"Sunflower"
Exhibition Text:Samantha Loontjens
"Sunflower" 60.96 cm x 91.44 cm Acrylic paint December 1, 2017 Sunflower is a piece inspired by the works of Yellow on Blue by Leonid Afremov and a still life of a Vase with Twelve Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh. The meaning of this piece represents my grandma as she loves gardening and she continuously has me coming over to help her plant flowers. The use of sunflowers specifically connects me back to my grandma as a large portion of her garden contains sunflowers. |
Artistic Inspiration:
- The piece "Yellow on Blue" inspired me to create Sunflower due to Leonid Afremov style and technique with the background of his piece. He uses various of strokes of different shades of color to give texture to the piece in which I included into mine. With Vincent Van Gogh piece "Vase wih Twelve Sunflowers" I incorporated the style of vase, using the two differnt tones as well as the type of flower which is a Sunflower that I painted.
Process:
Planning Sketches:
- Below are planning sketches that I have created to plan out my ideas for this project. I chose the sketch where I could include the most detail using Leonid Afremov style of painting which is short brush stokes full of color. The fist sketch focuses on just the flowers, not having a vase and the texture of the background. The second sketch is quit simplistic and will focus on incorporating detail such as highlights and shadows. The third focuses on sunflowers on a tall canvas to emphasis the size of the flowers.
Experimentation:
Before starting my piece I experimented with the texture of the background and how I wanted to use multiple shades of color. I experimented with the blues as it was a main portion of my background on the upper halve as well as experimenting with yellows and reds for the bottom portion of my piece. I found that doing the darker color first and then going back over with the lighter shade allowed the colors to blend more without looking messy.
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Making Process: |
Reflection: |
To start this experiment I started with a light sketch in the canvas of a light outline of my flowers and vase, Then I took several shades on blue and applied on to the background of piece using a squared brush, having shorter strokes. After the background was finished I went onto the bottom of the piece, painting various shades of yellow, orange and reed. Then I started to paint the vase focusing on one solid color with hints of yellow to add some color. As for the flowers I used multiple shades of yellow and orange using a flat brush when applying the petals. Afterwards I included any detail by adding leaves and filling in the space between flower with blue paint, matching the background.
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When creating this piece I struggled at the flowers the most because the yellow paint that I used was too thin and wasn't thick enough to added enough texture to the flowers, Therefore if I were to do this project I would either buy modeling paste to mix into my paint that I already have or buy a thicker and more pigmented paint. I had to go over the flowers multiple times to make the flowers stand out more. What I thought turned out well with this project was my background as it represented my inspiration as well as included several variations of the same color that added more contrast to my piece. If I were to redo this project again I would want to include some more color into the blue section of my background such as purple and green, which I would then have a piece that includes a bunch of bright colors.
Critique:When creating my piece I was inspired by Yellow on Blue by Leonid Afremov and a still life of a Vase with Twelve Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh. I included the work of Leonid Afremov by the use of bright colors as well as the technique in creating the background. For the background I almost a cross hatching motion with my brush. My piece represents Van Gogh's work as I included the same vase style included to different shades of red compared to Van Gogh's vase, using two shades of yellow. I also painted twelve sunflowers like Van Gogh that all share different shades of the same color.
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Meaning:
This piece connect me to my grandma as she is passionate about gardening and has multiple of different flowers in her garden. Every year I go over to her house to help her plant and clean up her yard for planting her flowers. The reason why I chose to paint sunflowers was because they are the center piece of my grandma's garden. As soon as you walk into my grandmas backyard the first thing you notice is the sunflowers.
Connecting to ACT:
1. Identify cause and effect relationships between your inspiration and your artwork.
I was inspired by the works of Yellow on Blue by Leonid Afremov and a still life of a Vase with Twelve Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh as I used Leonid Afremov technique is my background and Vincent Van Gogh structure with the vase and flowers.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Van Gogh replicated a real life image of sunflowers while Afremov works on creating pieces with a mass amount of color.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
A generalization that I can conclude from my piece is that it symbolizes my grandma because she loves to garden and sunflowers are one of her main viewpoints when walking in her backyard.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme of my piece was to focus on my technique and imitate Leonid Afremov's style when he creates his work.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While doing my research I found out the technique hat Leonid Alfremov does himself while using the palette knife. To contain clean craftsman ship the palette knife must be clean between each stroke so there is a smooth line of color that is being applied to the canvas.
I was inspired by the works of Yellow on Blue by Leonid Afremov and a still life of a Vase with Twelve Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh as I used Leonid Afremov technique is my background and Vincent Van Gogh structure with the vase and flowers.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Van Gogh replicated a real life image of sunflowers while Afremov works on creating pieces with a mass amount of color.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
A generalization that I can conclude from my piece is that it symbolizes my grandma because she loves to garden and sunflowers are one of her main viewpoints when walking in her backyard.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme of my piece was to focus on my technique and imitate Leonid Afremov's style when he creates his work.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While doing my research I found out the technique hat Leonid Alfremov does himself while using the palette knife. To contain clean craftsman ship the palette knife must be clean between each stroke so there is a smooth line of color that is being applied to the canvas.
Citations:
https://afremov.com/YELLOW-ON-BLUE-Palette-knife-Oil-Painting-on-Canvas-by-Leonid-Afremov-Size-30-x24.html