Triptych
Dreaming
Three 30 x 61 cm canvases
Acrylic paint on canvas
November-December, 2019
Acrylic paint on canvas
November-December, 2019
Exhibition Text
This piece is a series of paintings that represents who I am, how my environment affects me, and how I affect my environment. It's a surrealist take on the subject matter inspired by Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte. It is supposed to show a dream scape, which is why its a bit nonsensical and strange.
Planning
Inspiration Dali and Magritte were both Surrealists who liked to challenge people's preconceived notions and ideas about art. They welcomed strange ideas and their art is reminiscent of a dreamscape. I want to incorporate this in my art by making the world I create a bit confusing. I can distort things to further this feeling. Surrealism has always been one of my favorite art movements, so I'm excited to create my own painting in this style. |
Planning Sketches
My first sketch was mostly me getting a sense for the different components I wanted to include in the piece. It's fairly simple. The left-most part symbolizes how my environment affects me. The keyhole in the gate is everything about me that is "locked" away. The middle part is who I am, the sky is the vastness that resides in a person and I just really enjoy the look of it. It draws inspiration from "The Happy Donor." The right-most doesn't have a lot going on. Overall, it lacked the meaning I wanted and so I moved on.
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In my second sketch, I started to work more on the background and how it adds meaning to the entire piece. Since I was inspired by surrealist artists, I wanted everything to be a bit nonsensical and confusing. This is why the melted locks and tree appear to be floating on water. The tree is who I am because trees symbolize growth and the spirit. It's my foundation. The melted locks draw inspiration from "The Persistence of Memory." They symbolize the memories that my environment gives me that are locked away in my subconscious. The faces are ones found in many of Dali's works and are supposed to be a bit grotesque and strange.
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My final sketch has components from both of my inspiration pieces and felt the most complete to me. The tree in the center has a human-like shape to it. In a sense, it is me and who I am. The sap coming out of the branches symbolizes the parts of me that I show to those around me and how they affect my environment. The tree's branches are a bit distorted and curved in a strange way that draws inspiration from Surrealism. It gives the tree a weird feeling that I like. There are locks on the leftmost side that are inspired by Dali's "Persistence of Memory." Like his clocks that are melted and droopy, so are the locks that symbolize how my environment affects me. The locks are like the memories and experiences I have gathered throughout my life that will always be a part of me. They are a result of my environment and the people around me. On the right-most canvas, there is a field of "face flowers." These are inspired by Dali's distorted humanoid faces. He used them many times throughout his art career, The faces are growing like plants, with stems and leaves. They symbolize how I affect my environment. They're growing from the sap that is dripping from the tree that represents me. The clouds are inspired by "The Happy Donor." They provide a window into another time and place, perhaps to symbolize the passage of time. The house in the right-most canvas is my childhood home, It holds a special meaning to me and has many memories.
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Process
My first step was to stretch the canvases over wooden frames. I made three 2 x 1 ft canvases. I used a staple gun to staple the canvases to the wood. I ensured that the canvas was tight enough so that it was easy to paint on. Next, I gessoed the all three canvases. I put two layers so that it wasn't too thin but not too thick either. A few days later, when that had dried, I painted by background. It's fairly simple, but achieves the look I was going for. After that I transferred my sketch to the canvases and painted them. Overall, I'm satisfied with the outcome. The most difficult part was transferring the sketches onto the canvas while keeping them proportional. I simply worked slowly, but next time I will perhaps use a grid method. I also found the blending a bit hard, but I have some experience from my sophomore art class. I also watched some tutorials online.
My first step in painting was making a line for the horizon. I made the sky a bit bigger than he water. For the background, I blended blue into white and white into yellow. I used two brushes so I wouldn't have to waste time cleaning the brushes before doing more blending. Then I jumped right into painting the water. I mixed different amounts of white into the blue in different sections to make the water look a not as flat, but if I ever do water again I might try a more complex technique to really get a believable water texture. For the tree, I mixed blue, red, and black to get a dark purple color. I mixed the same amount of red and blue with more black to get the highlights in the tree. The clouds were black mixed with a bit of blue. The stars were yellow mixed with white. They were small but they have a shape, so I had to be very precise when I painted them. For the melted locks, I used the purple from the tree and blended it into a gold color, but the gold dried to look a bit more orange than I had anticipated. For the distorted faces, I mixed yellow, red, white, yellow, and blue to make a skin color then mixed that into more yellow. It had a tan color, which was what I wanted. The only thing I would change is perhaps the color of the tree. I feel like it looks a bit dark and would use a lighter color.
My first step in painting was making a line for the horizon. I made the sky a bit bigger than he water. For the background, I blended blue into white and white into yellow. I used two brushes so I wouldn't have to waste time cleaning the brushes before doing more blending. Then I jumped right into painting the water. I mixed different amounts of white into the blue in different sections to make the water look a not as flat, but if I ever do water again I might try a more complex technique to really get a believable water texture. For the tree, I mixed blue, red, and black to get a dark purple color. I mixed the same amount of red and blue with more black to get the highlights in the tree. The clouds were black mixed with a bit of blue. The stars were yellow mixed with white. They were small but they have a shape, so I had to be very precise when I painted them. For the melted locks, I used the purple from the tree and blended it into a gold color, but the gold dried to look a bit more orange than I had anticipated. For the distorted faces, I mixed yellow, red, white, yellow, and blue to make a skin color then mixed that into more yellow. It had a tan color, which was what I wanted. The only thing I would change is perhaps the color of the tree. I feel like it looks a bit dark and would use a lighter color.
Reflection
I feel that if I was given the chance to redo this piece, I would make each section a bit more separate. I painted them as if they were one big painting, and I feel like they don't work independently enough. I would probably not do a landscape. I also feel that my piece looks a bit empty. I can't shake the feeling that I could have incorporated more elements to further strengthen my meaning and the visual aspects. While composition isn't my strongest skill, I want to work on it and get better at effectively using space in my art.
One issue I had while painting was making textures on things. I wanted the piece to really pop, and the best way to do that is through multiple shades of color in one area, but I think some areas came out looking a little flat. I should research ways to create the illusion of distance because I feel like the water doesn't exactly look like it disappears into the horizon. I also want to improve at using lines to give movement to my piece.
I think my piece clearly emulated Dali's work, but the connection with Magritte's The Happy Donor isn't really there. I had planned to use it more, but I couldn't really find many places to incorporate it into my sketches. I want to improve at using all my inspirations more equally, both the meanings and the look of them.
One issue I had while painting was making textures on things. I wanted the piece to really pop, and the best way to do that is through multiple shades of color in one area, but I think some areas came out looking a little flat. I should research ways to create the illusion of distance because I feel like the water doesn't exactly look like it disappears into the horizon. I also want to improve at using lines to give movement to my piece.
I think my piece clearly emulated Dali's work, but the connection with Magritte's The Happy Donor isn't really there. I had planned to use it more, but I couldn't really find many places to incorporate it into my sketches. I want to improve at using all my inspirations more equally, both the meanings and the look of them.
Compare & ContrastSimilarities:
Differences:
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ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
The surrealist point of view is clearly inspired by Salvador Dali with the melting locks and abnormal faces, staples in many of his pieces.
What is the overall approach (POV) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author of the article for Dali seems awed and informative of the strange visuals in the work and incorporates sentences that give away how Dali felt when making it and why he did certain things.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Salvador Dali didn't shy away from his crazy size; he embraced it! This makes me feel as if I shouldn't push away ideas I have for future art works, no matter how crazy they may seem at first.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
I wanted to do surrealism, as it's one of my favorite art movements. Since it's commonly associated with dreams and the subconscious, I thought it fit perfectly with my theme of who we are at our most truthful: our dreams.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that Rene Magritte is not as well-known as I at first thought he was. It was actually rather hard finding reliable sources on his artwork, which was a surprise to me.
The surrealist point of view is clearly inspired by Salvador Dali with the melting locks and abnormal faces, staples in many of his pieces.
What is the overall approach (POV) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author of the article for Dali seems awed and informative of the strange visuals in the work and incorporates sentences that give away how Dali felt when making it and why he did certain things.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Salvador Dali didn't shy away from his crazy size; he embraced it! This makes me feel as if I shouldn't push away ideas I have for future art works, no matter how crazy they may seem at first.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
I wanted to do surrealism, as it's one of my favorite art movements. Since it's commonly associated with dreams and the subconscious, I thought it fit perfectly with my theme of who we are at our most truthful: our dreams.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that Rene Magritte is not as well-known as I at first thought he was. It was actually rather hard finding reliable sources on his artwork, which was a surprise to me.
Bibliography
Dalí, Salvador. “Salvador Dalí. The Persistence of Memory. 1931: MoMA.” The Museum of Modern Art,
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79018.
Kantrowitz, Jonathan. “René Magritte: The Fifth Season.” René Magritte: The Fifth Season, 1 Jan. 1970,
http://arthistorynewsreport.blogspot.com/2017/11/rene-magritte-fifth-season.html.
“Surrealism Movement Overview.” The Art Story, The Art Story Contributors, 21 Dec. 2011,
https://www.theartstory.org/movement/surrealism/.
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79018.
Kantrowitz, Jonathan. “René Magritte: The Fifth Season.” René Magritte: The Fifth Season, 1 Jan. 1970,
http://arthistorynewsreport.blogspot.com/2017/11/rene-magritte-fifth-season.html.
“Surrealism Movement Overview.” The Art Story, The Art Story Contributors, 21 Dec. 2011,
https://www.theartstory.org/movement/surrealism/.