Digital Illustration
Planning
Inspiration
Claude Monet was my inspiration for this piece because he expresses a lot of emotion through his landscapes. Most of his works has an intricate use of color which expresses a variety of different feelings. For example, in The Magpie by Monet he uses vivid colors that are in some ways over saturated to further push the boundaries of what landscapes affect a person's emotions. You can see how he uses repetition with the small brushstrokes used for the snow and some of the sky. This was a bold move on Monet's part because this was an early piece that reflected his humble beginnings in to the Impressionsist movement.
|
You can see in The Road to Giverny in Winter there is a slight use of line along of the snowy road, using hints of thick red and blue tinted lines. There is more of a saturation for the colors in the trees than the snow which creates a sense of contrast regarding color. This coloring technique expresses a sense of unity and movement. I plan to use this piece for inspiration by using that contrast in color and surrounds around the winter season. Monet likes to apply his flickering brushstroke method to most of his artworks and is almost a signature style of his and is something I incorporated into my piece as well with the trees and the snow. In Monet's artworks, he likes to create certain moods in his landscapes, in this one it is happy specifically, so that is the kind of mood I tried to convey in mine.
|
Planning Sketches
My first sketch would have been inspired by Pop Art and German Expressionism. I was going to add dotted shading and clean line work. The main subject of this piece is self expression and how it could be dangerous in certain places or scenarios. The piece would have had rugged shading in some places and would evoke a sense of inferiority which would relate to the subject's inner feelings.
|
My final sketch was inspired by Impressionism. I felt like this one would be the most enjoyable to do because of the color choice and how seasonal weather effects my emotions and what it looks like in my neighborhood around Milwaukee. I believe this is one of many uplifting pieces I'll be doing in the future.
|
Process
Experimentation
I experimented with the brushes that Procreate has, to try to emulate the brushstrokes Monet used in his paintings. I experimented with different opacitys to create depth in the branches and also tried to lower the saturation for the colors. I also messed with the snow's hue and how it interacts with the sunlight so warmed the tints of white and made it cooler for the shadows. I had Monet's coloring technique in mind while doing this. I tried to sustain a use of repetition while painting the branches with less saturated and more saturated colors.
|
Process
|
I started with a blue background added a white glow effect to show that it's the horizon. I used a brush tool in Procreate to achieve this effect. Then I started drawing the basic structure of the tree and then added a clipping mask to add tones and tints of brown. Then i added the snow afterwards using different levels of saturation.
|
|
Reflection
I feel like this was an enjoyable process overall because I was able to use a program that I am very accustomed to. I feel like in retrospect, I feel like I could've done a better job using the flickering brushstroke method for the sky. I used a big brush tool to create a gradient of blue to a more tinted blue. There could've been more of an impressionist style pushed into the artwork and I think that's mostly because I was pushing in some of my own style as well. The colors were fun to experiment with and if I do another impressionist inspired piece I feel it would be improved drastically.
Similarities-Use of repetition in the brushstroke. This can be seen in the branches of the trees.
-Use of oranges and cool grays to express lighting in the snow. Differences-Monet's backgrounds are made up of medium-sized brushstrokes while mine isn't. This is because I felt like the advantage of doing the piece digitally was having a simple background. This is mostly to get more emphasis on the colors.
|
ACT Responses
Clearly explain and describe how your are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
The technique of the painting is what overall shifted the tide of this painting. I could've done a realistic/observational painting but Monet is who inspired me to paint this with a different perspective in mind.
The technique of the painting is what overall shifted the tide of this painting. I could've done a realistic/observational painting but Monet is who inspired me to paint this with a different perspective in mind.
What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The view my author has regarding their paintings is that they always rely on the expression of the first glance.
The view my author has regarding their paintings is that they always rely on the expression of the first glance.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc, while you researched your inspiration?
The impressionism movement.
The impressionism movement.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research was impressionism
The central theme around my research was impressionism
What kind of inferences (conclusons reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Monet was very passionate about the Impressionism movement and getting his artwork recognized.
Monet was very passionate about the Impressionism movement and getting his artwork recognized.