Blossom
Exhibition Text:
|
Artistic Inspiration:
In Blossom my artistic inspiration was Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh and Nurse by Roy Lichtenstein. In Van Gogh´s piece there is a lot of movement in the back round in which I incorporated into my block print. I focused on the giant swirl which is above the girls head in my block print. In Lichtenstein´s piece I incorporated part of the style of the woman´s hair, eyebrows and also the details on her forehead into my piece.
Process:
Ideas: |
Planning: |
Developing Ideas:I gave myself three planning sketches to choose from. When first starting my actual piece I traced my final sketch that I liked the most onto my linoleum. From there I started to carve my piece.
|
Researching:I looked up some extra information on the basics of block printing and ways to achieve certain affects. Down below are the video that I watched.
|
Linoleum Carving Process:When I first started carving into my linoleum piece, I was focused on the sizes of my tools and what was going to work the best for me to create the effect that I wanted. I used several different sizes which depended on what part of my piece that I was working on. When doing this piece make sure not to go too deep into the linoleum because you will create a hole in your piece. You also want to make sure that you go deep enough, otherwise none of your carvings will show.
|
Block Printing Process:Before I started my block print I gather all my material that I needed to start. At first I struggled with having a even coat of ink on the brayer and making sure that I put enough ink onto my block print. First I laid out a large piece of paper and laid out my block print. Then I added my even coat on ink on my block print several times, making sure everything is covered. Then I carefully picked up my block print onto a new piece of large paper. Then I placed a piece of printmaking paper on top of my block print and use a barren to press the ink onto my paper. Then after doing that for a while covering all the surface area I gently removed the printmaking paper off of my block print and set it off to the side to dry. Then I repeated the process depending on how well my print turned out.
|
Meaning:The meaning of this piece is to show how she is by herself, and is independent in which I connected the girl to myself. The sunflowers are a symbol of positivity due to the being a large, bright flower. Sunflowers are a symbol of strength; they are tall and strong. Also they symbolize happiness due to them being such vibrant color of yellows and oranges. I named my piece Blossom because I am continuously growing, developing and changing, comparing myself to a sunflower. The sunflower represents how I am and chose to be a strong, positive and happy person. From my inspiration of Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh I added swirls to the background of my piece. There is a lot emphasis drawn to the swirl above the girl in which the swirls represents how I am a open minded person and can be quite mellow. The girl is a centered in the middle of my piece to show different symbols of how I think and what I surround myself with. I also put sunglasses onto the girl because I am protective and was taught to be always aware of what is around me.
Critique:
|
Reflection: When doing this project I learned about how neat and precise your craftsmanship has to be. I learned about how much detail and time it take to curve out each part and how you shouldn't get too detailed, otherwise it will become quite difficult to maintain high quality work. What I struggled with the most when doing my piece was when I was doing my flower pedals. I was having issues with creating nice clean curves. When carving make sure you carve away from yourself, because when doing my piece at home I jabbed my thumb. When carving your piece make sure to go slowly and to not go too deep or you'll cut through your linoleum. Next time I would want like to add more of a outline to my background and not carve as much out. If I were to ever do this medium again I would want to do more of a landscape drawing rather than a person. I think my design it good but for next time I think I would want more detail involved in the petals. When looking at my piece I believe that its calm and mellow, showing how the girl is by herself being in a positive environment. What I like about my piece is the swirls that were created and how much they stand out in the final print. I fell like I did pretty well at printing my piece, doing it several times to get the best results.
|
Connecting to the ACT:
1. Identify cause and effect relationships between your inspiration and your artwork.
In my piece I incorporated my Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night into the background by adding several swirls. I applied Van Gogh's piece to describe my characteristics.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
In Blossom the overall approach is how I see myself. This piece represents the ways on how I want to view my life and being a optimistic person, trying to maintain a positive outlook on life. This is shown by the girl being independent and surrounded in a positive environment.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
When doing my research I learn more about Vincent Van Gogh's piece and how many people look at him as this crazy and insane artist who suffered from mental health issues, in which his emotions inspired his artwork.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Overall the theme of this piece was focused on myself and how I choose to live in this certain way of being positive and optimistic. Also on how I am positive and can be very protective making sure I stay in a positive mindset and focus on my life goals.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The inferences I made while observing my research was on Van Gogh and learning how his health issues could have changed his ways of creating his work.
Citations:
By Submitting the above You Agree to The Art Story Privacy Policy. "Vincent Van Gogh Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works." The Art Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.
"Lichtenstein's Comic Book Nurse Fetches Record $95.4 Million." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.
"Nurse - A Quintessential Lichtensteinheroine." Roy Lichtenstein's Nurse. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.
"Lichtenstein's Comic Book Nurse Fetches Record $95.4 Million." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.
"Nurse - A Quintessential Lichtensteinheroine." Roy Lichtenstein's Nurse. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.