Thick Skinned
Size : 4 ft x 4 ft
Medium : Acrylic Paint Completion Date : April 2021 This painting represents the concept of being thick skinned. Not letting anything penetrate the mental barriers set yet slowly fading into something distant. Where one begins to lose them self in being devoid of emotion after obscuring their true thoughts. It is inspired by Joshua Miels as he paints portraits of emotional figures. Each artwork up for interpretation yet the subject unknown.
|
Artist Inspiration
Joshua Miels is a contemporary portrait artist who was born in 1982. His works focus primarily on emotion, which range from numb to anguish. The messages demonstrate an advocacy for mental health, especially in men. It expresses a story of how men are forced to suppress their emotions in society. However, Miels works to shed light on the subject in order to demonstrate that mental health is not wrong. It is something everyone goes through, including men. Each portrait is painted in an abstract concept where paint is layered thick upon the canvas. His only tool throughout the process is a palette knife that stretches the paint to cover areas. The colors are often vibrant and occasionally blend together, except when layered upon the canvas. Highlights are often warm colors and shadows cool. This allows the artist to differentiate the coloring and provide an almost realistic portrait. Miels uses oil paint in all of his pieces as it allows him to manage the paint easier. The paint dries slower yet is easier to blend, it's a challenge the artist finds refreshing every time. It's also part of his style as he can't stand still long for paintings. The official story of Miels pieces, being mental health awareness, is also depersonalizing a figure. Prompting viewers to focus on the emotion rather than who the figure actually is. |
Planning
With the artist and style chosen I sketched ideas and portraits. Emotions are a key feature in these types of paintings and it was why I took pictures of emotional poses. From anger to slight disdain. The picture I ended up choosing was a furrowed look where my face is slightly scrunched. It is a face that causes viewers to ponder the emotion. Next, I tried to decide on the coloring and tools. Eventually, it was decided that warm colors would be used for the face and all other colors for the background. This will ensure that the subject won't blend with its surroundings. |
The two ideas of where I wanted my self portrait to go was either surrealism or abstract. Whether they were towards specific movements like Romanticism or Fauvism. Primarily I knew I wanted a close up shot of my face, not a full body nor in a style where my face is distorted into another being. I wanted to be real with my artwork and portray myself in a way that was new to me but also representative of who I am. This followed abstract and I researched even more artists that I could find inspiration in. However, Miels was the one that inspired me with his globs of paint that created a portrait. |
Experimentation and Process
Once I had a basic concept of how the layering worked with the paint and each tool, I started on the background. Using both warm and cool colors, I was able to spread the paint evenly without too much texture. Each color was diluted with water and the cool colors with shades of one another, as well as white. One side of the canvas was primarily cool colors with bursts of warm and the same vise versa for the other side. This allowed the contrast between the colors to be greater.
|
Before I painted on the canvas, I experimented both with the paint and the tools I had. The paints were very vibrant by themselves as I layered them next to each other. In order to dim them, I sprayed the area where the paint was and stroked the palette knife through it. This created an almost watery yet expansive effect. It allowed me to layer colors above the background without them blending into one another immediately. Using the same concept, I used each palette knife with the same techniques in order to see which provided the most ease. All knives were numbered and then noted of their most helpful feature. For instance, the knife numbered 3 was diamond shaped and offered fine detail.
In order to replicate the skin tone in a warm setting, I mixed; red, orange, yellow, white and brown. Each differences allowed me to create both highlights and shadows. The shadows were mostly prominent in the eye areas, wrinkles and lip area. The highlights were also paired with a plain white that would overlap the coloring. This was placed in the chin, eyes and forehead. Continuously layering the colors and making sure most of them did not mix was the process throughout the piece. The colors were blending together in the face, so as to differentiate the features I outlined them with black. The eyes, eyebrows, nose and lips were all lined. This created more depth to the piece whilst maintaining the coloring throughout. Deeming the jawline to be too angular I decided to overlap the background and portrait. Edging both the warm and cool colors that are diluted with water along the outline, created a blending technique. In addition, the colors that were primarily used were cool colors, blue and green mixed with either each other or white. It was a contrast to the warm colors of the face and still created the fading effect without blending the subject and background too much that it's identifiable. |
Reflection
This project proved to be more difficult than I had originally thought. Palette knife art is something I am unfamiliar with, yet it seemed easier to manipulate than a brush. I was proven wrong when it came down to fine detail. It was especially hard in areas that needed shadowing, as certain areas needed highlight. It was done so the shadows weren’t dull. Despite this, I was particularly fond of the left eye as it held the most detail. The result of layering the paints added a vein effect in the cornea. The shading with a purple tinted black and a dark iris, all added to the effect.
I was surprised with how well the palette knife covered space when creating the background. With brushes it would have taken a while to blend the colors and cover the entire space. With a palette knife, I was able to cute time and add onto the layering effect without blending too much. However, if I were to do this project again I would like to create a series. A portrait in cool colors and another in realistic tones. It would be interesting to see the differences between the three and how colors can affect a piece. In addition, I’d like to add paint brushes into the tool mix in order to see how exactly it’d differ from a palette knife and what details it can create that the knife can’t. Overall I enjoy the piece I have made despite the few things I would change for next time.
I was surprised with how well the palette knife covered space when creating the background. With brushes it would have taken a while to blend the colors and cover the entire space. With a palette knife, I was able to cute time and add onto the layering effect without blending too much. However, if I were to do this project again I would like to create a series. A portrait in cool colors and another in realistic tones. It would be interesting to see the differences between the three and how colors can affect a piece. In addition, I’d like to add paint brushes into the tool mix in order to see how exactly it’d differ from a palette knife and what details it can create that the knife can’t. Overall I enjoy the piece I have made despite the few things I would change for next time.
Compare and Contrast
DifferencesValue -
Lines -
Space
|
SimilaritiesTheme -
Brushstrokes -
Subject -
|
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.
Miels uses unknown subjects as his artwork, the only truly identifiable piece of the work is the emotion that is being portrayed. This takes effect upon my work as the details of my portrait isn’t too overwhelming. It can easily be of another face or it could look exactly like me, nevertheless some features are noticeable to a degree. However, the emotion that is presented is noticeable: Devoid and numb.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
My artist inspiration is an advocate for mental health. He creates artworks in order to promote awareness. As a result, I know that he is supportive of the theme and topic.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have come upon the conclusion that emotions and the way a subject is portrayed is the most vital when making an artwork. The subject is just the carrier for the way the project is depicted.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my inspirational research is emotions. Anything that can be represented through thick and thin layered paint. Emotions can be depicted in multitudes of ways and colors. That is why it was the central idea around the piece.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
An inference I have made while researching is the way Miels paints, specifically his technique. He hasn't had an interview or a biography that clearly discuses his process when making portraits. From that, I had to assume that he only uses palette knives and layers the paints a certain direction (up and down motion).
Miels uses unknown subjects as his artwork, the only truly identifiable piece of the work is the emotion that is being portrayed. This takes effect upon my work as the details of my portrait isn’t too overwhelming. It can easily be of another face or it could look exactly like me, nevertheless some features are noticeable to a degree. However, the emotion that is presented is noticeable: Devoid and numb.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
My artist inspiration is an advocate for mental health. He creates artworks in order to promote awareness. As a result, I know that he is supportive of the theme and topic.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have come upon the conclusion that emotions and the way a subject is portrayed is the most vital when making an artwork. The subject is just the carrier for the way the project is depicted.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my inspirational research is emotions. Anything that can be represented through thick and thin layered paint. Emotions can be depicted in multitudes of ways and colors. That is why it was the central idea around the piece.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
An inference I have made while researching is the way Miels paints, specifically his technique. He hasn't had an interview or a biography that clearly discuses his process when making portraits. From that, I had to assume that he only uses palette knives and layers the paints a certain direction (up and down motion).
Bibliography
About. (n.d.). Retrieved May 03, 2021, from https://joshuamiels.com/about#:~:text=Joshua%20Miels%20is%20a%20contemporary,striking%2C%20but%20deep%20and%20powerful.
Introducing: Artist joshua miels - Adelaidenow. (n.d.). Retrieved May 3, 2021, from https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/entertainment/arts/introducing-artist-joshua-miels/news-story/b51dae7e38e667ce0298a6e8ec75c15b
Introducing: Artist joshua miels - Adelaidenow. (n.d.). Retrieved May 3, 2021, from https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/entertainment/arts/introducing-artist-joshua-miels/news-story/b51dae7e38e667ce0298a6e8ec75c15b