Title: A Clowns purpose
Size: 2ft x 1ft (x2) Medium: Acrylic paint on Canvas Completed: December 2022 |
- Exhibition Text -"A clowns purpose" is a diptych that represent that people don't always fall into their respective stereotypes. In this piece you can see that you won't always get what you expect from someone.
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- Inspiration -
For this painting I only came into it knowing one thing, that I wanted to paint something clown related. So when I found out that Picasso painted a clown during his rose period I was really invested in the painting. I enjoyed the use of color with the plain boring background that made the two figures pop out more. I also really liked how the two figures sort of contrasted from each other.
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- Planning-
When I think of clowns I think of the fact that they entertain and that they work in a circus tent. So I decided to think of some ideas that Included a tent, after drawing a sketch of a tent and how it would be I honestly really liked the concept. Although It came to my attention that I had forgotten one main point of the art. The fact that it has to connect to identity and since I didn't have an idea for it I had to drop the idea.
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After another while of brain storming I finally was able to come up with a concept that I liked. I wanted to connect my art to the fact that you don't have to fit into stereotypes and you don't have to be what others perceive you to be. Since I knew I wanted clowns to be the main focus of this art I decided to make one clown that filled with colors and another that's in black and white. You might assume that the clown filled with color would be happy and cheerful but instead this colorful clown expresses a sad emotion. You would also expect a clown that only in black and white would be sad but instead this clown shows cheer with a smile.
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Now that I had my concept all ready to go I went ahead and made the final sketches. This is where I went into more detail and made it more clean in order for it to look better. I made sure to draw more neat to make sure everything is readable. I went ahead and changed a few minor things that I thought would be better for the painting.
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- My Process-
First thing that I went and did was make the actual canvases and transferred the sketches onto the canvases. I decided that to work on the colorful sad clown first since I thought that working on the clown that would take the most time would be better for me. I first decided to paint the background to get it out of the way and not need to worry about edges as much when it came time to do them.
The first part that I wanted to do was the skin, I decided to just go in with a basic color and not worry too much about getting the shades right because all I wanted to do right now was get an idea of how it'll be and to get a bottom layer on. I also decided to do a little bit of blocking around the eyes and the ears.
Now this is where I finally got into the real painting, I decided to start of small and do some basic shading in. I went in with better skin tones darker and lighter and blocked out a few places to get a better idea of how the lighting is going to work. Later on I started adding more detail and defining parts of the face more like the nose.
Once the skin was finished I went on to work on the other large details like the hair and the clowns accessories. While working on the clowns neck I had some problems with finding the right color, and how I would color it. Originally the plan was to follow the sketch with the shape but I soon figured out that It would look ugly and weird. same with the hair, I was planning to follow the shape exactly but soon found out that it made the clown look weird and just didn't look right. So in order to fix this I decided to be more messy about it and not follow the guide lines exactly how they are. Of course I still tried to keep it clean and made sure it wasn't a bunch of messy lines, I just made it look more care free.
With all the main larger parts of the painting done I was now finally able to go in and do the smaller details. I had some trouble finding a shade of red that I liked but once I finally found it I had to keep in mind of the light source being projected onto the clown. So I made a lighter and darker shade in order to keep it coherent.
In order to paint the eyebrows on I went ahead and grabbed a pencil and first outlined them to get the shape right. I went ahead and did the same for the triangles on top of his eyebrows since I just wanted to make sure that it would look good in the end. |
Now that I have my first painting done I can now start on my second painting. Again the first thing i do Is paint the background so I don't have to worry about it later. I actually did this part with the other painting just to have it done so when I finished my first painting I could immediately go on to the second painting.
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Just like my first painting I started with the skin and a little bit of blocking. Since I have a specific idea for the face a did the blocking in order not to loose that shape that I want to have. I also started painting a bit of detail earlier then my first painting because I thought it would be better just to do it sooner than later.
Unlike my first painting I didn't wait to do smaller details until later at the end of the painting. I decided to do the smaller details like the mouth, nose and eyebrows sooner. I decided to do this part sooner because with my first painting I was a bit hard to get the shape right because the paint covers the guide lines.
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The next step now was to focus on the bigger aspects of the painting that includes the hat and ruffle collar. The Hat was the easier of the two since I had some trouble with the ruffle collar especially with the colors. I painted around the sad face on the hat because I just wanted to wait to do it until the end.
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Now finally I'm able to work on the smaller aspects of the painting, now is also the time where I go back and fix some parts that I don't really like. The first part that I worked on was the eyes, it was honestly hard to do because I didn't know how to do it in just black and white, but soon enough I was able to figure it out. The sad face on the hat was the easiest part since it was just a simple white circle with a sad face on it.
I also ended up going back into the mouth Because I didn't like how the lips and the inside of the mouth were too close in color. I decided to make the inside of the mouth a lighter color than originally and added a tongue since it looked weird without one. |
-Critique-
Similarities:
-Subject (the parallel of the two "clowns")
-Coloring, one subject is in brighter attire, whereas one is darker
-Subject (the parallel of the two "clowns")
-Coloring, one subject is in brighter attire, whereas one is darker
Differences:
- My paintings are portraits while My inspiration has full body paintings.
- Colors are more muted in the inspiration while My paintings have brighter colors.
- My paintings are portraits while My inspiration has full body paintings.
- Colors are more muted in the inspiration while My paintings have brighter colors.
-Reflection-
Overall I really enjoyed this project and it might be my favorite overall. Even with all the problems I had to face I really enjoyed it because I was able to fully put myself into the painting. When I was painting I didn't even think of it as work or something that I had to do, I just really enjoyed the experience overall. I was also able to have my friends and family look at my painting during the process and I was able to get some insight from a different point of view which is always nice. I also found that doing my black and white painting was much easier then my full color one, I assume this is because with my full color it took more time to get the right colors and it took more focus.
-ACT Questions-
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
I Painted clowns and used the same idea of brighter colors and lighter colors.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
he would like the clowns
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
4. What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
How people don't fit into stereotypes
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Stereotypes are bad and that they effect people more then one might assume.
I Painted clowns and used the same idea of brighter colors and lighter colors.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
he would like the clowns
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
4. What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
How people don't fit into stereotypes
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Stereotypes are bad and that they effect people more then one might assume.
-Citations-
Pablo Picasso Rose Period (0). www.masterworksfineart.com/artists/pablo-picasso/rose-period.