Tryptic
Sketched
91 cm by 30 cm (for each panel)
Acrylic on Canvas
April 2018
91 cm by 30 cm (for each panel)
Acrylic on Canvas
April 2018
Exhibition Text
Form sketching is one of my least developed forms of media, so I decided to challenge myself to produce a piece based on it. The first panel in my work deals with my reflections on my work and the way I feel about them, somewhat underwhelmed. The second panel deals with the art communities affect on me. And finally the third panel shows how I affect the art community and my peers with my work. The colors show how art adds emotion to my life. Shel Silverstein was my inspiration for the piece.
Inspiration
"Everything’s wrong, Days are too long, Sunshine’s too hot, Wind is too strong. Clouds are too fluffy, Grass is too green, Ground is too dusty, Sheets are too clean. Stars are too twinkly, Moon is too high, Water’s too drippy, Sand is too dry. Rocks are too heavy, Feathers too light, Kids are too noisy, Shoes are too tight. Folks are too happy, Singin’ their songs. Why can’t they see it? Everything’s wrong!" ("Mr. Grumpledump’s Song", Shel Silverstein). Dmitry Samarov was my primary inspiration for this piece and he has been inspired by the poetry and visual art style of Shel Silverstein. Dmitry does not originate from the US but began learning English as a child. He learned and memorized the works of Shel Silverstein. I am personally inspired by the figure Dmitry has created when he thinks of the name "Grumpledump". It is pure and simple but still captures the emotion of the man. I want to incorporate his somewhat jagged forms of body features and explore human form in my own work. The meaning is purely explicit in that the man is singing in a chair and he looks mildly frustrated.
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I was additionally inspired by the work of Oneisu, a simple deviant art sketch artist. He appears to simply be practicing however the forms still apply and correlate to the work of Dmitry Samarov. The figures only have meanings that are expressed through their body expressions and postures. I plan on incorporating his sketchy style into my final product, but first I am going to do various planning sketches that look similar, I plan on studying strangers, siblings, and friends' postures. I plan on developing my own form for the sketches that will look a bit less skeletal and more filled out in the chest/legs. His inspiration appears to be based off of wooden models, I plan on observing live subjects so that the emotional posture is more pure.
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Planning
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My first sketch in the slideshow was my most misguided sketch, it illustrates a man walking up and down a hill. I wanted to show some form of progression through my community but I didn't know how to do it so I believed that I could use the environment as a medium of communication. I quickly decided that this would not work and so I moved on to doing more research. Upon doing further research I discovered the community of rough figure drawing and sketching. I began filling pages with loads of figures, references from online models, my siblings, and even a few strangers. These sketches immensely helped boost my drive to show a different side of a person through their posture and form. Upon filling various pages with sketches I began looking at what a finalized product might look like and discovered that keeping the figure simple would be key to the successful communication of my aesthetic and theme. To do this I created three new virtual canvases in my sketchbook and began laying a simple environment that contained the characteristics required by the assignment. I continued to do more sketches of figures. After finalizing which forms I wanted to use I implemented them into their prospective environments and began showing how they connected to their communities through the use of the word "art".
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Process
As previously mentioned I did do three paintings for this project. This process started off with a planning sketch done in charcoal pencil. The next step in the process was building a frame. The self-portrait project requires you erect a frame and canvas. Following this was tightening and stretching the canvas using gesso. After applying gesso to the canvas I mixed the background color which was pure white with a very small dab of brown in it to make it look similar to paper. The sketches for the three canvases were done free handed with reference to my sketchbook that contained various figures and forms. After the background had dried and the canvases were all prepared with their prospective sketched figures I began by tracing each of the figures in a muddy black color with a small thin detail brush. Before painting each time I dipped the brush in water to make the strokes smoother and look more sketchy on the canvas. Each figure was painted about three times over before I decided I was finished with it. The next step was filling in the different iterations of the word "art", similarly to the figures each of the words was free-handed to ensure a sketchy quality to it. I used washes of browns to create hues without sacrificing other colors in the background as well. I used tape in to attempt and keep the lines clean on the 2nd painting of the three. Additionally I made a dark grey wash out of black paint and water that I used for the first paintings "art" iteration. This same was was then liberally applied to the bottom of the three paintings as to create a surface that connected the three paintings together. Following the wash being applied I began filling in the shadows for each of the figures, each of the shadows was done in a darker wash, and each shadow was casted from the same light source. Moving on to the colors in the pieces. I wanted to keep my paintings very simple but at the same time I wished to make them semi unique and still have eye catching features. As to keep them simple I went with simple colors and simple shapes. The primary color squares done at the top are 2"x2" and were surrounded by tape to keep the lines crisp. Following the squares being done I decided to make secondary color washes. The washes add character to each of the figures and have fairly simple brush stroke applications fitting into the sketched aesthetic.
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Experimentation
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When it comes to experimenting the entire piece had somewhat of a random factor to it. I decided to free hand all of my figures onto the canvases so that if I made a mistake it could be seen by all of the viewers. I wanted this to look like a sketch that could be found in an art journal. Each of the figures appears to have a human shape however their features are not pronounced nor are they detailed. The viewer must fill in this gap with their imagination and context at the time of viewing. I experimented heavily with the different kinds of washes used as well, I was sure to only use black paint, I only used black paint because when I sketch with a pencil I do not have a white pencil that I can blend it with, everything must be done in one colors different shades. I experimented heavily with line form and aimed for the most rough but connected lines I could get. I experimented with three different brush types to try and figure out which one worked the best for creating this effect. I also experimented with the background color, my sketch book has a slightly brown color to it and I wanted the canvas to mimic this. To achieve this effect I started off with a base coat off gesso which was almost dark enough to pass as my sketchbook, but it wasn't quite the correct coloration. To fix the coloration I added a small amount of brown paint to white paint and applied it to the entire background. My final element of experimentation was how I implemented color into the piece. I experimented primarily with the hues that were placed on the figures faces. I chose secondary colors because I wanted to illustrate the primary colors as being parts of the community that are affecting me and creating something new.
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Reflection
In reflection, I quite enjoyed making this piece and it is one of my favorite paintings that I have created thus far. I feel that I grew as an artist because of the large margins for error that I left open to myself. When it comes to figuring out my inspiration Dmitry Samarov truly helped focus my goals with his inspiration pieces based off of Shel Silverstein. One of the primary goals of a tryptic is to have unity and I believe I thoroughly illustrated that with the connection of the ground, color, and form of the figures. I am excited to keep working on new pieces with similar styles.
ACT Responses
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
My work is directly influenced by inspiration and is heavily representative of the aesthetics, figures, and layouts of my inspirations.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Dmitry Samarov is vastly inspired by Shel Silverstein and his work and this has led him to create and poetry and other forms of inspiring work based on the genre that Silverstein has created.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered that there is a large community surrounding rough figure sketching. There is something tantalizing about capturing people in their simplest form.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The primary theme for my work was showing a sketched reality. Life is not easy or perfect and when you are trying your best you still make mistakes.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made inferences about the intent of my figure drawing inspirations. For many artists their figure drawings are just for practice and I inferred that for others it was their final product.
My work is directly influenced by inspiration and is heavily representative of the aesthetics, figures, and layouts of my inspirations.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Dmitry Samarov is vastly inspired by Shel Silverstein and his work and this has led him to create and poetry and other forms of inspiring work based on the genre that Silverstein has created.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered that there is a large community surrounding rough figure sketching. There is something tantalizing about capturing people in their simplest form.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The primary theme for my work was showing a sketched reality. Life is not easy or perfect and when you are trying your best you still make mistakes.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made inferences about the intent of my figure drawing inspirations. For many artists their figure drawings are just for practice and I inferred that for others it was their final product.
Bibliography
- Samarov, D. (2015, August 05). Shel Silverstein – South Side Weekly. Retrieved May 14, 2018, from https://southsideweekly.com/shel-silverstein/
- Simple Manikin sketch#3. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://oneisu.deviantart.com/art/Simple-Manikin-sketch-3-301992869