Puzzle of Identity
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Artist Inspiration
I was inspired by René Magritte and Frida Kahlo. These inspired me to create the paintings that I felt that accomodated to my likings. René Magritte was the one that inspired me the most when creating a painting of my identity and how others might see me. Both René Magritte and Frida Kahlo inspired the concept of having an animal part attached on the body. Frida Kahlo's brushstrokes inspired me as well with her painting called The Suicide of Dorothy Hale. 1939. The curtains that Magritte often used also inspired me to create my own version in one of my panels.
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Planning |
Brainstorming |
I have seen this project done by students and thought that their ideas were great, but I never thought of my own ideas. For this project, I wasn't really sure of what I wanted to depict myself as an artist or as a person and how much I've grown. Who I am becoming right now is rather unclear and I'm not sure of who I am at the time. However, what I can do is to create paintings that I believe (at the time) describe how I feel about myself.
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Process (Artist)
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Process (City in the Artist)
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Process cont. (Artist in the City)
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Meaning
Society is a big complex construct with many options, and there many options for how you want to associate with others, and how you may want to not associate with others. The same way that animals have niches in their respective ecosystems, humans can find niches in their societies. For example, a king's niche is as royalty. A president's niche is as a politician. A Olympian's niche is an athlete. Some roles are bigger than others. It is possible that someone's more appropriate and fitting niche is just being a McDonald's manager, and it is possible that someone's niche is being a ultra-famous spiritual leader like Jesus or Muhammad or Buddha. That said, once you have gotten into a fully-satisfying rhythmic lifestyle, then it is likely that you have found your niche in society.
Reflection
Overall, this project helped me improve greatly in the field of blending. As I continued with my paintings, I gained valuable lessons along the way. I struggled to blend because I was never good at that. There were times when the highlight or the shading didn't turn out the way that I it to be so I had to restart in that part in order to get the shading and highilight right. Also, as always I tend to have a huge struggle when finding the accurate skin color. Usually it took me about 30 minutes or longer, however, I gained the skill of gaining an accurate skin color. When I got the hang of it, I started to feel more confident in that field. I was always intimidated of the color of my skin because it took way too long and I tried not to ruin the color because I had to restart. Another struggle was body and face proportion. I feel that I failed when creating the body and specially the face. In addition, I also failed at painting the fur of the bear in a more accurate way. On the other hand, I succeeded on blending in an acceptable way that isn't that poor in technique. Another success is that I learned how to find my skin color much faster than from what I started. If I were to do this project again I would take my time when blending and getting the clean lines and the clean brush strokes.