Title: Entrance Standard
Size: 91 x 91 cm Medium: Acrylic on canvas Date of Completion: 4 - 15 - 21 For this piece, I wanted to make something simplistic, but not quite clear. Something that's supposed to represent something clearly, but intentionally doesn't, similar to impressionism to an extent. It's me, but it's missing details that can say more about me, while still being distinguishable. |
Artist Inspiration
My inspiration for this project is Kai-Samuels-Davis-5 made by Kai Samuels Davis. I chose this artwork for its simplistic portrait style, yet also for its unique and abstract way of developing a person's designs. It's distorted compared to a standard photo or in person perception. I wanted to replicate something similar to this design; something that was recognizable but also had distinguishable flaws or lacking in detail compared to the real thing. I wanted this to help fit my theme of misunderstandings, starting by resembling the difference between what people may perceive against what something really is. |
Planning Sketches
For this project I wanted to do something simplistic yet not completely all together. Whether this difference would be a portrait that is seemingly "torn apart" or abstract. I didn't want the portrait to resemble me entirely, but rather something that represents me, similar to how impressionism is used.
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Another possible idea is intentionally leaving details out of the project that is clearly visible in the reference. Whether that be some details on lighting, or visible details to parts of my body, such as hair or clothing. Since the goal of this project was to create a distinguishable but distorted subject, I wanted it to have a clear distinction between what is present on the picture vs the artwork itself.
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Another possibility is distorting my appearance entirely, in a similar way to that of Kai Samuels-Davis. His works often show distorted or smeared segments that still provide a recognizable portrait of a person. This method would also still connect with my theme of perspectives. A distorted perception rather than an accurate one would be present in the portrait.
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Process and Experimentation
References
To start this project, I began by taking a picture of myself and creating a thin pencil sketch of myself along the canvas. I tried to keep it extremely light as to not have any pencil markings interfere with the paint that would be added later on. Keeping a thin sketch also allows for some lines to be wiped away if necessary. I started the sketch from the bottom and worked my way up. After I had developed the standard outline of my body, I had added details to the face, and some detail to the hair. The hair would be a portion that would be left relatively smooth and present as a distortion. After completing the sketch of the body, I added minor shading to the background to resemble the edges of the door.
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Then, when I started paint, I began with the background of the painting. Due to the lighting of the room, the door had more of a yellowish color to it. So I used a combination of yellow with different shades of black and white mixed into it in order to form the appropriate colors. The right side would contain the brighter colors in every spot except for the crevices of the door, which would be represented by a mixture of gray and yellow. After reaching the left side of my head, the wall would begin taking more of a darker tone, with an increased amount of gray added to the yellow paint. It became more difficult to show the shape of the door in the gray paint.
After the background was complete, I began working on the design for myself. I began with the shirt, as I knew that developing an accurate skin tone would likely pose as a challenge. So I created the paint for the majority of the shirt using a the blue paint provided as well as mixing in some purple made separately using red and the blue. This was due to the fact that the shirt seemingly had a purplish tone, possibly due to the lighting of the photo. After the general color of the shirt was complete, I added some strokes of darker color in order to resemble the folds in the shirt. Then I moved onto the skin color. The skin color was immensely difficult to make and took nearly up to an hour due to how difficult it was to make, and the fact that I did not have enough at once. Eventually, after settling on a color and using it for the face and arms, I finished by coloring the hair, shaping it a minimal amount, and added my eyes, glasses, and remaining facial features.
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Reflection
For this project, creating the proper skin tone was by far the most difficult thing for me in this project. Using a variety of red, yellow, and blue as well as black and white to change the shade of color, it was hard to mix the three main colors together to get an optimal skin tone without there being too much red or too much blue present. Yellow did not seem to have this issue, however it was easily overcome by the other two colors. After experimenting with a different shade of red, it became possible to mix them into a decent skin tone. I still think that it could of been blended more accurately, but it was enough for the theme.
If I were to perform this project again, I would probably have to experiment with multiple brands of color, similar to how I had to do in this project. Having more flexible base paints to work with can help shorten the amount of time and effort needed to blend into the necessary colors. As for how to implement my theme into the artwork stronger, I probably might have tried a style similar to Kai Samuels-Davis, but instead actively separating the portrait into geometric shapes. Further strengthening the theme of my art by resembling a more abstract approach.
If I were to perform this project again, I would probably have to experiment with multiple brands of color, similar to how I had to do in this project. Having more flexible base paints to work with can help shorten the amount of time and effort needed to blend into the necessary colors. As for how to implement my theme into the artwork stronger, I probably might have tried a style similar to Kai Samuels-Davis, but instead actively separating the portrait into geometric shapes. Further strengthening the theme of my art by resembling a more abstract approach.
Compare and Contrast
Compare
- Both artworks are distinguishable people, they are different, but not enough to separate the artwork from the subject.
- Both are significantly reliant on decent strokes in order to form their subjects. It's not constructed through pointillism or extremely small strokes.
- There is a significant difference between the background and the person themselves.
Contrast
- My work has less of a focus on blending, a lot of colors are relatively the same throughout the piece.
- There is no visible object behind the person in Kai's work. My work features the door which resembles a portion of my theme.
- My work is intentionally two dimensional. Kai's work has a more fluid and in depth design.
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- Both artworks are distinguishable people, they are different, but not enough to separate the artwork from the subject.
- Both are significantly reliant on decent strokes in order to form their subjects. It's not constructed through pointillism or extremely small strokes.
- There is a significant difference between the background and the person themselves.
Contrast
- My work has less of a focus on blending, a lot of colors are relatively the same throughout the piece.
- There is no visible object behind the person in Kai's work. My work features the door which resembles a portion of my theme.
- My work is intentionally two dimensional. Kai's work has a more fluid and in depth design.
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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.
Because of the design choice of this work, I had created something that was relatively inaccurate yet memorable. You can tell that it's me, but its clearly lacking in detail such as skin color, the messy shape of hair, and even some details on the shirt itself.
2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Most of Kai's work seems to stem on a similar theme to mine. His work often works in abstract distortions of people, and often regards them as forgotten or ancient. His unique style represents things that could have been misinterpreted, as we do not know them.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
As I browsed through my inspirations work, I recalled that many things that we understand today are simply summarizations or estimates of what really happened. While they're not necessarily wrong, many of the things we know cannot be summarized or explained perfectly in every ounce of detail.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My theme wanted to revolve around the distortion of human perception against the reality of what something really is. Whether the misunderstanding is visual or conceptual, we can never really understand something perfectly.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
While reading through my inspiration, I made the inference to design the self portrait like this in order to resemble the narrow way of thinking that some people may have. In a way, a person can seem 2-D until you get to know them more, and then they slowly begin to form a clear imprint on your memory.
Because of the design choice of this work, I had created something that was relatively inaccurate yet memorable. You can tell that it's me, but its clearly lacking in detail such as skin color, the messy shape of hair, and even some details on the shirt itself.
2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Most of Kai's work seems to stem on a similar theme to mine. His work often works in abstract distortions of people, and often regards them as forgotten or ancient. His unique style represents things that could have been misinterpreted, as we do not know them.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
As I browsed through my inspirations work, I recalled that many things that we understand today are simply summarizations or estimates of what really happened. While they're not necessarily wrong, many of the things we know cannot be summarized or explained perfectly in every ounce of detail.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My theme wanted to revolve around the distortion of human perception against the reality of what something really is. Whether the misunderstanding is visual or conceptual, we can never really understand something perfectly.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
While reading through my inspiration, I made the inference to design the self portrait like this in order to resemble the narrow way of thinking that some people may have. In a way, a person can seem 2-D until you get to know them more, and then they slowly begin to form a clear imprint on your memory.
Bibliography
*, N. (2013, March 22). Kai-Samuels-Davis-5. Retrieved April 30, 2021, from https://luckypony.co.za/kai-samuels-davis/kai-samuels-davis-5/