exhibition text
the purpose of this piece is to portray the idea that it's hard to tell when someone is hurting based on their appearance alone. I have found that I tend to push myself to act happy and act normal whenever I am going through a very difficult situation, which makes others around me unaware of the situations I'm in, which then negatively impacts me as time goes on. The main inspiration for this piece is the image "Migrant Mother" by Dorothea Lange, and her ability to capture emotion through a lense. This piece is a painting made out of oil and acrylic paint on a 11" x 14" canvas. All material used for this piece is self bought and made.
inspiration
"migrant mother" by Dorothea Lange is a photograph depicting a mother and her children with a worried expression. This piece is famous for being able to depict the state in which their society was in at the time. In 1936 during the great depression many Americans suffered from poverty, hunger, and hopelessness. In this image Dorothea Lange captures an expression the mother makes that is able to depict her current mental state, along with her children covering their face, Dorothea is able to tell a story through the moment she is able to capture. each aspect of this image from the expression to the kids and the body position of the woman tell something about what is currently going on, however there's so much more depth that goes into this image that at first glance once could not imagine what is actually going on, and one can only assume based off context clues what it it is that this possibly represents. I believe that in any era the idea that we are able to read a person entirely through their appearance is a fake idea. I wanted to utilize this concept an apply it to my own work by using the expression of my subject to depict a story which can not be identified just by looking at the image.
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planning
I began by drafting the theme for this piece, I wanted to express how negativity and insecurity does not always come off through our appearance, and such complex feelings can be truly hidden by an individual making it harder for them to get better. At first I was planning on maybe doing photography but after much thought I decided wanted to do a oil painting because i wanted to practice painting portraits with oils, and i think that through the idea of exploring every aspect of an individual's face and replicating I'm truly able to study it and then this relates to the idea that you cant ever truly comprehend someone based on what they show. I began to look for some inspiration and I cam back across with the photograph migrant mother. Migrant mother by Dorothea emphasizes on depicting an individuals expression in order to tell a story. and although it can be assumed what might generally be happening it must be explained in order to fully understand the personal story. Dorothe unknowingly includes heavy symbolism in this photograph, from the mothers expression to the children hiding their face dorothea implements a heavy representation of pain. As i began drafting my own work and as i kept thinking of my inspiration, I thought of contrasting the expression of the individual to what the individual actually begins to feel. So i thought i would have a happy expression with a hat in order to symbolize how the individual covers his true emotions, as the at can be associated with covering your face and your expression. i then wanted the background to be black in order to symbolize the emptiness that truly exists within the individual.
process
I began my asking my friend to take a picture of himself smiling really hard with a hat on since these were essential components i wanted in my piece. one i got the image i cropped it into a square size which i then applied an 8 x 8 grid when adding this grid onto the canvas i had to disregard part of the top of the canvas since the canvas was a rectangular shape however this worked out better.
the canvas was 11" x 14" meaning the bottom part of the canvas i would utilize to draw the grid being an 11"x 11". I began to draw the grid onto the canvas and i sketched the image onto the canvas once i had done this i blacked out the top of the image which i would not utilize and the applied a wash o the rest of the canvas, after doin this i blacked out everything else that wasn't the individual with black acrylic paint as well.
once i had my cnavs ready to use oil paints I began with eth face an dpplaying block fo where the shadows were, i then applied blocks of wher eth neural colors hwere, and ifally added highlights, i blneded these out so i coudl end up wit the base of the face i then went on to draw al lof the hahir and darker parts of teh apce such a sthe yes an dthe nostrils. Aftett this had been complet di focued on the detailed highlights and then i went on to draw the ears and then i went on to draw th aht by adding a base color and addin gon the shadows. there wasnt uch highlights os i dint have ot do thta. Finally i moved onto his shirt in which i strate off by adding shadows and then went on to add the neutral shade to then vled it in and ad dhighlights.
experimentation
it wa shad getting the skin color ta times on so i ad ot try out differnet colors and mizing difernet tints of color, aort fomr the skin i also had difuclty foing this iwth the hat becaus eit wa sushc unique color i wa sunsure of whta colors to mix. The shirt i had diffulctywith an dhad to expeirment with differnetetcniques in order ot depict the tru etetur eof the cloth, i satrte off by adding vlosk of the differnet shades and then vlneindg it atthe end whic is not what i woudl do if i were to ry it gaain ecasu eit looks to blurred out and it looses some vital deatils. i also had to experient with the mouth, and other proprotions, I was kind og oin gbased off what the grid agve me but i realized it just dindt oook right so i oked at the imag without the grid and wen tbased off my own perception.
critique
jor imsilaritie sbetween the both ieces include how we utilize the xpressin of the indicuuald to tel ls tory and we utilzi etheir suroundings in orde rot symbolize something.
oneo fte major differece srelated=s to one of the imsilarities ironcially whic is the fcat taht my ow piece contradicts theimag epotrayed wil odrothe strongly corrleates her visual to her
oneo fte major differece srelated=s to one of the imsilarities ironcially whic is the fcat taht my ow piece contradicts theimag epotrayed wil odrothe strongly corrleates her visual to her
reflection
overall i enojyed this process veyr much, i found taht painting small portaits focused on just the details of the individuald face was really fun to do. I owul definately wnat to do thi snfutue projects i think it simportant ot take alook at all the details of a piece and truly highliht them whe portaying them so i woudl wnat ot work on prject like these in the future. I woudl ant ot work on getting btter at rpelicating tetxures such as cloth better as well.
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.
The cause effect relationship between my inspirtaion and its effect uopn my artwork ca nbe seen as i emphasize the expression of the individual just as dorothe doe sin her won work along with addding symbolism surrounfing the sindivual.
2)what is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inpiration?
the point of veiw that dorthea has regarding my topic of inpsiration is rathe rimplie than stated. i would assuem since she depicts such emtoional piece she woudl beofnd o fthe topic of expressing strong emotions such a sthe one shiwh ci focus on in my own work.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration.
i have come to the conclusoin that people tend to express the sam eide af=differntly such as i do while i am inspired by dorothea's piec and her cocenpt i xpres it almost thriugh the opposite way.
4)What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
the central idea/ theme around my inspirational research was to find something atht cudl depict strong emotions that affect individuals and coommunities around different scieties.
5)What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
some inferecnes that can be made while reading my research is thta its imprtant to find a way to expres oursleves truly as at the end of the day its hard to read peopel and we all ar ehuman we all are vulneable ot negtaive emotions and expressin gour own negativity can sometimes omfortothes as they'll be able to relate.
The cause effect relationship between my inspirtaion and its effect uopn my artwork ca nbe seen as i emphasize the expression of the individual just as dorothe doe sin her won work along with addding symbolism surrounfing the sindivual.
2)what is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inpiration?
the point of veiw that dorthea has regarding my topic of inpsiration is rathe rimplie than stated. i would assuem since she depicts such emtoional piece she woudl beofnd o fthe topic of expressing strong emotions such a sthe one shiwh ci focus on in my own work.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration.
i have come to the conclusoin that people tend to express the sam eide af=differntly such as i do while i am inspired by dorothea's piec and her cocenpt i xpres it almost thriugh the opposite way.
4)What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
the central idea/ theme around my inspirational research was to find something atht cudl depict strong emotions that affect individuals and coommunities around different scieties.
5)What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
some inferecnes that can be made while reading my research is thta its imprtant to find a way to expres oursleves truly as at the end of the day its hard to read peopel and we all ar ehuman we all are vulneable ot negtaive emotions and expressin gour own negativity can sometimes omfortothes as they'll be able to relate.
bibliography
“Research Guides: Dorothea Lange's.” Introduction - Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" Photographs in the Farm Security Administration Collection - Research Guides at Library of Congress, https://guides.loc.gov/migrant-mother.