Title: Strand Split
Size: 20 x 32 in. Medium: Colored Pencil on Illustration Board Date of Completion: With this project, I wanted to change pathways with how I develop my work. Instead of my usual paintings, I would be switching to illustration in order to compare any improvements I had made to my precision, while also challenging my ability to blend with a different medium. Due to how I wanted to compose this project, it would also challenge my ability to implement movement and texture, as well of my use of colors, since colored pencil is a much more difficult thing to blend together. |
Artist Inspiration
My inspiration for this project was Georges Lemmen. His work in impressionism, specifically pointillism, adds a unique approach to the application of texture in artwork. I had selected him as my inspiration as I wanted to use this project as an opportunity to expand upon my use of texture. Unlike the other projects, I feel as though I would become better at my application of texture should I be able to improve upon my illustration skills. Not only would I be able to apply pointillism across certain points of the piece, but I am also hoping to be able to use various methods, such as movement, to also improve in other applications of texture while also connecting to my theme. For this project, I would primarily focus on using a similar form of pointillism for the objects on the landscape, but not the view of the sun, moon, or sky.
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Planning Sketches
For this project, I had already decided that I wanted to work on illustration. Illustration is actually a preferred medium of mine, though I used painting as an attempt to improve my precision and blending. I figured that by working with a medium that is more difficult to be precise, I would be able to improve on that skill. I also used the medium to practice with my use of color; being able to blend colors without being completely off tone. I feel as though I have improved significantly in these areas, and that experimenting in a different medium would be beneficial to my growth.
With this project, I wanted to develop something relatively similar to my last project, something being split. This project would relate more to the decay with time compared to just standard passing, similar to the works I had created at the start of this semester. I also wanted to improve upon dividing my piece. For my last piece, I wanted to combine the light and dark into a gray center, similar to a concept of an equinox. This variant would not necessarily be gray, but rather like a fusion between the warm colors of day against the cold colors of the dark. I definitely wanted to make a side by side comparison, having the sun and moon together, taking up their halves of the picture, though I was unsure what other landscape would follow with the work. |
Along with that, I also had to determine how I wanted to present the landscape. After thinking about it, I would make the landscape similar to one another, serving as a mirrored image. While considering the theme, I wanted to try making the landscape visibly worn down to begin with. The day would have something presented that is not beyond saving or repair, but would eventually succumb as time passes due to neglect. As for what would be in the landscape, I had to figure it out. I had practiced some tree designs, as well as their textures in order to see if I could use them, which proved to be considerably more simple with the use of colored pencils. I would likely include trees, as well as a small building that would serve as the focus of the decay. Some trees may have been chopped away or broken down in the decaying process.
As for the building that I would use for this project, I was contesting between using a primitive hut design versus using a slightly more complex and modern design, resembling somewhat like that of a church. I ended up choosing the hut due to it being a more simple design, and the simple materials being used would also be a good thing to implement my use of texture on, primarily focusing on pointillism similar to Georges work. I also felt that using this hut would strengthen my connection to my theme, as the fragile structure of such a building would be susceptible to strong weather. |
Process and Experimentation
To begin the process, I first had to separate the areas that I wanted to use between light and day. Unlike other projects, which were separated vertically, this project would be separated horizontally. The landscapes would be present on both the top and bottom of the board, and would serve as mirrored images. The artwork would need to be flipped over to see the individual landscapes right-side up. I then distinguished the colors of the sun and the moon by outlining them with multiple tones of their color. This would make it easier to blend as well as implement texture by expanding the colors being used. Since I could not blend extremely specific colors unlike what I could with the paint, I would have to make due with the colors I had as well as the limited colors I could produce with the pencils. Due to how difficult it would be to blend the colors together, I started by initially implementing the colors in layers. I would later be able to combine them through the use of a white colored pencil to produce an oily texture and clean blending.
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After that, I wanted to attempt to strengthen the connection between the colors. I added several more layers to the board and attempted to blend them together using strong pressure. This worked to a relatively good extent, but not to what I imagined. I had also applied an extremely light layer of the main colors that I wanted to use for the day of light. I had done this because I had made the assumption that whatever else I had illustrated would retain some level of that color, keeping the tones of night and day within the picture. Other than the extended blending, I would also make an extremely basic outline of the round figures in the center of the work, which I would probably want to reshape. I had decided that I would return to finish the blending of the colors later, and focus on the reshaping of the area.
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To smooth out the texture within the sphere, I would use a technique that I had worked with last year. I had used a white colored pencil with a great amount of pressure to smear the colored pencil and generate an oily texture onto the board. This would also serve to be useful for implementing movement as well as the texture. The white colored pencil smears would curve inward to use movement to form the smooth texture across the work. During this process, I had decided to make the “sun” portion of the picture much brighter, rather than the exaggerated interpretation of strong orange colors rather than extremely bright, white and yellow colors. I had tried to overlap them as best as possible, though this only resulted in a slightly lighter tone of orange. I attempted to remedy this by using a yellow colored pencil. The yellow colored pencil would be able to shift the tone of the color as well as be light enough to allow strong use of pressure with it. This worked to a significant extent, and was much more effective than the use of the white pencil. At this stage I had also developed the base shape and colors of the landscape. I wanted to keep it simple and smooth, resembling something similar to the "strands" I had used for the sky. Everything in the night landscape had a tone of blue or purple with the exception of the broken hut and the decayed and destroyed trees.
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I would use the same technique used on the day landscape on the sky to blend together the colors of the skies together better, as well as planting that oily texture onto it as well. With the base colors of both night and day on the picture, I wanted to finalize the project by refining the colors a bit more. I would spread yellow across the daylight picture to compliment the strong red and orange used, as well as intensify the oily texture used across the project. I would do this for the night portion as well, primarily using blue for the skies, and green for the landscape itself. This would make it look significantly more smooth and blended. Since I withheld finishing the sky until the objects were in place, it was much easier to finish the sky by using colors around them rather than trying to draw them over intense colors. In the end, I would say my previous idea of using a very light layer of color to maintain their day and night tones were significantly successful, as they both maintained that level of color throughout the artwork significantly well.
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Reflection
With this project, I was significantly satisfied with the development of my skills and techniques, especially when it comes to using another medium. I was, however, not as satisfied with the result of the project overall. I feel as though I did not spend enough time when it came to refining the colors and blending of the artwork. I feel as though the project could be heavily expanded upon, especially in terms of detail involving the landscape. While I had intended for the landscape to be significantly barren to resemble a strand, the extent of which I had done so was too much. There had been significant room for more detail that could have strengthened the connection to my theme. The development of the hut could have been improved, implementing more texture, especially with proper use of pointillism. My overall use of pointillism was extremely limited, only being featured to a weak extent on the hut and trees of the landscape. The only thing I could possibly say I had derived from my inspiration was his use of blending; primarily when it came to the development of the skies. Overall, I would say that this project was not necessarily a failure, but definitely fell short when it came to what I could do with this artwork. Should I return to the work, I would likely be able to expand it to a much higher degree, making it closer to what I had originally intended. If I were to recreate this project, I would likely invest much more time in a different approach to my application of color. More specifically, I would want to include pointillism; something that was hardly present in this artwork, despite my artist inspiration.
Compare and Contrast
Throughout the process of this project, I had been able to develop upon my usage of blending techniques, being able to separate them significantly more similar to Lemmen. I had also been able to develop upon my use of color, being able to use several different colors to adjust my tones like Lemmen had done as well. However, my use of pointillism on this project was extremely weak, only being visible on the development of the hut and the trees, whereas Lemmen implements this technique across the entirety of his work. Lemmen was also much more effective at implementing shading to his work, being able to clearly outline the shape of the building while I had struggled to implement any shading whatsoever. The only possible instance I could describe some level of shading is the grass of the landscape, where I had made an effort to change the tone of the grass to a small degree. Unlike the "separate yet together" composition featured in pointillism, my artwork was mostly comprised of straight strokes for the skies and the landscapes, and curved strokes for the separated sun and moon. This made some parts of the work stand out strongly in contrast to one another, unlikely Lemmen's work.
ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
Lemmen's work had definitely changed how I wanted to approach this project. I wanted to use this project as an opportunity to check and develop multiple skills, primarily my use of movement and texture, while also challenging my application of color using a different medium.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Lemmen's work doesn't really have a strong connection to my theme of time, though he does apply significant detail to his landscapes, which mostly feature the times between day and night; dawn and dusk.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
When going through my research, I primarily came to make the assumption that early life was extremely fragile. While humanity back then might not be fragile by any means, our development and usage of tools were much more fragile in comparison.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
This project still revolves around my primary theme of time. This time I have focused more on the decay, something that was present in my first project of this semester. I wanted to separate an entire landscape compared to one, similar object in that project.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
In a logical sense, I had made the assumption of where a hut like this would be placed. Being placed out in the open would definitely make it susceptible to weather compared to something inside the forest, which makes me wonder why someone would plant it like this. I would most likely include this strange choice in my reflection.
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
Lemmen's work had definitely changed how I wanted to approach this project. I wanted to use this project as an opportunity to check and develop multiple skills, primarily my use of movement and texture, while also challenging my application of color using a different medium.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Lemmen's work doesn't really have a strong connection to my theme of time, though he does apply significant detail to his landscapes, which mostly feature the times between day and night; dawn and dusk.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
When going through my research, I primarily came to make the assumption that early life was extremely fragile. While humanity back then might not be fragile by any means, our development and usage of tools were much more fragile in comparison.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
This project still revolves around my primary theme of time. This time I have focused more on the decay, something that was present in my first project of this semester. I wanted to separate an entire landscape compared to one, similar object in that project.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
In a logical sense, I had made the assumption of where a hut like this would be placed. Being placed out in the open would definitely make it susceptible to weather compared to something inside the forest, which makes me wonder why someone would plant it like this. I would most likely include this strange choice in my reflection.
Bibliography
https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/View-of-the-Thames/B6895CF1BC080135 - Image Source
https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/View-of-the-Thames/B6895CF1BC080135 - Image Source