Gouache illustration |
Did I do Good?27.94cm x 35.56cm
Watercolour paints and pen on paper October 2020 The focus of This piece is to represent the last stage of Erick Ericksonn's stages of development which is a reflection on our lives as a whole with ego integrity or despair. This piece also takes inspiration from minimalist artist Elsworth Kelly and Illustrator Hirohiko Araki. |
Planning
Inspiration
Inspiration for this Series in General were the artworks of Ellsworth Kelly (1923-2015) an American artist. Kelly who served in WW2 with the Ghost army was tasked with creating life like props to give the illusion to the germans that the Allies had more troops that they did and this was mainly done with blow-up tanks, truck, and fake artillery. After the war He moved to France and studied art there he continued to make minimalist art. The piece of art I decided to take inspiration from was 1970's Black square with blue. The reasoning behind that choice was the coloring and composition of the piece with the blue coloring demonstrating the subjects mood about his position of reflection and despair. And as an additional touch since it is the depiction of the last stage of Development I wanted to add an element of the end of ones life with thte black square which is commonly associated with the unknown and death.
My second artistic inspiration is an japanese Illustrator by the name of Hirohiko Araki and I have always had an affinity twords his recent works. One of the things he does when he depicts scenery in these charachter focused pieces is to simplify the background with simplistic shapes and colors which was something I wanted to demonstrate in this piece too. Another aspect of these portraits take the Cover of JOJOmenon is that Araki uses contrasting colors from the primary color used for the subject to the colors used for the background and sky. |
Another inspiration for the meaning behind the title was the 8 stages of development by Erik Erickson who was a professor at Yale and Harvard. The stage that I wanted to focus on in this piece is the 8th final stage which is a conflict between Ego integrity and Dispair. The basis of this stage essentially is when we reach the age of 65 we look back on our lives and contemplate whether our lives were succesful or not. When we are happy with the legacy we created we end up having stronger integrity knowing we did what we thought was right. Opposed to this if we feel our lives were wasted we can fall into a despair knowing one could've done so much more during their time on earth. Overall I want to mesh this concept with the artistic inspirations being the color use of Araki and Kelly and the composition of Araki.
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Planning Sketches
To aid in making the process easier I began making quick sketches to help me in how I'll frame the composition of this piece and I came up with three early concepts with the coloring already figured out before hand being a black square blue subject and a contrasting redish peach color for the sky to keep with Araki's use of contrasting colors. I ended up using the composition of the bottom sketch.
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Experimentation
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with switching from normal graphite pencils to colored pencils one of the things I tried to focus on was rendering the subject and the ground. Layering was key in this component and it was good that I practiced it because I had the same problem with tape that I had in the past.
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Process
I began with transfereing the image from my planning sketches to my paper in a rough manner to allow room to build onto the drawing further. From there I sketched out the subject with pencil using a general hunched gesture to scope out the structure of the subject and I refined his facial features and clothing with bolder stronger lines. I then used a ruler to help make the structure at the center of the piece stand out more. From here I inked him in and began using ocean blue (watercolur colored pencil) and non watercolour versions to make his jacket and hair. Light blue was used for his shirt and blends of all 3 to varrying degrees were used make the skin tone and pants. from here I used different yellows and browns to create the ground of the piece and layered it multiple times to give it a dirt-like feel. I used my black paint pen to color in the black square in the center of the piece. I also used finer tiped markers to ink the outline of the ground and te finer details on the subject like his buttons and sleve. Before using the goauche I covered the areas close to that area with painters tape to prevent overlap. For the sky I combined yellow, vermillion, and red gouache to create that orange shade. Although the manner I did this was to lay down drops of gouache and then use a sponge stick to spread the gouache throughout the piece. Taking off the tape resulted in the color of some areas leaving with it particularly in the center form and the subjects left side. I cleaned up the piece in all areas that were affected by the tape by reapplying marker and colored pencil. From here I removed the paper from the spiral anc cleaned up the top side of the paper.
Reflection
I am prouder in this piece than the previous one and My confidence in my skill to develop compositions is growing. I would have to say that the inspiration of Araki was clearer in this piece opposed to the previous piece with more color being present and the subject having more similarities to the inspiration than the previous piece. The inspiration from elsworth kelly came in which colors were used (blue and Black) and the composition of the piece as a whole. Although not as symbolic as it could've been the subtler approach to the inspiration fits this piece very well and I enjoyed making it. The inspiration from stages of Development was also a little subtler as well with the last stage being represented, the last stage being a reflection of ones life and the question of whether or not someone did good or not (thus the title of the piece). Overall I believe that this piece is a little louder in it's visuals but quieter in the symbolism compared to the previous piece and it was a pleasure to make.
Compare and contrast
Comparisons:
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ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
The Inspiration which was Elsworth Kelly and Hirohiko Araki had an inspiration on my work through Araki's use of color to convey emotion and Kelly's use of shape in his work as well as composition.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
In particular the article by Tjapan used a very positive approach to depicting Hirohiko as a very dedicated and hard working man & his interaction with Clint Eastwood also depicted him in the same light. The website for Kelly's piece focused mainly on dimensions and factual information of the piece.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I drew the conclusion that Araki as an illustrator also uses color in his compositions as much as his poses and fashion sense and that there was a methos to the way he used colorisation in his work.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme gathered from Erick Erickson's 8 stages is that of ego despair and the sadness that could cause someone.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I can conclude from my research that it nessecary to pay attention to the subtle things in other's work and in our lives as a whole.
The Inspiration which was Elsworth Kelly and Hirohiko Araki had an inspiration on my work through Araki's use of color to convey emotion and Kelly's use of shape in his work as well as composition.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
In particular the article by Tjapan used a very positive approach to depicting Hirohiko as a very dedicated and hard working man & his interaction with Clint Eastwood also depicted him in the same light. The website for Kelly's piece focused mainly on dimensions and factual information of the piece.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I drew the conclusion that Araki as an illustrator also uses color in his compositions as much as his poses and fashion sense and that there was a methos to the way he used colorisation in his work.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme gathered from Erick Erickson's 8 stages is that of ego despair and the sadness that could cause someone.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I can conclude from my research that it nessecary to pay attention to the subtle things in other's work and in our lives as a whole.
Bibliography
Kelly, E. (n.d.). Ellsworth Kelly. Circle Form. 1951: MoMA. Retrieved September 17, 2020, from https://www.moma.org/collection/works/109736
Matsumoto, M. (2018, November 18). Special Interview HIROHIKO ARAKI. Retrieved September 17, 2020, from https://www.tjapan.jp/entertainment/17230475
Mcleod, S. (n.d.). Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development. Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
P. (2016, June 16). Ellsworth Kelly Part 1. Retrieved September 9, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-5jBP3ttm0&ab_channel=Phaidon
P. (2016, June 16). Ellsworth Kelly Part 2. Retrieved September 9, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CVI77mwr1s&ab_channel=Phaidon
P. (2016, June 16). Ellsworth Kelly Part 3. Retrieved September 9, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnmwqLsfrSU&ab_channel=Phaidon
P. (2016, June 16). Ellsworth Kelly Part 4. Retrieved September 9, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejxRV_phhcE&ab_channel=Phaidon
(n.d.). Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Creator Meets Clint Eastwood. Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2012-10-14/jojo-bizarre-adventure-creator-meets-clint-eastwood