but I think I was able to add my own stylistic aspects as well. Firstly, I think our subject differed, as Dali used symbolism to express his ideas, whereas I used aesthetic conceptual ideas that intrigued me to make something that looked interesting and compelling. I feel like I did a good job in emulating his style, but in terms of subject, I wanted to convey a feeling rather than a message. 

4. In the end did your process and persistence lead you to a successful painting? Utilize feedback in explaining. 

I feel like my painting was successful, mostly because of the persistence in shading and expressing the subject. At the time of this writing, the painting is unfinished, and this is because of the lack of uniformity in detail throughout the whole piece. The finished parts of the painting are well-done and emulate the style of Dali.