Nature on Acid
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Starting Process (cont.) |
Sketches |
I began to brainstorm concerning the theme of acid rain. My pieces overall focus more on environmental and social issues concerning the youth. This time I was more into the damaging of human activity on nature. Since I was at the time researching acid rain for my science class, this idea helped me find ways that I wanted to portray the theme.
1. The first sketch was of a coniferous tree, where it is balding. I wanted to show the damage of such problem that the environment faces. 2. The next sketch was a hand trying to touch an object. This is a depiction of the "touch of man" This was something that I gad in mind, but it wasn't strong enough to follow through. At the end, I chose my first sketch, but I made some adjustments. I remembered that I took a picture in Devil's Lake, so I used it for the piece. |
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Artist Inspiration
I was inspired by the Fauvist art movement. The artist that inspired me the most was Andre Derain. Since I had in mind acid rain, acid (the drug) came in mind and I assumed that it looks like a high amount of saturated colors from my perception. The art movement defied the natural colors in nature, hence why the art movement and its artists , were called "the wild beasts". Andre Derain used bold colors that stood out and used color schemes that complemented eachother. This form of art, which he co-founded, used semi-thick point strokes, the same as Pointillism
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Process and experimentations
1. Pick a picture palette in order to use it for the color scheme. I chose the painting "Big Ben". I opened the picture.
2. I then opened a picture in whihch I took at Devil's Lake and made a copy. 3. After this, I clicked on 'image', and hovered over the tab 'adjustments' and clicked on the 'match color' tab. 4. A window was shown and I clicked on 'source' and chose "Big Ben" and pressed 'ok'. This changed the color of my picture into a similar hue as Derain's piece. 5. Then, I pressed the 'filter' option and hovered over 'pixelate' and pressed on 'pointalize'. 6. I began to adjust the opacity. 7. Then I right-clicked on my current layer and selected 'levels' 8. After this, I selected the sponge tool in order to desaturate the piece. I did all these steps and repeated them because I wanted to experiment with color. |
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Meaning |
Reflection |
The theme/meaning of this piece is that it concerns the well-being of the environment. Acid rain has affected the quality and health of nature causing it to die out due to human activity. The colors that I chose complemented acid, as in the drug, but in this case, it is to portray acid rain, This is a serious matter that is often overlooked. If little is done, the aftermath is destructive.
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Overall the whole process was difficult when it came to coming up with an idea. I had trouble coming up with sketches, hence the lack of at least one sketch. Also, I had a limited amount of tools to create the piece that I wanted. At the beginning, I wanted to create an impressionist piece, but I needed the oil tool. My version of Photoshop only had basic tools since I need to buy the whole program, which is expensive. Understanding the tools that I had to use was another difficulty because I was still new to all the features that Photoshop CS6 had to offer. I was discouraged at the final outcome because I had another picture of my final piece in mind. However, at the same time I felt that it was a success because I ended up using new tools, thus expanding my knowledge of the program. If I were to do it again, I'd plan more thouroughly in order to have the outcome that I want.
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ACT Questions:
1). Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
Andre Derain used movement and bold colors, which affected the way I wanted to portray my piece.
2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach that I can make out based on my research of inpisration is that he created his pieces in order to go against what is expected of an early 20th century artist, painting "normally"
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I came with the conclusion that people see the world in their own light. They can have different amounts of worries and content.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea was to show the effect that human activity has on nature and that we only think of ourselves and don't take a look at the effect that we have caused by our actions.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I have concluded that Andre Derain wanted to show how he viewed the world with his use of bold colors.
Andre Derain used movement and bold colors, which affected the way I wanted to portray my piece.
2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach that I can make out based on my research of inpisration is that he created his pieces in order to go against what is expected of an early 20th century artist, painting "normally"
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I came with the conclusion that people see the world in their own light. They can have different amounts of worries and content.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea was to show the effect that human activity has on nature and that we only think of ourselves and don't take a look at the effect that we have caused by our actions.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I have concluded that Andre Derain wanted to show how he viewed the world with his use of bold colors.
Works Cited
- http://www.theartstory.org/artist-derain-andre.htm