Tryptic |
Three Studies of a Cart Pusher30.48cm x 60.96cm (all three)
Acrylic on canvas November-December 2019 Portraying a young cart pusher breaking himself for his job "Three studies of a cart Pusher" is inspired by American social realism as well as Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama's dot filled rooms. |
Planning
Inspiration
My main inspiration was Edward Hopper's "New York Office (1962)" Which depicts a women working in a post office for the most part by herself other than two other figure in the background, another thing to take note of is the fact there are no passers the whole piece has a sort of emptiness to it. Edward noted that some of his pieces were called "Retarded Moments" which were little snapshots of urban life. With all the hectic things in life at a stand still certain things could be emphasized or given less focus then the rest of the painting. This concept of freezing the hectic nature of the modern day life and as a person who does physical labor I was fascinated by how he could capture this feeling in just a frame of a painting. This technique was a huge inspiration for the second panel. Another one of his pieces named Automat made in 1927 depicts a young woman staring almost reflecting into a coffee cup, this was a big inspiration for my third panel. My other inspiration was Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama and her polka dot filled rooms. Kusama suffers from mental illness and uses the polka dots to describe a field she gets lost in where she feels as if she was "self -Obliterating" (Tate). I interpreted this "self-obliteration" as both a mental way of breaking down and a physical way. I did this since in work i always end up feeling pain not only in my back but knees and some of my joints.
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The psychology behind the colors i use was taken from Empowered by color, I used green and orange to show youth and health to symbolize me only breaking myself for mostly physical gain and things youths do such as school. Then i used brown and gold in the second panel to show material gain and seriousness similar to work just being a stale place which is only useful for gaining money. And in the last panel i use turquoise and silver to show understanding and a calm feeling the subject receives from reflecting n whether working himself is worth the trouble or not.
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Planning Sketches
In this sketch I was trying to feel out what i wanted to do with my tryptic and exploring the potential themes I could explore while also looking at different periods. Atnthis stage i knew I wanted to do social realism but didn't know whether I wanted american social realism or German. but the layout of the sketch was always the same. That being me, me working hard, and me looking disappointed by my check.
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Experimentation
Early in the process I experimented with transferring the images without a projector which was a disaster if you ask me. Other than that utter failure I experimented with a lot of blending and mixing colors to make this piece. In particular making a abundance of skin tone was very trouble some but in the end it turned out nice. But one error i did make was not stretching my third canvas out enough since around the center it droops a bit but that is a simple error that could have been corrected if I didn't find it so far into the whole process.
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Process
I started by stretching My canvas, I did this by putting the stretcher bars in a 1ft by 2ft formation. After that i brought out the canvas and laid the frame on it. From here I would stretch the canvas on the frame and then i stapled the canvas to the fram with a staple gun leaving about a 1 in space from the each corner. From here I would check to see how tight the canvas is on the frame, make sure that when you tap on it you get a little give from it. Now you gesso the whole thing very liberally. Then i used a projector to project the images i wanted onto the canvas to transfer them in pencil.
After this I used my brushes to paint the image on the canvas and mixed colors if needed. To make the dots I improvised with a cinnamon roll can i put paint on the top of the can pressed it on the canvas and filled the rest in with a brush. To create the thinner lines I used just the brim of the can. And if I wanted a clean line on the canvas I used masking tape.
After this I used my brushes to paint the image on the canvas and mixed colors if needed. To make the dots I improvised with a cinnamon roll can i put paint on the top of the can pressed it on the canvas and filled the rest in with a brush. To create the thinner lines I used just the brim of the can. And if I wanted a clean line on the canvas I used masking tape.
Reflection
Overall I am very happy with the result of the painting. This is my first experience painting on a canvas and I enjoyed it. Although I wished that I didn't have such little time as i only worked on this for around 2 weeks and on average only dedicating a total of around 40 hrs on it. With more time to work on it I would have added more layers and a base coat. I wish I would have bout a fine liner brush as well since I both have very shaky hands and the brushes were semi decent. But overall I believe that I captured the meaning in this piece very well with Hopper's ideas of hectic moments and reflection as well as Kusama's theme of Self obliteration and my use of color in this piece.
Compare and contrast
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 yayoi Kusama effected my work and color choice by making me reflect on how I could manipulate color to make the viewer feel a certain way.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The sites I used for the most part just showed the artwork and the information regarding dimensions but those that talked about the art and the artists spoke much of Yayoi's mental state and the way Edward built his paintings.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I drew the conclusion that many artist such as Yayoi kusama make art as a way to cope with different aspects whether for mental health or to deliver a message about the hectic nature of the work day.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea is that of inquiry and reflection of whether work and monetary gain is worth the stress
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I can conclude from my research that when we work we have to keep focused because if not we will never have the time we need to reflect on our decisions,
The Inspiration which was yayoi Kusama effected my work and color choice by making me reflect on how I could manipulate color to make the viewer feel a certain way.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The sites I used for the most part just showed the artwork and the information regarding dimensions but those that talked about the art and the artists spoke much of Yayoi's mental state and the way Edward built his paintings.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I drew the conclusion that many artist such as Yayoi kusama make art as a way to cope with different aspects whether for mental health or to deliver a message about the hectic nature of the work day.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea is that of inquiry and reflection of whether work and monetary gain is worth the stress
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I can conclude from my research that when we work we have to keep focused because if not we will never have the time we need to reflect on our decisions,
Bibliography
DOTS OBSESSION. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://play.qagoma.qld.gov.au/looknowseeforever/works/dots/.
Edward Hopper and his paintings. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.edwardhopper.net/.
7, kesironi J. (2018, July 10). Yayoi Kusama – Beyond Colorful. Retrieved December 8, 2019, from http://leatriceeiseman.com/yayoi-kusama-beyond-colorful/.
Self-portrait by Edward Hopper: History, Analysis & Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://arthive.com/edwardhopper/works/324283~Selfportrait#show.
Tate. (n.d.). Who is Yayoi Kusama? – Who Are They? Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/who-is/who-yayoi-kusama.
The Color Silver. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-silver.html.
Edward Hopper and his paintings. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.edwardhopper.net/.
7, kesironi J. (2018, July 10). Yayoi Kusama – Beyond Colorful. Retrieved December 8, 2019, from http://leatriceeiseman.com/yayoi-kusama-beyond-colorful/.
Self-portrait by Edward Hopper: History, Analysis & Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://arthive.com/edwardhopper/works/324283~Selfportrait#show.
Tate. (n.d.). Who is Yayoi Kusama? – Who Are They? Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/who-is/who-yayoi-kusama.
The Color Silver. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-silver.html.