Bebe MocosaSize: by 16 inches by 20 inches
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Date: December, 2019 EXHIBITION TEXT
This work of art is a painted copy of one of my favorite images of my sister. She was just had a couple months of age and I try to stay as true as possible to form and essence of the photo as possible. I painted this image with just acrylic paint and use of color theory. |
ARTISTIC
I N S P I R A T I O N
There is no real outside inspiration for this last piece of mine. It will be a portrait of my baby sister months after she was born. The image I am trying to recreate in my painting is shown to the left. The reason as to why I choose this image was because I found that the essence of the picture was a natural depiction of who my sister is: a hungry ball of an eternally confused being. Also within my piece I used a self made reference sheet where I had the color wheel in order to play around with the color palette in my work. That way I would be able to use a palette in which the colors would be complementary to each other. IN addition to this I would say that even though I don't have a particular artists or artwork as an inspiration, I do have an specific style that I want to follow for this piece. Said style is that in which the portrait somewhat remains true to the photograph with a semi realistic painting. |
P R O C E S S
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I N T E N T I O N S
01. Creative Ideas & Brainstorms
I wanted this painting to be somewhat soft yet bold. I plan on changing the color of the sofa to be a much warmer tone by adding a more red-ish to salmon hue. This way it pops from the rest of the background. Another reason as to why I changed the color of the original sofa is because I wanted to make it easier to work with the colors available to me. If I went with a darker hue then I would have more of an opportunity to blend colors with the much lighter hues that still had a strong saturation. The folds on the sofa would be easier to recreate and exaggerate.
When it came to the baby itself, because it is my sister, I wanted her portrayal to be softer than in the image. Plus taking into consideration that this is the first time that I try to actual recreate an actual image and I'm still trying to figure out how to work with paint, I thought that it would be best if I attempt a semi-realistic portrait. I would add somewhat of a cartoon-ish look on my sisters face.
The color of the background and curtains will be changed as well to create somewhat of a diverse palette on the painting in contrast to that on the actual image.
When it came to the baby itself, because it is my sister, I wanted her portrayal to be softer than in the image. Plus taking into consideration that this is the first time that I try to actual recreate an actual image and I'm still trying to figure out how to work with paint, I thought that it would be best if I attempt a semi-realistic portrait. I would add somewhat of a cartoon-ish look on my sisters face.
The color of the background and curtains will be changed as well to create somewhat of a diverse palette on the painting in contrast to that on the actual image.
02. Into Planning
Once again, I dove right into the piece. I made a sketch on the pre-primed canvas that I bought from a thrift store.
After having a basic shape of where things would be located I went into the sketch and added more details to make the form of the baby and it's clothing.
After having a basic shape of where things would be located I went into the sketch and added more details to make the form of the baby and it's clothing.
03. Mixing Skin tone
For the skin tone I had mixed all primary colors with white and brown acrylic paint in a container so I wouldn't need to remake it as I was working on the baby form of my painting.
Colors for skin tone: Red / Yellow / Blue / White / Brown |
After putting all the of the necessary amounts of paint within the container, I began to mix it to reach a light tan-ish hue. I admit that I was somewhat lost to hoe exactly to mix the colors so a friend of mine helped me with the ratios as she has more experience with it than I did of course. This is the phase in which I experimented the most. I think that after the paint dried, the tone of the skin was a bit of so I should've added a bit more of a red tone to it with a hint of yellow.
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04. Painting
a. I began with part of the background and experimented with colors on the couch. I was quite invested in making the couch look it's best from the beginning since it took the most space in the canvas.
b. I still find myself working on the couch and layering warm colors in order to cover up the pencil lines as well as any harsh paint lines that I placed at the beginning of it all.
c. Couch is now finalized and I focus on background. Color wheel matches occur here.
d. At this point I'm beginning to finish details on the couch. I had to add color to the baby so I began to add color to their clothes. I opted with a soft/pastel pink because I'm still experimenting with decent looking forms with paint. I'm unsure if I managed to pull it off as my work is now starting to seem the same to me.
e. I laid down the skin tone on the canvas and hair. For the hair black from the paint tube was way too harsh so I mixed it with white in order to tone it down.
b. I still find myself working on the couch and layering warm colors in order to cover up the pencil lines as well as any harsh paint lines that I placed at the beginning of it all.
c. Couch is now finalized and I focus on background. Color wheel matches occur here.
d. At this point I'm beginning to finish details on the couch. I had to add color to the baby so I began to add color to their clothes. I opted with a soft/pastel pink because I'm still experimenting with decent looking forms with paint. I'm unsure if I managed to pull it off as my work is now starting to seem the same to me.
e. I laid down the skin tone on the canvas and hair. For the hair black from the paint tube was way too harsh so I mixed it with white in order to tone it down.
C R I T I Q U E
Differences:
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Similarities:
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R E F L E C T I O N
I believe this is one of my favorite pieces that I've made as an amateur painter. There details to the figure I will still develop more before gallery night, thus I would want to considered this piece a work in process as I continue to experiment with the skin tone and shadows.
I want to say that there is still for growth. There always is and I'm 50/50 with this piece. I struggled to put the skin tone together for the baby. Not to mention that the paint would sometimes come off the canvas because I would pass the paintbrush over the same spot multiple times. Or there would be times when I would put too much paint onto the brush where the color I wanted to achieve or whatever highlight I had planned t add wouldn't work because I would mess up on the amount of paint on the brush. The part of the painting in which I think decently well was the couch. I spent quite an amount of time on it. However, it balances it out as I know I can improve the form of the infant on the couch. Retouch on the skin color and revisit the color wheel to change the color of the wall to a color that makes the purple curtain pop a little more. Something that I'm quite happy with is the asymmetrical value that I made my piece have. Too much of my work has been created with centered content so it was time for a change here.
I want to say that there is still for growth. There always is and I'm 50/50 with this piece. I struggled to put the skin tone together for the baby. Not to mention that the paint would sometimes come off the canvas because I would pass the paintbrush over the same spot multiple times. Or there would be times when I would put too much paint onto the brush where the color I wanted to achieve or whatever highlight I had planned t add wouldn't work because I would mess up on the amount of paint on the brush. The part of the painting in which I think decently well was the couch. I spent quite an amount of time on it. However, it balances it out as I know I can improve the form of the infant on the couch. Retouch on the skin color and revisit the color wheel to change the color of the wall to a color that makes the purple curtain pop a little more. Something that I'm quite happy with is the asymmetrical value that I made my piece have. Too much of my work has been created with centered content so it was time for a change here.
A C T
R E S P O N S E S
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
Well, this is a replica of one of my sister's baby pictures. I somewhat captured a tonality in terms of hues and shading in order to give a sense of form to the painting.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
I had no outside inspiration other than the photograph.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I did not research but I looked into semi-realistic portraits and the idea of trying to capture the essence of a person within a portrait includes a certain characteristic that is specific to the individual. In this case, in an attempt to capture the essence of my sister I opted for the usage of one of her baby pictures as to stage my point of view in regards of her persona.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
That the person depicted within the portrait greatly impacts the mood and theme of the overall portrait as they are the main focus of the work.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I did not make many, but that everyone has a reason to paint their subject whether that is for an aesthetic or non aesthetic reason.
Well, this is a replica of one of my sister's baby pictures. I somewhat captured a tonality in terms of hues and shading in order to give a sense of form to the painting.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
I had no outside inspiration other than the photograph.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I did not research but I looked into semi-realistic portraits and the idea of trying to capture the essence of a person within a portrait includes a certain characteristic that is specific to the individual. In this case, in an attempt to capture the essence of my sister I opted for the usage of one of her baby pictures as to stage my point of view in regards of her persona.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
That the person depicted within the portrait greatly impacts the mood and theme of the overall portrait as they are the main focus of the work.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I did not make many, but that everyone has a reason to paint their subject whether that is for an aesthetic or non aesthetic reason.