Tryptic
Week, Month, Year.
This piece is to represent the flow of time, how it flows and the attempt to grasp onto it. This painting is supposed to give the viewer the feeling of being lost in thought while time continues and as time goes by the ability to realize it diminishes. The technique and style was inspired by Monet and Graffam which helped create a realistic yet sketchy texture. Overall, this piece was to show my appreciation of time over, well, time.
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Meaning
Milwaukee is the place I am most familiar with. It’s where I was born, where I was raised and where I spent majority of life at. It just surprises me, how fast time flies.
I realized now, that the older a person is, they become more aware that time is going quicker than when they were younger. For instance, when I was younger, I would always look at the time and think ‘Time is so slow.’ I always wanted time to hurry up so I can go home and do anything. There were times were I was having fun and time went by fast. For instance, I used to pretend, with my uncle, to film movies with a Dora play house and his Batman action figures. As I got older the time I took for granted went by and now I wish that it would go slower. Especially since I rarely see the family I grew up with because we all go to different high schools. Unlike before where we all used to go to the same middle school and saw each other practically every day. Now, I feel like I don’t have enough time anymore. It’s today, then at the blink of an eye it’s a week, month and a year later. Maybe I’m appreciating as much as when I was a little. Maybe I become distracted to the point that I lose what time it is. Maybe I’m too busy to the point where everything is flashing by.
When I was younger, I let time pass by even though I thought that it was taking it's time and now that I'm trying to hold onto it, it's slipping right through my fingers. At this point, who knows when the next time will be when I realize that time can’t be taken for granted.
I realized now, that the older a person is, they become more aware that time is going quicker than when they were younger. For instance, when I was younger, I would always look at the time and think ‘Time is so slow.’ I always wanted time to hurry up so I can go home and do anything. There were times were I was having fun and time went by fast. For instance, I used to pretend, with my uncle, to film movies with a Dora play house and his Batman action figures. As I got older the time I took for granted went by and now I wish that it would go slower. Especially since I rarely see the family I grew up with because we all go to different high schools. Unlike before where we all used to go to the same middle school and saw each other practically every day. Now, I feel like I don’t have enough time anymore. It’s today, then at the blink of an eye it’s a week, month and a year later. Maybe I’m appreciating as much as when I was a little. Maybe I become distracted to the point that I lose what time it is. Maybe I’m too busy to the point where everything is flashing by.
When I was younger, I let time pass by even though I thought that it was taking it's time and now that I'm trying to hold onto it, it's slipping right through my fingers. At this point, who knows when the next time will be when I realize that time can’t be taken for granted.
Artist and Culture
Monet, Claude . Water Lilies. 1916. Oil Paint. National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo.
Graffam, Catherine. Head High, Tears Dry. N.d. Oil on Wood. New Hampshire.
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My first inspiration for this piece was Monet’s “Water Lilies” and the reason being is because I learned his style of painting and it’s one of the styles that I enjoy using. I also chose it because I like the effect it gives at a certain distance where it looks blended from afar but if looked at closely it looks more like a sketch. In his collection, he applied different colors in order show reflections in the water. I wanted to do something similar and so I used an image a friend took for me and sketched it as the background. I also chose the background because it fit with the meaning I was trying to show.
Catherine Graffam was also an inspiration for this piece. For the hands and background of my piece, I wanted to use broader strokes yet to still look sketchy. I came found Graffam as I was scrolling through modern artist and her art work caught my eye. The reason being was how she managed to use broad strokes as her portraits faded gradually. I felt like this went well with what I wanted to do with the hands especially since I wanted to try to add sand and water to the hands. But I ended up, combining Monet's and her styles together in order to add a texture to the sand. Sand, for me, is something I never attempted to paint so using their styles made it easier for me to paint and give it the look I was aiming for. |
Planning |
Process |
When I started my tryptic I had trouble deciding what I should create and what the message should be. So I just started sketching until I came up with something. I first wanted to do something with sleep and time but later I realized that I had trouble connecting it to my story. So, I decided to scrap the idea and sketch again until I found a picture a friend gave me of the lake with many boats at the lake. It gave me the idea of where I was from and how close I am to Milwaukee. I connected that to the time I spent in Milwaukee since I was born and how much time flew by. To show time I used water to represent the fluidity and sand to represent time itself and hands to show me trying to grasp it.
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1) First I created the canvases using 1 foot frames and 2 feet for the height of this project. Connected them and used a staple gun to keep it sturdy.
2) I then measured a piece of canvas/ cloth to fit the frame and stapled the sides down on the wooded frame, cutting out the excess after that. 3) I repeated these steps 2 more times having a total of 3 canvases. 4) Using a light blue, I added a base coat to each of the canvases. I went over the canvases again to make sure it was completely covered with paint. 5) I set them aside and started using Photoshop to arrange the images I took to fit what I wanted. 5) Using the projector, I traced the images to the different canvases to get an ideas of the areas where it changes color. 6) I started painting the major area like the water, rocks and hands using thick brushes. later I added the smaller details using thinner brushes. |
Experimentation
In the beginning I experimented on where I want to place the hands on my canvas. I played around with the size and direction until I was satisfies with the placement in Photoshop. Another are I experimented on was the rocks since I didn't really know how to go about painting them. I ended up looking up different ways of painting rock and came upon a small tutorial. I used it to get an idea of how shading and details should be added and applied it with my inspiration. I also experimented on the coat and wrinkles since it's difficult to paint them. I ended up using the picture I took as reference which ended up helping a lot.
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Reflection
I am very happy for the way this turned out. I felt like this was great practice for me in painting in different techniques and using acrylic. There was a lot of trial and error throughout this process which taught me what to do and what not to do if I end up painting more later in the future. As for the actual painting itself and the concept of time, I had trouble coming up with ways that it would tie back to the theme of this project. Thanks to a friend that gave me an photograph of the lake, it inspired me to use that image for the background which would represent the city I grew up in. The hands holding sand and water represent me at to different points in life. One holding sand, letting it fall. This represents me as a little kid who couldn't really appreciate the time I had as a child and I used sand because I can grab sand and hold onto it. In the other, I am trying to grasp water and this represent my current self trying to use time but it's going by too fast. It took a while for me to come up with the imagery but thankfully Monet and the image from my friend inspired me.
I knew from the beginning I wanted to do something relating to Monet and his 'Water Lilies' painting. The water especially since I liked how the water would look blended from afar but in reality it was a bunch of different strokes of different colors. I used this technique to create the lake, the person and the sand since I found it appropriate to painting them as small stokes. Another one of my inspirations was Catherine Graffam, who uses broader strokes in her paintings and they somewhat fade at the edges. Her style was the most difficult for me to figure out how to do, until now I still haven't properly grasped onto the basics in my opinion but I get the idea. I decided to use her style mainly on the boats and the rocks but the rocks are definitely where her style can be seen. Combining both their styles of painting, I felt that they complimented each other and were a great way for me to get my message acrossed.
I knew from the beginning I wanted to do something relating to Monet and his 'Water Lilies' painting. The water especially since I liked how the water would look blended from afar but in reality it was a bunch of different strokes of different colors. I used this technique to create the lake, the person and the sand since I found it appropriate to painting them as small stokes. Another one of my inspirations was Catherine Graffam, who uses broader strokes in her paintings and they somewhat fade at the edges. Her style was the most difficult for me to figure out how to do, until now I still haven't properly grasped onto the basics in my opinion but I get the idea. I decided to use her style mainly on the boats and the rocks but the rocks are definitely where her style can be seen. Combining both their styles of painting, I felt that they complimented each other and were a great way for me to get my message acrossed.
ACT Question
1) How are you able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork?
If looked at closely, one can identify that there is a variety of different types of stokes at different parts if the painting. I used Graffam's style as well as Monet's to paint different sections of the painting to represent certain aspects.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author of my research had an appreciation for Monet's work. Graffam is a modern artist so there wasn't much on her currently.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I discovered that Graffam is a transgender woman and that her painting are based on the issue of transgender equality. I cam to the conclusion that she is very independent and strong with her beliefs.
4) What was the central idea for theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea for my research was day dreaming in a way where it's hard to be aware of the fact that time goes by quickly.
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I infer that not many artist are appreciated as much when their alive compared to when they pass away. For instance, I don't know of many modern artist but I do know about deceased ones.
If looked at closely, one can identify that there is a variety of different types of stokes at different parts if the painting. I used Graffam's style as well as Monet's to paint different sections of the painting to represent certain aspects.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author of my research had an appreciation for Monet's work. Graffam is a modern artist so there wasn't much on her currently.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I discovered that Graffam is a transgender woman and that her painting are based on the issue of transgender equality. I cam to the conclusion that she is very independent and strong with her beliefs.
4) What was the central idea for theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea for my research was day dreaming in a way where it's hard to be aware of the fact that time goes by quickly.
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I infer that not many artist are appreciated as much when their alive compared to when they pass away. For instance, I don't know of many modern artist but I do know about deceased ones.
Bibliography
-"Catherine graffam." Catherine graffam. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2017.
-"Claude Oscar Monet - The complete works." Claude Oscar Monet - The complete works. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2017.
-Graffam, Catherine. Head High, Tears Dry. N.d. Oil on Wood. New Hampshire.
-Monet, Claude . Water Lilies. 1916. Oil Paint. National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo.
-"Claude Oscar Monet - The complete works." Claude Oscar Monet - The complete works. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2017.
-Graffam, Catherine. Head High, Tears Dry. N.d. Oil on Wood. New Hampshire.
-Monet, Claude . Water Lilies. 1916. Oil Paint. National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo.