midnight stroll.
Size: 24.15cm x 38cm
Medium: Acrylic on paper Date: 11/3/17 Based on a painting by the famous impressionist painter Monet, this work conveys a creepy scene of a somewhat supernatural motherly figure and a ghastly young skeleton boy. The color and composition play a great role in the mood the painting gives off. These techniques are all directly inspired form the original work of woman with a parasol by Monet. |
Artistic Inspiration
The inspiration for this piece was the famous impressionist painter Monet. Known for creating beautiful forms based in nature with long or short blocks of color (using a lack of blending to keep the the marks separate, but only to a certain extent), Monet used color to influence the depiction/mood of a scene. Line wasn't a pretty or finite thing in the paintings; many figures were more defined by the way they moved and the way the marks cultivated around them. There was a definite focus on nature overall, but the figures that were used tended to be form-focused and less on normal points of importance such as details of facial features. This leaves the painting to be more focused on color, movement, light, etc., in the way that it changes the painting. This work was specifically based off of Woman With a Parasol, an oil painting down in 1875 meant to catch the brevity of a stall on a short stroll. The main inspirations from this painting was the composition influencing the image, the technique in the creation in the nature and portrayal of the characters, etc. Other parts, like the color, focus or meaning overall was changed on purpose to somewhat mirror that of the original in opposition.
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Monet. Woman with a Parasol. 1875. Oil on Canvas. National Gallery of Night, Washington D.C.
Monet, Landscape with Figures, Giverny. 1888.
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Planning
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the planning process tried to include multiple aspects of nature and people into the painting. At the same time, my own themes needed to be considered. To create an obvious connect to Monet, a painting was chocen to show off all of the most prevelant aspects of his paintings; nature, figures, light, and color. Immediately things like color and light were manipulated to mirror that of Monet but in an opposite way, and details of the figures including time and narratuve were changed. Other things that were originally included were things like the graveyard aspect, taken out eventually for lack of meaning or use. Killer not filler.
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Process
The painting started off with sketching out the figures on the page. To do this the original painting was sketched and then changed to match other references like the type of dress, parasol, hat, etc. I started with the woman's figure, painting in the coat with minimal highlights and shadows to imply form and using a dry brush to blend the black lace into the grey. Moving down, the dress was done using highlights and shadows to separate parts of the clothing and show some movement and/or ripple in the fabric. After black was brought down from the coat and a dry brush was used to create lace.
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A saturated green was put at the feet, all over and rising up. A darker shade was scattered in shaded spots and marks of lighter green and or yellow was scattered all across to diversify the color mix. The marks were long ion the dress and short in the grass, all being somewhat close together in a methodological sort of way. After the basics of the nature and figure were done the background was laid down, in a mostly solid color. Next, using a dry brush and white, clouds were put in. These were made bigger downwards to seem closer and smaller to seem further away as they neared the lightsource, not seen. Then more detail was done to the figures and the grass below. The grass was the hardest, being somewhat messy in a methodological sort of way. once this was done the clouds were also touched up and covered in a slight blue wash so they would blend in more and fit intot he background. Finally, dots of yellow were added to the grass and rose up through the painting around the figures and into the sky to imitate fireflies. Larger dots were closer and smaller were in the distance. These also tried to convey small bits of movement. Also, a blue wash was put over the woman's face to imitate a light veil.
Experimentation
There were a few processes that were cause for experimentation during this piece: first of all, the presence of lace in the coat. To do this a technique similar to that of which is used for clouds was applied. The case layer is applied, in this example grey, and then the black started up where it is solid and a stiff brush is used to disperse the balck going down through the grey, so that it thins out over it. Another part of experimentation was the veil: after contouring the features it seemed to human to color in skin color, so instead a light blue wash was applied that shadowed the features in a veil-like way. Lastly the fireflies, which showed experimentation in their placement/creation of slight movement as well as depth in size.
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Reflection
Overall: I don't like this piece. The medium was lazy and strayed too far from the traditional canvas work of Monet, the details were underdeveloped, the color was off and needed more work, the meaning was VERY lackluster, etc. Going back I wouldn't have even done a painting at all. Overall the connections to Monet are more on the surface than anything. There seems to be very little in-depth thought into the meaning of Monet's usage of things like nature and light. It seems like a piece without much thought, especially in how it takes direct inspiration by basically amking a parody piece but not explaining why. Event he replication is poor: there are parts of this piece that are simply unfinished. The colors are too blended in some areas an not in others, the technique hardly replicates that of Monet, and there are parts included that add little to nothing to the piece, such as the fireflies. What even was that?
ACT Questions
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
With the obvious connection between my work and Monet's, it's easy to identify the cause-effect relationships between color, light, form etc on my own work.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
to present historical context into a famous artist and to explain the common choices of the work. Somewhat exploring what mkaes them special in regards to the beginning of the impresionism movement.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
There was very little to be discovered during the research for htis piece. Much of the knowledge was based around the formal qualities and the creation of things like mood through them.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
To investigate the famous impressionist painter Monet, the formal qualities common in his work, and the themes/meanings common in his work as well.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Painting is hard. I also have so many questions about this section of our website and what it means to us. IF it conencts to the ACT why do we do it? Most of us are done with that. Is it requiredf rom IB? Why?
With the obvious connection between my work and Monet's, it's easy to identify the cause-effect relationships between color, light, form etc on my own work.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
to present historical context into a famous artist and to explain the common choices of the work. Somewhat exploring what mkaes them special in regards to the beginning of the impresionism movement.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
There was very little to be discovered during the research for htis piece. Much of the knowledge was based around the formal qualities and the creation of things like mood through them.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
To investigate the famous impressionist painter Monet, the formal qualities common in his work, and the themes/meanings common in his work as well.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Painting is hard. I also have so many questions about this section of our website and what it means to us. IF it conencts to the ACT why do we do it? Most of us are done with that. Is it requiredf rom IB? Why?
Bibliography
Baillio, joseph et al. Claude Monet. Paris, Galeries nationales, Grand Palais, 22 September 2010. Print.
Brettell, Richard. Post-Impressionists. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago and New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1987, p. 111-12.
Brettell, Richard. Post-Impressionists. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago and New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1987, p. 111-12.