UWM Illustration
Planning
Inspiration
My inspiration for my illustrations is Francis Bacon. The Screaming Pope by Francis Bacon is was very intriguing to me because of the use of colors and the way he connected it to the unity of the piece as a whole. There is a beautiful use of rhythm using grey and light yellow to create a streak/glow effect. One of the ways he would create rhythm in his piece is by using long streaks of dull colors in the backround and in the frontground. Many of his pieces include disturbing imagery and touch upon political topics. In addition to rhythm one of the other subjects bacon studied movement and time. Bacon was interested in motion, gesture, and animation. Espically animation of figure and face. In contrast to cubism bacon's paintings use directional gestures.
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Another inspired work was his artwork, Velazquez Portrait of Pope Innocent X, it also utilizes the same complementary colors, yellow and purple. The use of negative space in this piece, creates a asymmetric balance created an uneasy atmosphere and movement. Unlike the other piece, it doesn't attempt to apply unity, but uses its lack of it to draw your attention more to the Pope's figure. There's a slight usage of greens and yellows in the face which creates an almost inhuman effect. These techniques have been used to express the power and confidence of Velazquez and how it brings a fear of having lost your faith. When putting the figure into the context of this piece the golden like yellow almost lures you into a piece that expresses themes of religion and divinity.
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Planning Sketches
My final sketch is supposed to show the opposites between my experiences with religion and my personal interests. The first panel shows how religion gradually ruins my relationships with people in general because of my identity. The second panel is how religion effects my relationships if I hide my identity.
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Process
Experimentation
For the first illustration, I was experimenting with the colors I would choose for my skin. I was deciding between bright vivid colors or dull muted colors. Seeing the vivid colors, I felt that it conveyed the strong emotion I was trying to express. But after I was half way doing to the first panel, I felt I wanted to mix some of the actual skin colors I have so there was some hint of a "human". Because I wanted to connect it to the metaphor that religion is gradually taking away my identity when it comes to the status of my relationships. During the coloring process, trying to color over the pencil was difficult because after I layered over the pencil with colored pencil, I couldn't erase the pencil sketches.
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(Click images to enlarge)
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ProcessAfter I finished my planning sketches, I decided on which to continue with. Once i chose a sketch, I took a reference picture for it. When I put my hand on my head it was supposed to express frustration and represent the concealing aspect of how I try to hide parts of my identity. Afterwards I did a quick sketch in my sketchbook. I wanted to bring an expression of being unfaithful which is straying away from the gender norms that I have been conditioned to believe from my family. Self-expression is one of them and so I wanted to give myself nail polish, since it is something that I have been interested in for a long time. I made the nail polish black to represent being unfaithful and it being stripped away to make my parents comfortable.
Once I finished with the sketch, I started to create a light outline on my drawing paper so I can start using my colored pencils. I decided to use a yellow and brown to shade my skin to express a golden texture similar to Bacon's pieces. I also decided to use tones of purple in the background and red and brown tones in my hair. |
I took a picture for reference for the second panel. I chose to put my hands together to represent the anxiety of being expressing oneself after being conditioned to ignore it. The sense of leaving what's comfortable to either avoid physically dangerous situations or altering relationships/friendships is something that's difficult to get out of. So, I wanted to express that feeling through what i do when start fidgeting. Usually I start fidgeting when I get confronted or talk about something important and urgent.
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Reflection
I felt like this project was a fun project with an interesting prompt. I learned about how colored pencils layer and how I could make a style similar to Francis Bacon.
Similarities-Rhythm using streaks of two colors. Francis bacon used purple and yellow while the more dominant colors I used were black and yellow.
-Sense of unity. My first panel uses the tinted black stripes to bring the piece as well as Bacon's. Differences-The subjects of the art piece are different. While the Pope is being expressed as powerful and confident, my piece is expressed in religion removing unfaithful attributes of the main figure.
-The streaks of the two dominant colors are different. While the Bacon's piece utilizes purple and yellow which are complementary, I decided to go with yellow and black because it conveyed the solemn feeling of losing self expression more accurately. |
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ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
The rhythm in Bacon's piece inspired me to use that streak brushstroke in my background to convey the an emotion.
The rhythm in Bacon's piece inspired me to use that streak brushstroke in my background to convey the an emotion.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The approach the author had regarding my topic was the psychological standpoint of his art.
The approach the author had regarding my topic was the psychological standpoint of his art.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc, while you researched your inspiration?
Ive discovered cultures.
Ive discovered cultures.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea is identity.
The central idea is identity.
What kind of inferences (conclusons reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Francis Bacon had a lot of controversy in his day.
Francis Bacon had a lot of controversy in his day.
Bibliography
Flaumenhaft, Harvey. "Francis Bacon and the Project of Progress." American Political Science Review, vol. 88, no. 4, 1994, p. 972+. Gale In Context: U.S. History, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A16531052/GPS?u=gree82036&sid=GPS&xid=31ca42cb. Accessed 12 Dec. 2019.