Oil PaintingExhibition Text:
"held on" illustrates my interpretation of the theme Perceptions of Identity, in which it communicates how individuals tend to not have true insight beyond what's presented. This piece was created by using oil paints on a canvas with a projected image, and is inspired by Johannes Vermeer with their distinct brushstrokes, and Rene Magritte's interest on bringing forth the audience curiosity on what is unknown. The Oil Painting makes it apparent the aspect's of one's identity aren't true representations. Text: held on
Size: 60.96 x 60.96cm Medium: Oil Painting Completion: December 2022 (Revisions - April 2023) |
Inspiration
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer
The technique that Johannes Vermeer employed in "Girl with a Pearl Earring" after microscopic analytical procedures revealed that the canvas was primed with a light gray ground, fine black outlines, and underlayers, which all contribute to a life-like painting and distinct colors in different regions. This was one of the first things I noticed when I saw this Baroque Painting, and I believe replicating or at the very least taking inspiration from Vermeer's process of creating his artwork would be helpful in building up these layers that create the three-dimensional space. It's also worth mentioning how the artwork uses a shallow background to bring emphasis solely on the subject and the use of lighting to portray different surfaces. The unique intent that "Girl with a Pearl Earring" has with differentiating itself from using more lines to create form but instead illumination highlights the soft modeling.
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Not to Be Reproduced by Rene Magritte
For my artwork I knew from the start that my interpretation of Perception of Identity had to work off of what the viewer couldn't see, or in a sense what is unknown to them. Rene Magritte was an artist that I previously used as a foundation for my digital collage, and I believe that the similar idea with his "Not to Be Reproduced" artwork can have a strong impact. The artist emphasized the subject of the painting lacking a reflection, instead illustrating the person again with their back against the viewer. It's a choice that is highlighted in a simple setting, making it the center of attention of what the viewer interprets is not being reflected. With the purpose of the artwork in mind, I would gather a similar perspective of making a subject simplified and lacking the full story will allow the audience to have their own input on the theme of Perception of Identity that set the foundation of my oil painting.
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Planning
To start off with what I wanted to do for my artwork, I knew that writing down the key components that my inspirations used can be helpful to draw out some important ideas that can be incorporated in my theme. I wanted to take the topic of Perceptions of Identity and evoke the viewer to have their perspective upon how individuals tend to not showcase a true insight of what's presented. In order to show this, I took characteristics of two major art movements, Baroque and Surrealism, and planned to incorporate them in my oil painting. More specifically connecting to my interpretation of the theme, Vermeer's work will allow my imagery to be easier to comprehend and showcase soft modelling/texture throughout the canvas, and Magritte's work of contrasting what is and isn't presented will translated well with the theming.
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Moving over to the subject of this painting, I decided that I wanted to take a image from my phone gallery of two hands jointed together, and incorporate a solid/simplified color background to give more emphasis on the foreground. Showcasing two people fist bumping is meant to connect back to the theme by, at first glance, associate a connection between two subjects that is persistent, but lack of identifiable traits makes finding the true representation of each person uncertain to the viewer. Having much more freedom with choosing the canvas size, I went with 2ft by 2ft (60.96 cm by 60.96 cm) as a square composition to best make my subjects the center of attention.
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Lastly, the painting medium also played a factor on how I wanted to plan my painting (which details about quality will be talked about in experimentation), but I could either approach this artwork with acrylic or oil paints. Acrylics is a field of art that I've familiarize myself with and provides the advantage of being easy to transport when I was going to be constantly moving work spaces for the process. However, I decided to go along with oil paints despite being unfamiliar with them since it's the type of paint that my inspirations used their artworks, and I foresaw having to have more freedom on blending for the similar steps I would follow from the "Girl with a Pearl Earring" painting I analyzed previously.
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Process
Moving into the process, the first revolved around the technique I wanted to use for transferring my image onto my canvas. The grid method was one recommended and is one I've experienced using when having to transfer pop art images, however I was able to pick up a small and compact projector that I could connect to my personal computer and project my image that way. Once I spent a couple of minutes grabbing folders and a coaster to find the angle that I needed the projector to be at to hit the canvas where I wanted it to, I began tracing the outlines of the hands and bracelet.
When it came to tracing, it was easy and more accurate to follow the shapes of the subjects with the projected image, but it's not as straight forward when it came to the different values seen through skins tones. I decided to use fine black outlines when it came to perimeters I was certain of, and approximated where I needed to transition and blend colors with more opaque lines.
Going into painting now, one of the experimentation aspects I'll briefly mention here is how I incorporate a light gray ground into the artwork, in which I used a higher quality and more vibrant oil paint set to create an arch on top of the canvas where it would mainly be open spaced. After waiting a couple of days for the paint to dry, I switched back to my less vibrant oil paints (which will be used for the rest of the process) and began layering Vermillion on top, which carried over the monochrome arch that darken the color above it.
For the background of the artwork, while it did mainly consist of Vermillion, I added small hints of Mars Black as I was blending in order to give slight differentials for the open space of the canvas. As I began moving closer towards the subjects/hands, I wanted to try out my idea of transitioning the Vermillion into a Titanium White that would surround the bold outline I marked earlier. This was a great introduction in keeping a consistent blend through a long stretch of the canvas, and getting used to developing the transition until I had a result that was smoother but still apparent. The bracelet follows a very similar approach, where the majority of the structure had a Mars Black layering over it, with the bottom and more connected portion simplified by the opaque outlines and subtle blending.
Ultimately, the skin tones heavily relied on utilizing underlayers to give the three dimensional feel and distinct color regions. In order to accomplish this, I first created a base skin tone for both hands that were geared towards areas that contained that coloring the most. Once I was contemptuous with the oil paints I mixed together, I would then add small amounts of other hues to the areas I outlined as transition zones. I would then apply and paint over all the zones with their dedicated color and wait for the paint to dry for a bit. Then I would start applying another layer of the base tone throughout the hand and alterations of the color when needed until there were enough layers that created the smooth modeling and blending I was looking for. This allows details such as on the left hand having a more noticeable dark area and blending, especially above the wrists, due to the previous layers building upon one another. After much patience in doing this technique, I had finished the last component of "Held On".
It's worth mentioning that as you can see in the process, three characteristics were underlined: This is meant to highlight the three major components that were analyzed in the Inspiration section for "Girl with a Pearl Earring" on how Vermeer created his Baroque painting. It was a procedure that I tried to carry along with me as I worked on my oil painting, but I kept in mind the Surrealist inspiration I had as well, making sure that viewer input was emphasized and that I was staying in that mindset. In light of this, the attributes and techniques I wanted to apply set a form that helped me develop skills in a painting field that opposed what I was used to with acrylic paints to ensure my original perspective was preserved.
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Experimentation
As mentioned previously in Planning, the value of oil paints can have a significant effect on the vibrancy and coverage capacity, as higher quality oil paints will have more pure pigment instead of fillers that are added for lower quality oil paints that make the color weaker. The Utrecht Studio brand was one of these high quality oil paints that was available, however looking at my inspiration and the direction that I wanted to go with my piece, I believed that less vivid coloring would better suit. Along with me not being accustomed to using oil paints, I would often experiment blending on a paper plate to both get an understanding of more free layering and knowing how I wanted color values to transition to one another. This form of trial and error for me carried over when developing the correct skin tones that I wanted for the hands, as I would interpret how to replicate blends I created, and test out variants of the base tone that would layer upon each other for a more in-depth texturing.
That is not to say that the Utrecht Paints were not incorporated in the artwork, as after I had finished tracing my image, I knew that I had a period of time where I would be away from my artwork for enough time that any oil paints that I applied to the canvas would have dried by the time I returned. Knowing this, and keeping in mind that Vermeer's work revolved around several layers of paints being used, I thought that I could create a monochrome arch at the top of my painting, and see if this subtle detail would carry over after it dried and I painted it over with lower quality paints. Sufficient to say, this underlayer carried over in the artwork that complimented the more noticeable highlighting around the subjects.
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Critique
Similarities
- Emphasis on subject: Simplified background and set pieces bring more prominence to the subjects seen in all three artworks.
- Development Steps (Right): "Held On" analyzes and takes aspects of the painting process that was used for the development of "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and applies them to my process to achieve a similar three-dimensional and smooth texturing.
- Subjects lack true representation (Left): Subjects have features displayed to the audience minimized what they can see and question what is unknown to them.
Differences
- Visual construction: Both inspirations showcase the subject from the torso up, with clothing and facial features being apparent, but in "Held On", the construction is minimized to only show the hands and a singular bracelet.
- Texturing (Right): "Girl with a Pearl Earring" utilizes lighting to differentiate clothing and skin to emphasize the difference in textures, whilst my artwork keeps a consistent smooth texture throughout the canvas.
- Subject arrangement (Left): In "Not to be Reproduced", the subject being reflected is arranged to be present in the foreground and background of the artwork, however "Held On" keeps the two subjects reflected solely in the foreground.
- Emphasis on subject: Simplified background and set pieces bring more prominence to the subjects seen in all three artworks.
- Development Steps (Right): "Held On" analyzes and takes aspects of the painting process that was used for the development of "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and applies them to my process to achieve a similar three-dimensional and smooth texturing.
- Subjects lack true representation (Left): Subjects have features displayed to the audience minimized what they can see and question what is unknown to them.
Differences
- Visual construction: Both inspirations showcase the subject from the torso up, with clothing and facial features being apparent, but in "Held On", the construction is minimized to only show the hands and a singular bracelet.
- Texturing (Right): "Girl with a Pearl Earring" utilizes lighting to differentiate clothing and skin to emphasize the difference in textures, whilst my artwork keeps a consistent smooth texture throughout the canvas.
- Subject arrangement (Left): In "Not to be Reproduced", the subject being reflected is arranged to be present in the foreground and background of the artwork, however "Held On" keeps the two subjects reflected solely in the foreground.
Reflections
Analyzing "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and understanding the context behind "Not to be Reproduced" were fundamental to developing the techniques and mindset I was looking for in my artwork. More specifically, Vermeer's manipulation of lighting that highlighted texturing in the Baroque era, and Magritte's intent to have viewer input based around what is being presented to them and withheld in the contrasting Surrealist era, which transitioned me into a new art movement that I hadn't explored in my previous works. The biggest challenge presented itself in the form of being patient in the process of adding layers of paint in order to achieve the same results as Vermeer's, more specifically in the skins tones to have that realistic but smooth effect. As mentioned before, Rene Magritte was a artist I used in my Digital Collage as inspiration, and the concepts of Surrealism was the familiar mindset I wanted to take in for my oil painting, but while taking principles and techniques of the Baroque movement to best connect to the theme Perceptions of Identity through my interpretation.
My favorite part of doing an oil painting was that it was an art medium that I hadn't fully explored in the past, much less in an entire artwork. It was an experience that made me for familiar with how oil painting allowed more free blending, which was great for the multiple layers of paint I needed to use to get the same aesthetic as "Girl with a Pearl Earring". Additionally, my least favorite was the double-edged sword that oil paints have for being free blending and taking a long time to dry, which is that they're difficult to transport right after they're worked on, limiting my ability to work on my artwork in different, more convenient locations. I hope that the painting process that was derived from Johannes Vermeer and the Rene Magritte perspective of promoting viewer input carries over to how my audience observes "Held On".
My favorite part of doing an oil painting was that it was an art medium that I hadn't fully explored in the past, much less in an entire artwork. It was an experience that made me for familiar with how oil painting allowed more free blending, which was great for the multiple layers of paint I needed to use to get the same aesthetic as "Girl with a Pearl Earring". Additionally, my least favorite was the double-edged sword that oil paints have for being free blending and taking a long time to dry, which is that they're difficult to transport right after they're worked on, limiting my ability to work on my artwork in different, more convenient locations. I hope that the painting process that was derived from Johannes Vermeer and the Rene Magritte perspective of promoting viewer input carries over to how my audience observes "Held On".
Connecting to ACT
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
The techniques that were uncovered behind Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" set a clear pathway on the methods I needed to apply in my artwork in order to achieve a similar effect on a three-dimensional subject and layered colors to simulate a smooth texture. "Not to be Reproduced" exemplified the mindset and interaction of what is unknown to the audience that was carried throughout the development on "Held On".
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Johannes Vermeer incorporated primed light gray grounds, fine black outlines, and under layers as his three major components to best illustrate his emphasis of soft modelling, distinct color regions, and life-like subject. Furthermore, Rene Magritte prioritizes his subject and manipulates an ordinary object to demonstrate what is and isn't being shown of one's identity/expression.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Calling attention to the Baroque movement inspiration, it emphasized dramatic and easier to interpret scenes with human figures through rich use of color, allowing the people/subjects to best convey drama and emotions.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Working around my interpretation of Perception of Identity, I believed that it would beneficial if I took the mindset I had carried with my digital collage and Surrealism, in which I focused on the information presented to the audience, while having a inspiration from a unexplored art medium to better understand how to use oil paints, which brought me towards the two artists I used to set the foundation of my artwork.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The lighting that is set upon a subject can have highlight and create form and texturing that sets itself apart from using lines to more traditional illustrate form in an artwork, allowing a unique sense of color paths moving through space.
The techniques that were uncovered behind Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" set a clear pathway on the methods I needed to apply in my artwork in order to achieve a similar effect on a three-dimensional subject and layered colors to simulate a smooth texture. "Not to be Reproduced" exemplified the mindset and interaction of what is unknown to the audience that was carried throughout the development on "Held On".
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Johannes Vermeer incorporated primed light gray grounds, fine black outlines, and under layers as his three major components to best illustrate his emphasis of soft modelling, distinct color regions, and life-like subject. Furthermore, Rene Magritte prioritizes his subject and manipulates an ordinary object to demonstrate what is and isn't being shown of one's identity/expression.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Calling attention to the Baroque movement inspiration, it emphasized dramatic and easier to interpret scenes with human figures through rich use of color, allowing the people/subjects to best convey drama and emotions.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Working around my interpretation of Perception of Identity, I believed that it would beneficial if I took the mindset I had carried with my digital collage and Surrealism, in which I focused on the information presented to the audience, while having a inspiration from a unexplored art medium to better understand how to use oil paints, which brought me towards the two artists I used to set the foundation of my artwork.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The lighting that is set upon a subject can have highlight and create form and texturing that sets itself apart from using lines to more traditional illustrate form in an artwork, allowing a unique sense of color paths moving through space.
Citations
Zelazko, Alicja. “Girl with a Pearl Earring.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 2022. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Girl-with-a-Pearl-Earring-by-Vermeer.
Art. “Not to Be Reproduced.” Not to be Reproduced by Rene Magritte, 2019. https://www.rene-magritte.com/not-to-be-reproduced/.
Vandivere, Abbie, Annelies van Loon, Kathryn A. Dooley, Ralph Haswell, Robert G. Erdmann, Emilien Leonhardt, and John K. Delaney. “Revealing the Painterly Technique beneath the Surface of Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring Using Macro- and Microscale Imaging - Heritage Science.” SpringerOpen. Springer International Publishing, September 2, 2019. https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-019-0308-4#:~:text=The%20initial%20steps%20that%20Johannes,upper%20paint%20layer(s).
Bolyer, Gary. “Understanding Quality in Artist Oil Paint Brands.” GARYBOLYER, December 6, 2019. https://garybolyer.com/2014/03/17/artist-oil-paint-brands/#:~:text=Simply%20stated%2C%20an%20artist%20oil,artist%20oil%20pigments%20are%20expensive.
Art. “Not to Be Reproduced.” Not to be Reproduced by Rene Magritte, 2019. https://www.rene-magritte.com/not-to-be-reproduced/.
Vandivere, Abbie, Annelies van Loon, Kathryn A. Dooley, Ralph Haswell, Robert G. Erdmann, Emilien Leonhardt, and John K. Delaney. “Revealing the Painterly Technique beneath the Surface of Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring Using Macro- and Microscale Imaging - Heritage Science.” SpringerOpen. Springer International Publishing, September 2, 2019. https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-019-0308-4#:~:text=The%20initial%20steps%20that%20Johannes,upper%20paint%20layer(s).
Bolyer, Gary. “Understanding Quality in Artist Oil Paint Brands.” GARYBOLYER, December 6, 2019. https://garybolyer.com/2014/03/17/artist-oil-paint-brands/#:~:text=Simply%20stated%2C%20an%20artist%20oil,artist%20oil%20pigments%20are%20expensive.