Afternoon CelebrationSize : 38 cm x 25.5 cm
Medium : Colored Pencils on an Illustration Board Completion Date : December 2020 This illustration depicts life and festivity in an anyday scenario. It triumphs the idea of COVID and instead represents a positive connotation within a 2 part collection. The dull coloring correlates to Henri Matisse who uses fauvism to create artworks of landscapes of portraits.
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Artist Inspiration
Henri Matisse is the co-founder of the fauvism movement, which was established in 1904. The art movement in which artists use vibrant colors that would otherly appear as unnatural within the piece subjected. Works would be depicted as flat landscapes or portraits to further settle the mood of what is being presented.
Matisse was born in Nord, France and is where he remained for a majority of his life. He'd occasionally travel France and to London in order to study art and find new subjects of interest to paint. One of his famous works was The Green Line and is a representation of his collections. The strokes he uses are bold and thick, barely blending with one another. Lines are either hardly visible or thick in order to highlight certain features of the paintings. It wasn't until after the artist's death that his pieces garnered attention and fame. In his current times, many people criticized his works as paints thrown about. Now many people study his works and try to replicate his style to understand his motives. Though it is known that his style was made to create new meaning to subjects. He would change the mood by either creating light palettes or bright and vibrant colors. |
Planning
This piece was to be based off of my previous illustration in this set, The Persistence of COVID. Big gatherings, celebrations, happy, normality, and more are all themes I wanted to focus on. Choosing a single one out of the 4 options with the possibility of more, was difficult. Instead I researched for artworks that featured cityscapes so I could add people to the works. Putting people inside the drawings would allow the piece to connect to the overall theme of COVID. I knew my themes were to be positive but I also wanted the image to appear fuzzy in order to portray the unknown. These were found within two paintings, one of which being Matisse's. From there I started to incorporate details that would enhance the feeling of celebration. Strung lights and people were the original concepts. |
Once I knew which artist to take inspiration from, I created a palette. This was used in the previous illustration, but incorporating it into my planning phase would help me establish which colors would go with which. Light brown was the underlay for the top portion and would depict which colors would best fit with which color. I found that it complimented yellow, light blue, green and black. |
Experimentation and Process
Although I knew how the colored pencils looked individually, I wanted to experiment with those colors once again. With this testing, I did an ombre effect by starting off dark to light. This would help me determine which color to use as my undertone throughout the piece. Matisse had used light blue as his, so I used different colors to replicate his shadows and highlights. Black paired with both light and dark brown were the best combos to use for shadows. As for highlights, light blue proved to be the best. |
Referencing my sketch and Matisse's work, I was able to create a rough outline for the drawing. In this edition I added more people, strung lights, concert, boat, and strobe lights. These would all add to the celebration vibe that was to be instilled in the piece. In order to make the piece relevant to current times, I switched the carriage for a car. Concerts are also features that are of today, especially ones constructed with stages and technology. These are all concepts that would have been acceptable before COVID. Now regulations are in place that prohibit too many people within a set space limit, including a 6 ft. distance between each individual. |
I started off with the big areas that didn't require too much detail. Greens and blues were the most used during these patches. Within the grass areas, a combination of green, dark blue and yellow were used. These all complemented one another and established both highlights and shadows. The blue was slightly different as I just put down the under tone. This was how I started all areas, by creating a first layer that worked well with all colors, before adding more. |
As I continued the process, I found that it was hard to establish fine pigment and white would come out of certain areas. However, light pressure was needed to replicate the style being presented. With these in mind I decided to let the white come through as the piece is meant to lack detail. Also, there wasn't a way to acquire light colors because if I pressed any harder the faze look throughout the piece would be dampered. Towards the end, all that was truly left was blending colors in a blotchy technique and adding the black harsh lines sporadically. |
Reflection
Despite having used the same materials in the previous project, I was still a bit unfamiliar with the tools. Blending was a skill that I had yet to master in order to get certain colors that would have added more detail. An example was the under bridge, as it was difficult to create the blue tone. This was one of the reasons as to why I chose warm colors instead of focusing on cool colors entirely, like Matisse.
The theme of life without COVID and celebration were all ventured upon as colors were used cohesively. Yet if I were to do this again, I would use different colored pencils in order to achieve the right pigments. In addition, I would challenge myself to look into different art works and themes as they could be seen as common. For instance, an evening inside a restaurant could have achieved the same message. Positives within this project could mean anything and it would have been great to explore different themes.
The theme of life without COVID and celebration were all ventured upon as colors were used cohesively. Yet if I were to do this again, I would use different colored pencils in order to achieve the right pigments. In addition, I would challenge myself to look into different art works and themes as they could be seen as common. For instance, an evening inside a restaurant could have achieved the same message. Positives within this project could mean anything and it would have been great to explore different themes.
Compare and Contrast
SimilaritiesBalance -
Values -
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DifferencesTones - Blue vs warm
Space -
Mood -
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ACT Responses
1. Clearly explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
Matisse painted in a fauvist style that made the piece to be obscured my methodical blotches of paint that hardly blended together. This caused my artwork to not be detailed and in encouraged viewers to focus on the subject as a whole. No certain aspect is the main focus as each individual area adds to the overall meaning.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Fauvism enhances the mood of artworks and Matisse stood by that concept. Despite the artist primarily focusing on moody works that were seen as depressing, he embraced all emotions.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
As I researched Matisse, I've realized how people aren't accepting of new found art. Instead they criticize until they analyze the works and find their meanings.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea of my research was works that were seen as messy. I wanted to create a contrasting meaning between the theme and the way it was presented. Though the themes were also expanded upon acts of celebration and excitement to create a variation between the previous illustration piece made.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Whilst researching, I've come upon the conclusion that fauvism is more than vibrant colors. The movement uses expressive color palettes and strokes that create moods other works cannot.
Matisse painted in a fauvist style that made the piece to be obscured my methodical blotches of paint that hardly blended together. This caused my artwork to not be detailed and in encouraged viewers to focus on the subject as a whole. No certain aspect is the main focus as each individual area adds to the overall meaning.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Fauvism enhances the mood of artworks and Matisse stood by that concept. Despite the artist primarily focusing on moody works that were seen as depressing, he embraced all emotions.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
As I researched Matisse, I've realized how people aren't accepting of new found art. Instead they criticize until they analyze the works and find their meanings.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea of my research was works that were seen as messy. I wanted to create a contrasting meaning between the theme and the way it was presented. Though the themes were also expanded upon acts of celebration and excitement to create a variation between the previous illustration piece made.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Whilst researching, I've come upon the conclusion that fauvism is more than vibrant colors. The movement uses expressive color palettes and strokes that create moods other works cannot.
Bibliography
Henri Matisse biography. Henri Matisse: 100 Famous Paintings Analysis, Complete Works, & Bio. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2021, from https://www.henrimatisse.org/
Henri Matisse. view of Notre Dame. Paris, Quai Saint-Michel, Spring 1914: Moma. The Museum of Modern Art. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2021, from https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78863
Notre-Dame, une fin d'après-MIDI (a glimpse of Notre Dame ... (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2021, from https://www.albrightknox.org/artworks/192724-notre-dame-une-fin-dapr%C3%A8s-midi-glimpse-notre-dame-late-afternoon
Henri Matisse. view of Notre Dame. Paris, Quai Saint-Michel, Spring 1914: Moma. The Museum of Modern Art. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2021, from https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78863
Notre-Dame, une fin d'après-MIDI (a glimpse of Notre Dame ... (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2021, from https://www.albrightknox.org/artworks/192724-notre-dame-une-fin-dapr%C3%A8s-midi-glimpse-notre-dame-late-afternoon