Dry Point |
Exhibition Text |
Title: Observer
Size: 10in x 8in Medium: Drypoint Date: 11/26/18 |
"Observer", the title of my piece is based on my two inspirations, The Thinker a sculpture By Auguste Rodin and a woodcut, Portrait of a Man By Erich Heckel. My artwork represents me as a deep thinker. The Thinker has a similar concept as my work, which is why I choose it to be part of my inspiration, it expresses a depiction of observation and deep thinking. The hand positions of Portrait of a Man is what I took from this piece and incorporated in my piece as it also depicts a sense of deep thinking.
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Inspirations
The Thinker By Auguste Rodin (1902)
“The Thinker.” The Walking Man | Rodin Museum, www.musee-rodin.fr/en/collections/sculptures/thinker. Portrait of a Man By Erich Heckel (1919)
“Erich Heckel Portrait of a Man (Männerbildnis) 1919.” Lee Bontecou. Untitled. 1959 | MoMA, www.moma.org/collection/works/66356. |
There are two inspirations that inspired me to create, "Observer", my drypoint piece. The first inspiration was, The Thinker, a sculpture created in 1902 by Auguste Rodin and the second inspiration was, Portrait of a Man, a woodcut piece By Erich Heckel created in 1919. The Thinker, I decided to choose this sculpture as one of my inspirations because just by looking at this piece, the way the figure is positioned, you can really depict a sense of observation and deep thinking. Growing up, people, including my family, portrayed me as the shy kid. I was never shy just very observant of my surroundings, I would always go to a deep thought out of nowhere. "Observer" my piece represents me as a deep thinker and observer. Not only did I use this piece because of the way it is positioned but I also used this piece as an inspiration because of the meaning it holds. The Thinker represent philosophy, the way of thinking about the world, the universe, and society. This has a similar meaning as my piece, "Observer", but it represents me as a deep thinker. Portrait of a Man by Erich Heckel, was my second inspiration that I took when creating my piece. Similar to the sculpture The Thinker, when looking at this piece I think of a really focused and observant person. The hand positions of Portrait of a Man is what I took from this piece and incorporated in my piece to create Observer. All though Portrait of a Man does not have a similar meaning as my piece or The Thinker, I was not looking for a similar meaning for this piece but the image I think it portrays, is what really attracted me to this piece. |
Planning Sketches
These are the three planning sketches that created to get an idea on how I wanted to go about creating my piece. I tried different techniques for shading such as cross hatching and regular shading. For cross hatching I tried cross hatching darker and cross hatching lighter. I also tried different positions for my figures to go in. All of these images represent the same thing deep thought and observation.
In this image I used regular shading for my shading technique. I positioned the figure sitting on a chair, with one hand holding up the chin and hand, while the other one rests on the leg. The face looking straight ahead to simulate focus and observation.
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In this image I used cross hatching but a more dark shading technique of cross hatching. I positioned this figure sitting down on a chair with both hands resting on the legs, holding up the chin and head. I positioned the head slightly more down then the other images to simulate a sense of deep thought and observation.
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In this image I also used cross hatching but a more light shading technique of cross hatching. I positioned the figure looking forward sitting on a stool with one had on the chin and the other resting on the leg. This one also simulates deep thought and observation.
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Her are simply photographs that I took to use as references when I began to draw out my planning sketches. The one on the top left is one of the references that I used in creating one of the sketches and it is also the the image that I decided to use for my final piece. The one on the bottom is also a reference that I used in creating one of my sketches. The one on the top right was also a reference that I could of used when creating my sketches but it did not quite make it. |
Process For creating Image on Plastic Print making Plate
The first step in putting the image on to the plastic print making plate was to tape the plate on to my sketch book were I have the sketched image. After taping the image I am first going to start to engrave the edges of my image with a steel needle. I am going to use the cross hatching technique to shade in my image. After engraving the edges of my image, I then started to engrave the figure of the image. I first traced it out then started to shade it in. After shading it in, I then preceded to trace out the chair and then shaded that it as well. Finally after all that, I was done with the fist step to printing out the actual image on to watercolor paper. |
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Process For Printing Image
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The first thing that I did was lay out all of the tools that I needed in order to print my image. This included: latex gloves, a plastic spoon, a spreader to spread out the akua ink and lastly pieces of paper that I cut, that are going to be used to wipe away the ink. After laying everything out the first step was to put a couple of watercolor paper into a bucket of water and let that sit for about 8 minutes. The next step, meanwhile letting the watercolor paper sit for 8 minutes was to put akua ink onto my plastic plate were I have my image and spread it. I used the spoon to add the ink onto my plate and then used the spreader to spread out the in throughout the whole plate. After spreading I used the pieces of paper that I cut to wipe away the ink that was not needed. After wiping excess ink the watercolor paper should be about done, so I removed the paper from the bucket and laid it down onto a dry towel, patted it down and then let it sit for a couple minutes. Meanwhile I prepped the print roller machine so that it was ready to print. I lifted up the cloth layers of the print roller and placed 2 pieces of long paper. After this my watercolor paper was ready. I placed my plastic plate onto the print roller machine face up and then the watercolor paper on top. After this I gently cover the plate and watercolor paper with the cloth lays of the machine and proceed to turn the handle of the machine to print the image onto the watercolor paper. I did this process three times until I got a image I was satisfied with. After all this I proceeded to clean up my mess with odorless mineral spirits to remove the akua ink. |
Critique
In my piece Observer there are many similarities and differences towards my two inspirations, The Thinker a sculpture By Auguste Rodin and a woodcut, Portrait of a Man By Erich Heckel. A similarity between Observer and The Thinker would be that both artworks have a similar positioning that they are in. They are both positioned in a thinking phase. Another similarity between both art works would be that they have similar meanings to them a meaning about deep thought. The Thinker represent philosophy, the way of thinking about the world, the universe, and society and this has a similar meaning as my piece, "Observer", but it represents me as a deep thinker and observer. A difference between Observer and The Thinker would be the broadness in the meanings, Observer represents me and only me as a deep thinker and observer as in The Thinker it represents anyone. A similarity between Observer and Portrait of a Man would be the way they are positioned, they have both hands on there chin and have there face positioned as they are in thought. A big difference between both art works would be that they both have different meanings, Observer represents me as a deep thinker and observer, while Portrait of a Man inscribes the traumas of the war years and the uncertainties of the postwar period onto his own troubled face.
We can see here that Observer and The Thinker have very similar positioning. A positioning of deep thinking. The Thinker looking down as in thought and Observer looking straight also it thought.
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Here we can see that Observer and Portrait of a Man have similar face and body positioning. Both have their hands on there chin and seem as they are in thought.
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Experimentation
I experimented with some things when creating my piece Observer. I experimented with how much of the akua ink I took off when creating my piece, I experimented with different positioning of my figure, and lastly I experimented with different shading techniques, which include regular shading, light cross hatching and dark cross hatching.
Here are my two experimentations, the first one on the left was the very first print I printed. I took to much of the ink off so the next time I didn't take as much off. The print on the right was the second print I printed out, I looked fine but I used the wrong paper, I was supposed to use watercolor paper. On the third try I printed out a image that I was satisfied with.
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Here are three of the positions that I experimented with. All of the images represent the same theme of my piece, which is deep thought. I sketched most of these images on to my sketch book to see how they would look. I ended up using the first image on the left for my piece.
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Reflection
Creating my piece Observer was a fun process and experience in which I learned many things. I learned how to print images on to watercolor paper, learned how to use a new machine, print roller, and learned how to engrave an image onto a plastic plate. There was may successes and failures when printing my piece. A failure was I used the wrong paper to print my image onto, I used poster paper instead of watercolor paper. A success was that I printed out a good image the first time when using watercolor paper. If I were to redo this project I would of used a different shading technique, different then cross hatching. Overall was happy and satisfied with my artwork at the end. I learned from my failure, next time I will check the paper I am using to see if its the correct one.
ACT Responses
1)Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
I was inspired by two different artist with different art medians, the first one being a sculpture, The Thinker by Auguste Rodin and the second inspiration was, Portrait of a Man, a woodcut piece By Erich Heckel. What I took from The Thinker by Auguste Rodin was a similar position of the figure and meaning of the piece. The Thinker represent philosophy, the way of thinking about the world, the universe, and society. This has a similar meaning as my piece, "Observer", but it represents me as a deep thinker. What I took from Portrait of a Man was the hand positions they are in.
2)What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The over all approach the author has regarding The Thinker would be representation of philosophy, the way of thinking about the world, the universe, and society. The over all approach the author has regarding Portrait of a Man would be that it inscribes the traumas of the war years and the uncertainties of the postwar period onto his own troubled face.
3)What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
A generalization that I've discovered while researching my two inspirations would be positioning, positioning of the body and the face. The body is emphasized more on The Thinker and the face is emphasized more on Portrait of a Man.
4)What was the central idea or theme around your inspiration research?
A central idea or theme around my inspiration research was really the idea of deep thought and observation.
5)What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
An inference that I made while reading my research was that The Thinker portrays philosophy and Portrait of a Man inscribes the traumas of the war years and the uncertainties of the postwar period onto his own troubled face.
I was inspired by two different artist with different art medians, the first one being a sculpture, The Thinker by Auguste Rodin and the second inspiration was, Portrait of a Man, a woodcut piece By Erich Heckel. What I took from The Thinker by Auguste Rodin was a similar position of the figure and meaning of the piece. The Thinker represent philosophy, the way of thinking about the world, the universe, and society. This has a similar meaning as my piece, "Observer", but it represents me as a deep thinker. What I took from Portrait of a Man was the hand positions they are in.
2)What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The over all approach the author has regarding The Thinker would be representation of philosophy, the way of thinking about the world, the universe, and society. The over all approach the author has regarding Portrait of a Man would be that it inscribes the traumas of the war years and the uncertainties of the postwar period onto his own troubled face.
3)What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
A generalization that I've discovered while researching my two inspirations would be positioning, positioning of the body and the face. The body is emphasized more on The Thinker and the face is emphasized more on Portrait of a Man.
4)What was the central idea or theme around your inspiration research?
A central idea or theme around my inspiration research was really the idea of deep thought and observation.
5)What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
An inference that I made while reading my research was that The Thinker portrays philosophy and Portrait of a Man inscribes the traumas of the war years and the uncertainties of the postwar period onto his own troubled face.