Printmaking Final reflection

• describe your “creative decision making” process for this project.  What led you from initial insight to final product?  Consider both intuitive and formal decisions.

As per usual, I really wanted something that portrayed the subject realistically, but also stylistically and emotionally in order to explore the power of representation. When taking photos, I tried to capture a different emotion in each, and when choosing, picked those photos that felt the most authentic and interesting. Stylistically, I chose to go with flowing lines, almost as if the final work was painted with large strokes. The final product was simply the meeting of the emotion portrayed in the initial photo, along with the style and realism I so often rely on. 

• Consider the final image; to what degree does it represent an “authentic” representations of you artistically? 

The self portrait is quite authentic towards who I am. In addition to recognizably being me, I think the sly smile and bright eyes are true to my persona. Limited by the inaccuracy of the medium, I was often forced to hint at certain details I would have liked to more fully express, however the final piece represents my intentions relatively well. 

• Consider the feedback received.  To what degree does that support your intentions?  What themes stand out?  Anything alarming?

Nothing alarming, and mostly positive things. People pointed out accuracy, attention to detail, contrast, and the pop of the blue (although I can't find the blue piece). My intentions being to add emotions but keep realism were affirmed by these positive observations. Many people, which is totally fine, thought it looked like I was a trickster or scheming about something.

Print Post

Upload images of your preliminary work.

Discuss your intentions for your final self-portrait.  What technical methods will you employ?  

Im using relief printing. This is because the relief printing adds a layer of simplicity and contrast to the print - something I hope to utilize. 

What themes/ideas/intentions do you intend to communicate?  

I sort of wanted to create a brooding but mischievous image, with my raised eyebrow, glint in my eye, and smirk. Also half my face is in darkness, which adds an air of mischief. 

What artists, historic periods, or other inspirational imagery have you found to help inspire your work?

Not any besides the pictures of myself. I hope that the final piece is really a product of my imagination. 

What questions, if any, remain for you as you resolve your imagery for this project?

Not many. I think I have the image figured out in terms of style, intention, and formal qualities, now I just have to put in the work to finish it!

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. 

Interim Dali post

Right now I am working on the waves in order to contribute to the tumultuous vibe of the ocean. I think the sky is pretty good, but I intend to add clouds. I also want to add a central subject to the painting, namely the island. Most of the criticism I received was due to the incompletion, and thus confusion that emerged - i.e. Why is there a giant blue spot in the middle of the ocean? (it is a shadow). They thought that the waves and sky were great. I think I should try and increase the efficiency of my methods, which is happening naturally through the development of my craft.

In to the Woods Reflection

1. In this flat, we hoped to communicate the coziness and warmth of a bakery. We also tried to show that although they were poor, they are trying to promote their business. Because of this, we tried to express a facade of happiness and warmth, while in reality there were deep unhappinesses that the baker has. My strengths do not include painting, however, so I focused more on the sketching phases and the perspective. I do feel that after this project I have improved the freedom of my painting, giving up the rigid control I expect from the pencil.

2. I personally enjoy the individual projects more than the group ones. As I said before, in art, it is important for me to be in complete control in order to accurately express myself. I had to give up control in this project a little bit - oftentimes when other people had different opinions, I had to give in a little bit and let my group-mates take control. I thought that this was a really arduous but rewarding process for me, being able to bend and collaborate with the people in my group.

3. The process for me was extremely rewarding, as it allowed me to give up a bit of control over the art and leave the success or failure to other people or the medium itself. Sometimes, when the lack of control was successful, I was able to look at the success of my peers and learn from their craft. When the change was unsuccessful, I had to talk with my classmates and find a solution, or figure out how to fix the problematic area myself. The large flat also allowed for me to loosen up my paint strokes, and focus on the larger picture, not the unnecessary details.

Pictures for previous post

Learning to see Final Reflection

1. I feel like my intentions at the moment, and of course this will change, are to study an object and be able to portray it, to find a connection with it. In all three of my pieces I focused a lot on formal elements, using topography to convey form on the horse skull; shading to define value for my landscape, and on my most-time consuming picture - the pinecone - I feel I used many formal elements to create a realistic piece.

2. I learned that my artist voice focuses on the emotion and formal elements of the subject, but not of me as the artist. I think that when I draw the pinecone or the landscape or the skull, I try and assess the feeling the subject has or conveys - the landscape was moody, so I expressed it moodily, but I was not feeling moody that day. The use of formal elements are only tools to portray the reality of the subject. I used harsher outlines for what I thought was a menacing skull, softer shading for the fantasy-esque landscape, and a multitude of lines to convey the realism of the pinecone. I think my process is great at what it intends to do - express things for how they are. But there is a flip side, where I am sometimes just the observer taking artistic notes. I would like to experiment with taking a similar subject and make different emotional representations, and also with mediums not focused on realism, but the extremes of line and value that make them more expressive.

3. My group was very kind, giving me lots of praise similar to what I said earlier for what works well about my process. They emphasized the realism and formal elements - value, form, line, etc. They did say, which I also said earlier, that I should inject some more emotion into my pieces in the form of color and different mediums rather than pencil. I 100% agree - hopefully during the play set project I will be able to let go of detail and focus on the larger piece and be more expressive, and further refine my process.