Process: Over the summer, I developed my photoshop and digital art skills but did not have an opportunity to showcase them until this piece. The piece began with a photograph permission from a friend (Thank you Than). The picture of myself is one that I took myself. I wanted to incorporate myself in order to create a personalized feeling as I have emigrated from India and seeing skyscrapers and such a large amount of cars was a surprise to me 11 years ago. The process of the piece begins in photoshop. First, I opened both pictures and created a new layer for the landscape so the background does not stay locked and I can manipulate it as I want. Then, I used quick select to outline myself and copy it onto the landscape picture. From there, I created more layers on which I chose multiply, so solid color does not block the underlying layers from being visible. I began to outline the picture. It was very daunting as the size of the picture is tremendously big ( three times the size of my 91cm x 91cm self-portrait). However, I was adamant on incorporating all the detail I could given the time constraints. In the future, I plan on adding color by using a brush-preset. With this, I will be able to blend and become familiar with photoshop painting, something I have not painted with before.
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Title: Opportunity
Medium: Photoshop Size: 122cm x 183cm Date: December 2016 Exhibition Text: Inspired by the breakthrough of one-point perspective in the Renaissance, this piece focuses on the detail and opportunities of the environnment around an individual. The arms are outstretched as if to seize or be open towards the unforeseen. The garb is indicative of travel. The cut off buildings and hidden convergence point indicate the dangers that await. To emulate Renaissance style and explore personal style, detail is taken into grave consideration.
Artist Inspiration: Pietro Perugino was one of the foremost artists of the Renaissance Period. As perspective was realatively new, Pietro succeeded in promoting perspective with the fresco above, now at the Sistine Chapel. An attempt to achieve perspective could be seen with Carolingian art, art from the 780-900s. However, perspective was denoted to be connected with size but the paintings were interconnected with numerous scenes (sort of like a panorama without form). Revisiting old text and knowledge, mathematics was utilised to discover one-point persprective which soon became popular due to its effect of representing one cohesive scene. In Perugino's piece one can see the effect of one-point perspective as it gives the viewer the illusion of depth. Alluding to Christianity with the title of the piece and the characters, Pietro situated the characters accurately in the foreground, with the rest of the lively crowd in the mid-ground and the structures in the background. This allows the viewer to ascertain the distance within the painting. The focal point of the painting is in the middle where the handing-off of keys is occurring. This is due to the size and the fact that is is right in the middle of the painting, allowing the audience's eyes to travel there instantly. Continuing, the audience makes their way towards the mid-ground and eventually the back-ground . The convergence point leads the movement of the eyes and adds movement to the piece.
Experimentation/Experience: In the future, if I am able to buy a good camera, I would like to continue taking pictures and transforming them into digital painting, where I feel as if, the artist has a lot more freedom and ability to convey ideas. Although taking a reference picture is not foreign to me as it is the initial step for most of my pieces (I need a reference somehow). Through this piece, I learned more about Photoshop. E.g. I did not know you could draw straight line by pressing shift and the brush tool. It was very helpful in creating large scale lines! I am looking forward to experimenting with different brush presets and effects as this picture will soon be colored.
ACT Questions:
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork. -I utilised one-point perspective to achieve form on a 2D platform as Renaissance artists did. This is also coupled with detail and realism. 2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration? At the time Christ Handing the Keys to the Kingdom to St. Peter was conceived, one-perspective was very new and seeing it in action promoted its use for centuries to come. 3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration? -Human beings before the Renaissance looked for knowledge on how to achieve better success in art and they attempted but to no avail. The Renaissance was a period of discovery and new applications of old skills along with overlap of subject areas. 4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research? New techniques must lead to success or else they are not widely accepted. Along with new techniques comes more options to paint/convey what the artist desires and therefore artists should always be willing to explore. 5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research? -Art is a subject that can stand on its own but it is very much augmented by other subjects such as science and mathematics. |
Critique: So far, I feel as if I was successful in conveying my idea. The building juxtaposed with myself do seem daunting but with my arms outstretched I seem up to the challenge. There is similarity between my piece and Perugino's. It can be seen that both pieces have the people in the foreground with man-made structures in the background. There is distance between the structures and man in Perugino's work, insinuating a detachment from the structures and an attraction to other human beings. In Opportunity, there is one sole person looking toward man-made structures for opportunities. The painting cannot be comparing to this piece's preliminary stage. If this piece is to be completed successfully, then it must emulate Perugino's technique in a sense. I will aim towards achieving smooth, realistic folds in the fabric and accurate representations of the buildings.
Citations:
Italian Renaissance. Perugino's Christ Handing the Keys to St. Peter. Italian Renaissance. Accessed December 13, 2016. http://www.italianrenaissance.org/perugino-christ-handing-keys-peter/
Michelangelo Drawing Blood. Perspective. Wordpress. Accessed December 13, 2016. https://soundaffairs.wordpress.com/production-themes/perspective/
Word Count: 811
Italian Renaissance. Perugino's Christ Handing the Keys to St. Peter. Italian Renaissance. Accessed December 13, 2016. http://www.italianrenaissance.org/perugino-christ-handing-keys-peter/
Michelangelo Drawing Blood. Perspective. Wordpress. Accessed December 13, 2016. https://soundaffairs.wordpress.com/production-themes/perspective/
Word Count: 811