TRYPTIC
El amor es más fuerte
(Love is stronger)
Acrylic paint on canvas
Three (3) 1ft x 2ft canvases
January-February 2017
Three (3) 1ft x 2ft canvases
January-February 2017
Exhibition Text
El amor es más fuerte is a triptych series representing who I am and how my environment affects me, It represents my current relationship status and state of unknowing for the future. At first glance it resembles Roy Litchtensteins Thinking of him, 1963 and the pop art era as a whole. My main inspirations come from fashion illustrators, Jessica Singh and George Barbier. Both artists use different illustration techniques and they are both shown well in my piece.
El amor es más fuerte is a triptych series representing who I am and how my environment affects me, It represents my current relationship status and state of unknowing for the future. At first glance it resembles Roy Litchtensteins Thinking of him, 1963 and the pop art era as a whole. My main inspirations come from fashion illustrators, Jessica Singh and George Barbier. Both artists use different illustration techniques and they are both shown well in my piece.
ARTIST INSPIRATION
Jessica Singh
Jessica Singh is a Berlin based illustrator who is originally from Perth, Western Australia. Singh was born to American mother and an Indian father. In Singh's work there is a clear heavy influence by her heritage, particularly in color, pattern and folk art. She is a graduate of the illustration program, BA Graphic Design, at Central St Martins College of Art and Design in London. Jessica is represented worldwide by her agency Illustration ltd.
George Barbier
I was inspired by the work of George Barbier, a French Illustrator from the 1920s, and elements of paintings by Piotr Stachiewicz, a Polish painter from the late 19th century. .His stylised, precisely-illustrated fashion vignettes seem to effortlessly capture and define the atmosphere of the 1920s and are so evocative of that by-gone era and a certain type of upper-class lifestyle.Barbier was also a skilled journalist, writing stories and society news for a variety of magazines under various pen-names.
PROCESS
Planning sketches
My idea for the second and third panel were to paint me and my boyfriend at the time. The middle panel is supposed to represent life seperating us. My plan was to personify life and give it a human figure physically tearing us apart.
Gesso
I applied gesso over the whole surface because it dries hard, making the surface more stiff. The gesso is used to prepare or prime the canvas making the surface ready to accept the acrylic paint. However, in this case it was more so used to cover up the painting already there. I applied four (4) layers of gesso to insure a smooth and opaque surface.
Painting Background
I think of the background as somehow being a separate part of the painting, therefor there is a good chance it will look like it is separate. When I do portraits or still lifes, the background should be painted first. This will allow you to make color relationship decisions, and to create soft and hard edges while you are painting the subject. In my opinion, if you wait until the end, it is very difficult to not create a halo effect around your subject. To avoid the halo effect, some background paint should be behind (or under) the paint that describes your subject (in this case the portraits are the subject).
(The images above are the process in which I I mixed the paint and applied the paint onto the canvas)
Transferring Sketch
After the background dried I projected my sketch using a projector. I then used a black colored pencil. I decided to use colored pencil because the graphite is more prone to smudge.
Raw Umber wash
I chose raw umber because raw umber is great on human skin and animal skin. The wash its self is for me to not smudge the sketch. My paintings took a big step forward when I started doing underpaintings. My underpainting is usually monochromatic, but without any specific "formulas. I usually just water down burnt umber, raw or burnt sienna. You could use grays using just black and white. The idea is to work out the composition and the values without having to worry about making color decisions.
Painting
The painting part of this art piece was the most challenging. The biggest struggle when it comes to painting is mixing to get the right colors. Another huge issue is being able to estimate the correct amount of paint in order to cover the entire canvas.
The painting part of the art piece was the most challenging.. I planned on painting the background first and early on Also creating a vibrant hue that would catch the attention of the viewer. The first step I had to take was to paint the background, since it did it cover the entire canvas. One of the other challenges I had was creating the skin tone. My skin is very neutral and a little on the yellow side. I wanted the piece to look like pop art and more like Jessica Sign, so I did not include shadows and highlights.
The painting part of the art piece was the most challenging.. I planned on painting the background first and early on Also creating a vibrant hue that would catch the attention of the viewer. The first step I had to take was to paint the background, since it did it cover the entire canvas. One of the other challenges I had was creating the skin tone. My skin is very neutral and a little on the yellow side. I wanted the piece to look like pop art and more like Jessica Sign, so I did not include shadows and highlights.
EXPERIMENTATION
For the experimentation aspect of my Process Portfolio, I was experimenting with the paint mixtures.
REFLECTION
Throughout the whole process of my Tryptic painting, I faced a lot of challenges. However, overall I am very pleased with the outcome of this piece. The first and last panel are my favorite. I really love the bright colors and almost pop art esque feel to the piece. It is simple yet eye catching. I believe I did a good job focusing on my overall goal. My goal is for people to be surprised and amazed by my work. Unlike my self portrait, I wanted the meaning to be deep and the images painted a little more simple. I think that my reference to pop art is definitely there. The vibrant colors just pop out. It is not the usual pop art you see on a regular basis, but people are able to identify the pop art movement I also think that the idea of surrealism pretty easy to see after going in depth. During the process I thought that I would have struggled with using acrylics again but in reality I found it very easy. (I only thought I would struggle because I had gotten so used to oil painting.) There were definitely pros and cons to the paint taking less time to dry. It gets frustrating having to paint a sections and having the section dry before you can even get back to it. I had a lot of trouble with the painting process, color that didn't apply well with the canvas. As I mixed my colors, it was really hard for me to predict the amount of color I would need, and I ended up not having enough, which changed the colors throughout. Yet overall I am satisfied with my final outcome, there is obvious things I could've done for it to look better, and if I had the opportunity to do it over again, I would definitely do it.
ACT questions
1.) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your work.
When I compare my piece with my artistic inspiration, there is a visual connection between the pieces. As explained in the my artistic inspiration section, I talked about how I applied the techniques and tone that the artist used for her work. The effect of the lines and how they help create that serious and dramatic look to the art piece.
2.) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author of the article on George Barbier is a staunch admirer that appreciates all the effort Barbier put into not just his illustrations, but his writings, reviews, and commentaries on issues at the time.
3.) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspirations?
George Barbier's illustrations featured many sapphic women and is an example of
4.) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my research was change, as the prompt related to how your environment affects you and how you affect your environment. My middle canvas directly relates to this prompt because it shows how life will break ¨love¨ will always find a way to be strong
5.) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your
research?
I was able to infer that Barbier's work was groundbreaking, as it featured many sapphic women, an unprecedented act at the time. I wanted that idea of revolution to be apparent in my work. My painting is a depiction of Trumps wrong doing.
When I compare my piece with my artistic inspiration, there is a visual connection between the pieces. As explained in the my artistic inspiration section, I talked about how I applied the techniques and tone that the artist used for her work. The effect of the lines and how they help create that serious and dramatic look to the art piece.
2.) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author of the article on George Barbier is a staunch admirer that appreciates all the effort Barbier put into not just his illustrations, but his writings, reviews, and commentaries on issues at the time.
3.) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspirations?
George Barbier's illustrations featured many sapphic women and is an example of
4.) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my research was change, as the prompt related to how your environment affects you and how you affect your environment. My middle canvas directly relates to this prompt because it shows how life will break ¨love¨ will always find a way to be strong
5.) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your
research?
I was able to infer that Barbier's work was groundbreaking, as it featured many sapphic women, an unprecedented act at the time. I wanted that idea of revolution to be apparent in my work. My painting is a depiction of Trumps wrong doing.