Expression has often been a source of frustration for artists. How does one express their thoughts effectively? How can I draw something that will get my message through to my audience? Of course, one does not want to create a piece of art that will offend others, so sometimes the limit of what society accepts becomes the limit of what an artist can create. Sometimes, in one culture, one type of expression may be seen as immoral, or against the culture’s codes (such as graffiti in America), and therefore it is looked down upon and not respected for the peace it was meant to be. However, in a piece, specifically in an ideologically sensitive piece, certain parts of the painting can symbolize something else, that way the audience can interpret what they wish. Medium is an important part of this, as the way a piece is presented can greatly affect the effect it has on the audience. When talking about boundaries, buildings are important to remember at this time, since the walls and doors act as boundaries to the outside world. Using a building to express the idea of either strong or severed boundaries helps reinforce the idea in people’s heads, especially when they can experience it. For my art piece, I took a different direction. My idea for “boundaries” was not physical, but rather a mental boundary between two paths in a person’s life. The main subject of the piece is the boy, Sorin. Like Rose, his story goes back to his parents, who were old friends of Rose’s father. However, a betrayal led the group to split apart, creating bad blood between the families. Like his father, Sorin also faces a choice: to follow in his father’s footsteps, or to overcome that evil nature and fight for what he really believes in. This image, though not representative of two different futures, is actually meant to symbolize the boundaries between these two “lives”. The sunflower field is his happiness, while the snowy field is his sadness while he is grieving over a lost friend (luckily, not the red haired girl). The ravens and the roses that separate the two scenes are Sorin’s boundaries, the ravens being representative of a god-like spirit that, for some time, controls him. Thus, they box him in this scene of sadness and perpetual grief, a mental boundary of sorts. Meanwhile, the rose vines represent the boundaries of his happy life, and while the scene is happy, this state of ignorance he experiences before the other scene, the raven scene, also boxes him in in a way, since he will never know the true nature of himself or his family. Only when he breaks both of these boundaries can he truly be who he is. Now, the process with this one was pretty clear. I had a very good picture of what I wanted to do with it, so right away I began with pencil, sketching out the line. Then I lined it with a micron pen, making the lines stand out much more, and was happy with the product. However, there was a bit of difficulty I had, as after I had outlined it with the pen, I discovered that the body I had drawn for Sorin in the snowy scene didn’t really look right, and I wanted to fix it. Having already penned it, I instead used a bit of white acrylic to cover it over. This, later, gave me the idea to use some acrylic paint in the final product, used for the feathers, trees and clouds in both scenes. Although I was nervous about using the acrylic paint, I really liked the way it all came out, and the solid color against the more fluid colors of the watercolors creates another nice effect of boundaries.
This was the final product! I was very happy with how it came out.
0 Comments
In the very beginning of this project, I had a lot of trouble. I had no idea where I wanted to use as a subject for my piece. I knew for a fact that I wanted to do something with calligraphy, but I had several ideas running around in my head, and I loved none of them. Eventually, I settled for a photograph of a old piece of forest that I would play in as a child. My plan was to paint over the image with calligraphy ink, but with the paper and the quality of the image, I did not end up happy with the result. Scrapping the project, I decided to do another piece based on a character of mine. After first sketching the image in my notebook, I tore it out and began to draw over it with the calligraphy ink. This is a work in progress. I originally chose this character as the subject because of her name, which is “Rose”. Obviously, the theme about blooming would at least start me off. However, I fear the exact nature of how this relates to the theme might be a bit obscure.
In short, Rose is the daughter of a very powerful and prestigious warrior (the main character of another of my arcs) and thus has a large attachment to her family and their legacy within the land. The rabbit doll which she is holding has a small scar mark on its cheek, which is actually a marking that her father shares, and thus in a way the rabbit represents her father and his love for her. The rabbit itself is also a gift from her childhood friend and lover, whose own lineage drives a wedge between Rose and her family. However, being founded in both parties, the love from her lover and her father prevent the theoretical “thorns” from harming her, despite the animosity between them. The theme is intended to be that she wishes to bloom in both of these places where she has been planted, but the conflict is causing thorns to sprout instead. As stated before, the image was finished off in calligraphy ink, and although I intended at one point for the lines to be flat, I ended up making a mistake with too much ink on my pen, and after that decided to add more depth to the lines by making some ends thicker. For the most part I tried to stay to a light scheme, but some of the lines may not follow it in an attempt to give the image depth. In the end, however, I was very happy with the final project, and I felt it captured the effect that I wanted it to, and would give off the feelings that the story invokes. The final image is below. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2016
Categories |