UWM Mixed Media
Title: Renew
Size: 12 in x 9 in Medium: Mixed Media Completion: December 2018 Exhibition Text:
"Renew" is a mixed media piece that portrays an image that women have been accustomed to follow. This piece was created using acrylic paint, eyeshadow and ink on a canvas. I used Stanka Vukelic and Sandra Chevrier as my inspiration. |
Inspiration:
Collins, Peggy, et al. “Beauty Matters Most - Inspirational Mixed Media Folk Art by Stanka Vukelic.” Fine Art America, fineartamerica.com/featured/beauty-matters-most-inspirational-mixed-media-folk-art-stanka-vukelic.html.
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Stanka Vukelic is an inspirational artist that used her art in order to speak upon important issues. Happiness and confidence is her main point in creating art. She mainly focuses on the idea of creating somewhat cartoon images while placing inspirational words in the background that often times reveal what she’s trying to portray with her art. I decided to use the piece “Beauty Matters Most” by Stanka Vukelic in order to use her idea of beauty and integrate it into my piece. I decided to integrating her style of drawing into my piece in order to give my character a fictional look. I also wanted to use her technique of focusing more on the face of the character in order to make it stand out. With most her artwork she tends to add lots of dimension into the face and this allows it to stand out. She also adds lots of texture into her pieces to often times give the characters an expression while trying to represent beauty.
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Sandra Chevrier, www.sandrachevrier.com/papier.
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I used “La Cage ríen de moins qu’un miracle” by Sandra Chevrier as inspiration for my piece. Sandra Chevrier is a Canadian modern pop art artist and she often used art to express the way she feels about a subject. Most of her work is center on the idea of getting the structure and outline of a face and getting rid of the face completely while replacing it with pop art. Most of her work lies revolves around the idea of using heroes and comic books. I decided to use Sandra Chevrier’s idea of creating fictional characters in order to integrate into my piece. I am not used to drawing comical figures in my art, therefore, I decided to integrate a new technique and use these comical strategies to create my piece. I also wanted to use the idea of Sandra Chevrier creating pieces by sort of creating a mask with comics. I decided to use this idea in a different way by creating a mask, but not directly placing it in the face of my painting.
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Planning:
Sketch 1: My first sketch shows how I wanted to create a mask out of canvas in order to portray beauty but I also wanted to create an eye with make-up and the other one without it in order to show how society affects the way people view beauty standards.
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Sketch 2: With this sketch I wanted to make a darker version of my original ideas and I wanted to make someone looking in the mirror to capture the image or acceptance. I was going to add to dolls to indicate that one doll is looking in the mirror and she's seeing a "bad" version of herself that doesn't meet beauty standards.
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Sketch 3: With this sketch I wanted to create a mask out of plastic holding a lipstick in order to portray beauty. I decided to not go forward with this idea since it wasn't going to send out the message I wanted to portray. I felt like this idea was going to send out a negative meaning in which people should wear makeup to be accepted.
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Process/ Techniques:
Step 1: I went to Michael’s craft store and I purchased 2 canvases that measures 12 in x 9 in. I then took one of the boards and cut it in half in order to create a mask. I then started sketching the image I wanted to use for this piece.
Step 2: I took a Sharpie and took all the ink out and put it in a plastic plate. I then used a fine tip brush to outline and fill my sketch to the way I wanted it to look. I then used my Jaclyn Hill eyeshadow palette in order to incorporate color into my piece in the eyes. I used a brown eyeshadow and 3 fluffy brushes in order to get a seamless blend on the eyes. I also decided to take a Taupe color and create contour along the bridge of the nose to define it and make it look sharper.
Step 3: I went to Walmart and decided to purchase some false eyelashes in order to create dimension on my piece. I placed the eyelashes using Duo lash glue so that they could be secure and stay on.
Step 4: Now my “mask” was complete and I decided to go ahead and take a light pink eyeshadow and blend it on the cheeks of the face in order to give it more color. Step 5: I then took my second canvas and started sketching out the girl that I wanted to incorporate into my piece.
Step 6: I bought acrylic paint at Blick. I decided mix a fire red, bright yellow and white color in order to try and create a color as close to a skin tone as I possibly could. Once I got the color I was aiming for, I decided to start painting the face. I then mixed some white into my skin tone color in order to make it lighter so that I could highlight the high points of the face.
Step 7: I took a dark brown acrylic paint and decided to use this shade to give color to the hair. I tried to focus on adding small little brisk strokes along the head in order to givens illusion of hair and not a helmet. I also used the same shade of brown to contour the nose and give it more dimension.
Step 8: I used the same brown acrylic paint that I had used on the hair, in order to give color to the eyes. I then mixed a bright red, bright pink and white shade to crate a nude pink color to add color to the lips.
Step 9: I took a pink acrylic paint and decided to coat the background with that color as I felt it represented beauty. Finally, I took my painting and my mask and decided to glue them together using hot glue. |
Experimentation:
When I started to create the color that I wanted to use as my skin color, I decided to mix in red, yellow and white to get a color that I would like. It took a lot of mixing and adding color in order to finally get the color. After I was satisfied with the color I decided to go ahead and start painting. I didn’t realize that I forgot to make a lighter shade of skin tone in order to highlight the face, until I was don’t painting the whole face with the skin tone. When I started mixing colors in order to create a lighter skin tone shade, my paint was starting to dry and this made it harder to blend the lighter shade on the face. I had to go in again and paint the face all over while adding the highlights to the center points of the face to create a seamless blend.
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When I was applying the eyeshadow on to the canvas I decided that it would be a good idea to use a dense precise brush in order to blend the eyeshadow. This made the process so much harder and it was also creating a very harsh line along the crease of the eye. I decided to switch over to using a bigger and denser brush to blend the eyeshadow and this made it easier to achieve a blend. This made the eyeshadow blend easier while still leaving a rich brown pigment on the canvas. Also, when I was glueing down the eyelashes, I initially thought about using Elmer’s school glue in order to do so. This was a bad idea because the eyelashes where too heavy and kept on falling. I then decided to use Duo glue and it made the eyelashes stay nice and fluffy while sticking on to the canvas and still have a lifted effect.
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Critique:
Similarities:
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Differences:
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Reflection:
Overall, I am very pleased with my piece and the way that I managed to portray a feeling of acceptance and happiness into it. Sandra Chevrier and Stanka Vukelic were my main inspirations for this piece and they allowed me to find a meaning and integrate new techniques into my piece. I never drew cartoon like images before this piece and I actually found out that I enjoy that method. This piece also helped me improve my blending skills. If I were to change anything about this piece, it would be the fact that I should’ve found a way to make the mask look 3d.
Overall, I am very pleased with my piece and the way that I managed to portray a feeling of acceptance and happiness into it. Sandra Chevrier and Stanka Vukelic were my main inspirations for this piece and they allowed me to find a meaning and integrate new techniques into my piece. I never drew cartoon like images before this piece and I actually found out that I enjoy that method. This piece also helped me improve my blending skills. If I were to change anything about this piece, it would be the fact that I should’ve found a way to make the mask look 3d.
ACT Questions:
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
- “La Cage ríen de moins qu’un miracle” by Sandra Chevrier inspired me to integrate sharpness and color in my mixed media piece in order to express emotion and “Beauty Matters Most” by Stanka Vukelic inspired me to portray a feeling of acceptance in my piece in order to show how self-image can be deceiving.
- The overall approach Stanka Vukelic and Sandra Chevrier has regarding his artwork was to portray a feeling of love and a different perception of beauty that is not commonly seen. This inspired me to create my piece based around self-image and the way that society affects one’s feeling of acceptance.
- While researching, I discovered the impact that one’s feelings has when creating art. Chevrier's and Vukelic's work is centered in his feelings and his previous lovers. They try to use art to spread ideas and important aspects of self-image.
- The central idea revolving my research was the struggle of accepting yourself and not revolving your ideas of beauty amongst social media.
Bibliography:
Collins, Peggy, et al. “Beauty Matters Most - Inspirational Mixed Media Folk Art by Stanka Vukelic.” Fine Art America, fineartamerica.com/featured/beauty-matters-most-inspirational-mixed-media-folk-art-stanka-vukelic.html.
Sandra Chevrier, www.sandrachevrier.com/papier.
Collins, Peggy, et al. “Beauty Matters Most - Inspirational Mixed Media Folk Art by Stanka Vukelic.” Fine Art America, fineartamerica.com/featured/beauty-matters-most-inspirational-mixed-media-folk-art-stanka-vukelic.html.
Sandra Chevrier, www.sandrachevrier.com/papier.