Illustration
"Riches to Rags" |
OVERVIEW:
Title: "Riches to Rags" Dimensions: Medium: Gouache, colored pencil, micron pens Date: November 2023 EXHIBITION TEXT"Riches to Rags" compares a past version of a teenager during an evening and a current version of a teenager during an evening. The two paintings not only compare the old versus the new, but also address consumerism and the evolution of the quality of things and the quantity of things. This painting was created with gouache, colored pencils, and micron pens which are my personal specialty. These two paintings are versions of the painting "The Nightmare" and inspiration from the "Alice in Wonderland" illustrator.
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INSPIRATION
ARTIST: HENRY FUSELI ARTIST: JOHN TENNIEL
I took great inspiration from romanticism art, I started sketching out my idea based heavily off of the painting "The Nightmare" by Henry Fuseli. The first painting is a recreating of "The Nightmare" and the second painting is based of the romanticism style of "The Nightmare" and the children's book art style of "Alice in Wonderland" illustrated by John Tenniel. Romanticism art is described as a "celebration of nature and the natural world". Romanticism artists appreciate nature in all its beauty by using vivid colors and being unafraid with their brushstrokes. Henry Fuseli used a deep red color in most aspects of the painting, his use of the color red was meant as danger as the purpose of the piece was to depict a nightmare, however, I used the deep red color as a bold statement to depict the riches surrounding the girl in the center. I have always loved "The Nightmare" because it holds so much emotion and the limbs of the woman are painted beautifully. I wanted to keep that same body structure for my recreating, however I used a blue colored dress because blue represents serenity and beauty. For the second painting, I combined romanticism with the illustrations from John Tenniel in "Alice in Wonderland" Tenniel uses pencil lines to shade areas which create the image, unlike romanticism art, he uses a softer technique. I used a micron pen to create similar lines on the girl in the center to create the children's book illustration look. My favorite part about both of the pairings is that it's hard to pick which one is rags and which one is riches because they are technically both riches for different reasons, much like the comparison between "The Nightmare" and the illustrations from "Alice in Wonderland".
PLANNING
I started by sketching out Painting 1, I used the exact image of "The Nightmare" to create my version of the woman in the middle, I excluded the goblin and horse, I decided to leave out a few elements and make the sketch more simple so there was room for change.
After I was comfortable with the sketch, I took a ruler and created a 1" by 1" grid. After I had my grid, I used a pencil to shade the back of the sketch, but only where the woman's figure was, then I translated the major components of the sketch onto my poster board and added a few more elements by free styling. I made sure to research what classifies romanticism art and make a mental note of which colors to include in my final painting.
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I created my final sketch combining romanticism art and the workings of John Tenniel to create my own version of a children's book illustration. Much like the first painting, I left the sketch slightly simple so as to leave room for change if I decided to adjust some things. Once I was confident with the sketch, I did not create a grid, I directly translated the sketch onto my final poster board and started the process of laying out colors and figuring out what I wanted to change within my references.
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PROCESS
PAINTING 1
STAGE 1I started with the dress as this was the area I was most concerned with finishing. I used a light shade of blue to represent serenity and beauty. Once I had my base coat down I used colored pencil to create the shading and make the dress look like it's being worn and draped across a mattress.
I made sure to keep the dramatic lines creating the limbs of the woman as her body language was the most important part of the piece. I'm not as good with painting hands and feet so I decided to leave both out of my painting. |
STAGE 2Once I had the dress done I moved on to the skin portions and the red drapes. The skin color was a mix of yellow, a little red, white, and a little blue. Once I was confident in the skin tone (which I tried to match to my skin tone) I painted a base coat then separated the skin color on my palette to three separate spaces and added black until I had three darker shades of the skin tone color, I then used the shades to shade in the face, arms and chest/neck area. I then used color pencil to add even more detail to the face, especially the facial features. After the face was done I started on the hair, I mostly used colored pencil on this portion as the detail was so hard to create with a paintbrush, once I put down my pencil marks I covered the hair with another coat of the hair color to create realistic looking hair.
I moved on to creating the deep red color of the drapes, this was a mixture of black and red with a little yellow. I used this red in both painting one and painting two to add similarities to the pieces considering I wanted the paintings to feel somewhat connected. |
STAGE 3
At this point I had finished the major portions of the piece and worked on the other aspects such as the mattress which she is laying on, the night stand, and deciding where the pearls were going to be placed. I wanted the nightstand to look like antique wood, I did change the design a little once I realized I didn't like the swirly wood look, so I laid down a simple brown base coat, and while that dried and focused on the minor details I missed in the woman and the drapes. (mostly fixing mistakes I made). I also started painting the black background which was just pure black guache.
STAGE 4I finished the black background and continued working on the mattress and night stand. The nightstand's detail all came from using a brown colored pencil, I decided to bring back some of the detail I had originally drawn out in my sketch, but I didn't make the line work as whimsical. The last two things I did was work on the pearls which I created by dipping the back of a large brush in white paint to create perfect looking circles, the amount of pressure I applied affected the size of the pearl which I did some experimenting with. I then worked on the last portion which was the cloth laid across the mattress, I used the same red as the drapes and added in the deep green color I would use in the second painting.
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PAINTING 2
STAGE 5I started with the things in the room before beginning work on the girl in the center. The first thing I painted was the flower lamp since most of the colors used in the flower lamp weren't used again in the painting. I made a gradient with the pink, yellow, and green, then used a deep shade of green to create the light stand which is in the form of a vine. I then moved on to the red window curtains that is the same red I used in painting 1. I used colored pencil to give the curtains shape and depth, then moved on to work on the mat the girl is laying on and the shopping bags surrounding her. I used the same technique as the curtains, I laid down a base coat in gauche, then used colored pencil to create depth, at this point I started learning to be bolder with my colors especially with the colored pencils. Once I had that all done, I did the black background before beginning work on the girl in the center.
While working on the girl in the center, I used base coats of paint to figure out where everything should go, then added detail with colored pencil and micron pens, I wanted this girl to look younger than the girl in the first painting so I could really sell the children's book illustration style. |
As I started to finish the piece I began creating my lines to the girl in the center to give the children's storybook illustration style. To do this I used a micron pen and my finger to smudge the areas that needed harsher shading. I also used this technique on the shopping bags surrounding the girl. Once I felt like I had a storybook looking character, I decided this piece was finished.
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EXPERIMENTATION
I experimented with the girl in the second painting, I wanted her to look realistic but not quite realistic so as to look like it belongs in a storybook. I decided to sketch out body designs to figure out what position I wanted her to be sitting or laying in and how I wanted her to look, I eventually came up with a final sketch on the left.
Here I experimented with the feet of the girl in the second picture, as mentioned before, I do not enjoy painting feet or hands, so I ultimately decided to leave the feet out and strategically cover them with the red curtain which unintentionally created the image of the girl's feet to bleed, which I learned is a dream people have that is interpreted as one needing stability, this correlates with the meaning behind why the girl wants so many shopping bags, because she desires the stability of popularity that comes with having all the new things. |
I found success in creating 2-3 pearls per dip in the white paint, after the trials on the separate sheet of paper, I found a rhythm on the final painting and free styled where the pearls went.
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I experimented with the size and shape of the pearls on the drapes and in the hair and neckline of the woman in the center. I wanted to create a natural look to the pearls yet still give them their spherical shape, so I used a piece of paper to test out if the back of my paint brush would create a nice shape and size for all the pearls. I only tried it a few times before I realized it worked perfectly, I then moved the technique right to the final painting.
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CRITIQUE
COMPARING: Both paintings were inspired mostly by "The Nightmare" which is in the style of romanticism. I kept the red color of the drapes the same in both paintings since it seemed like an important aspect of the original painting. In the first picture, I kept most things the same such as the position of the woman's figure, the red color all throughout the painting, and the nightstand on the left side of the painting. The second painting was also inspired by the workings of John Tenniel in "Alice in Wonderland" which was my favorite story as a kid. I used the same crosshatching lines as in the illustration to create a children's book look. Another thing I noticed about the illustration in "Alice in Wonderland" is that the faces of the characters are slightly odd shaped, so I added a sort of unnatural placement of the eyes, nose, and mouth on the girl.
CONTRASTING: In the first painting, I decided to change the girls dress color from white to blue since blue represents serenity and beauty. I also made the objects in the room much more simple since I wanted to draw attention to the woman's dress and the pearls surrounding her. In the second painting, I made this a combination of the two inspirations therefore there are bound to be many differences. The most major difference is the addition of the shopping bags as these elements of the painting are completely modern and "futuristic" in comparison to the two old art pieces. I decided to put just as much detail into the shopping bags as the girl in the middle to symbolize the same value we put on people and items in current society. In modern times, it is less about the quality of life you live and the quality of the things you surround yourself with, and more about the quantity of things you are surrounded with. Unlike the two references, the human figure fades into all the other elements of the painting.
CONTRASTING: In the first painting, I decided to change the girls dress color from white to blue since blue represents serenity and beauty. I also made the objects in the room much more simple since I wanted to draw attention to the woman's dress and the pearls surrounding her. In the second painting, I made this a combination of the two inspirations therefore there are bound to be many differences. The most major difference is the addition of the shopping bags as these elements of the painting are completely modern and "futuristic" in comparison to the two old art pieces. I decided to put just as much detail into the shopping bags as the girl in the middle to symbolize the same value we put on people and items in current society. In modern times, it is less about the quality of life you live and the quality of the things you surround yourself with, and more about the quantity of things you are surrounded with. Unlike the two references, the human figure fades into all the other elements of the painting.
REFLECTION
Overall, I think this piece challenged me as a painter, I was able to explore romanticism more and create a storybook character which I have always wanted to do. Using gauche was very exciting for me because I use it a lot, especially combined with colored pencils, I was really confident in my ability to complete these two paintings well. Using inspiration from "The Nightmare" was really cool because I never was good at painting people before, but following the limb structure and emotions on the woman's face really helped me create a realistic looking woman laying on a bed. This project helped me grow as an artist, I now have a more clear grasp of how to create emotions by using color and facial expressions. Comparing two pieces of two separate time frames was really interesting because I was able to physically compare the old versus the new and how the term "Rags to Riches" seems to have gone backwards in consideration to how human life has evolved over time.
ACT QUESTIONS
My two artist inspirations are John Tenniel and Henry Fuseli, I used most of my inspiration from the romanticism art style in "The Nightmare" but eventually drew inspiration from the "Alice in Wonderland" illustrations to create my own children's book illustration.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
I wanted to create a comparison between the old versus the new and how the "old" picture was more beautiful than current life, how riches have turned into rags and consumerism has taken over since having more things is directly tied to ones popularity.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I discovered there are many similarities between the old and the new, and I found a lot of similarities between John Tenniel's art style and Henry Fuseli's art style as both allowed me to create bold lines.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
A change in environment changes a persons identity, this can be seen throughout history.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made inferences when comparing my version of the old meaning of riches and the new meaning of riches and how in old times, things were beautiful and well kept, in the new times, there is an expectation for what brands you own.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
I wanted to create a comparison between the old versus the new and how the "old" picture was more beautiful than current life, how riches have turned into rags and consumerism has taken over since having more things is directly tied to ones popularity.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I discovered there are many similarities between the old and the new, and I found a lot of similarities between John Tenniel's art style and Henry Fuseli's art style as both allowed me to create bold lines.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
A change in environment changes a persons identity, this can be seen throughout history.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made inferences when comparing my version of the old meaning of riches and the new meaning of riches and how in old times, things were beautiful and well kept, in the new times, there is an expectation for what brands you own.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/resources/background/tenniel-and-his-illustrations/
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/gothic-nightmares-fuseli-blake-and-romantic-imagination
https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qafhvbt98tABCZpoTJfAG3LvKzXFuAoCjOGNBROjUBKSWognEP6uo-PqYvMXa2JVSSjZOa7E93SLe3bArWio8zYNlaXWwV_i8pm4YoP5Tg87z-XK57wznknEuZ8iLh-d6OymjYPVOwSqDHaPnlLv-QUa2NkZzMkEY0uO3DmvcFRZTbqDjzJx5m8FQzKntgLrMlyKY8uJhLRjq3zMZYE-oqYaY9f4GVnKbQUCq9KUEg_9ImbndX_MQH4VOPdoYbOci9EBAdh42omNqtayLhw-qmMnAV_rdbn0YOQq6nnO-4C0v9grl8A
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/gothic-nightmares-fuseli-blake-and-romantic-imagination
https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qafhvbt98tABCZpoTJfAG3LvKzXFuAoCjOGNBROjUBKSWognEP6uo-PqYvMXa2JVSSjZOa7E93SLe3bArWio8zYNlaXWwV_i8pm4YoP5Tg87z-XK57wznknEuZ8iLh-d6OymjYPVOwSqDHaPnlLv-QUa2NkZzMkEY0uO3DmvcFRZTbqDjzJx5m8FQzKntgLrMlyKY8uJhLRjq3zMZYE-oqYaY9f4GVnKbQUCq9KUEg_9ImbndX_MQH4VOPdoYbOci9EBAdh42omNqtayLhw-qmMnAV_rdbn0YOQq6nnO-4C0v9grl8A