**Currently being redone
Exhibition text
Gratitude signifies the growth of appreciation and the acknowledgment of the significance of someone towards the cultural stories told by their parents when they were children. The piece was inspired by Norman Rockwell’s Tattoo Artist along with aztec and 1940’s Lost Angeles Mexican-American culture.
Inspiration
Norman Rockwell was specific and thoughtful of his compositions to accommodate his initial theme. Body movement and facial expression were leading indications for his overall concept Norman Rockwell’s Tattoo artist includes a sailor with a somewhat smug expression looking over as a tattoo artist crossing out presumably a past lovers name. Seeing someone get a tattoo made me realize that this continues to be done and is often used to express values. Thus, I noticed that my concept of have a sense of appreciation would connect with Rockwell’s work because I could incorporate it as the sailor being an older version of the boy in my negative illustration getting a tattoo that signifies how he has grown to realize the virtue of his parents stories.
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“Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera.” Brooklyn Museum, www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/norman_rockwell.
Aztec culture was another inspiration for my illustration. The Penachos, the feathered headdress, often represents aztec culture so I thought to utilize it as the portrayal for the culture and the historical aspect of the illustration. To illuminate the headdress it would be essential to incorporate its bright colors rather the earth colors since it is one of the prime symbol to the piece.
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Another influence to the illustration was the Pachuco style in 1940’s Los Angeles that began with the motivation of the Mexican-American youth. Mexican-Americans developed the style as their own form of identity and a protest for discrimination. The zoot suit is a major aspect of the Pachuco style which consists of that widen at the knee and get tighter down the leg with. The zoot suit also included a blazer that ends towards the knee. To show a better shine of culture and history.
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Planning
When looking at norman rockwell's tattoo artist I connected it to continuous actions of getting tattoos. Tattoos are a symbol for an abundant of things, and I decided to use it as an expression for appreciation. Looking at Rockwell’s piece I took in the sailors glance at first I wanted to show a pained expression but after some consideration I thought that in order to enhance the sense of appreciation I should change the expression to one of satisfaction rather than pained. To show a link within the illustration I decided to use the same aztec figure on the book cover of my piece “dismissal” as the tattoo for this illustration. To further the historical concept of the illustration I decided to keep the tattoo artist old-fashioned and have him wear a zoot suit the way the father is in my piece “Dismissal.” I also wanted to show the book cover of that is see in the negative illustration but in the end I decided against it
Process
I drew the outline of the figures and objects of the piece. When I was assured that everything was how I planned for it to be I began coloring with prismacolor pencils. I started from the bottom up and first filled out the chair since I thought coloring in the metal part of the chair would be difficult. However, I managed to do a good job but I i would have added more white to show better light reflection. I continued with the pants and shoes of both figures and added a jean jacket on the lap of the figure getting a tattoo instead of following through with my first intention which was have the figure hold the book that is seen the negative illustration. At first my form of adding highlights to the clothing was by starting with a solid color and and lessening the pressure of the pencil when reaching the intended highlight but the method changed to simply going back and gently erasing the areas.
Afterwards, I started coloring the skin tones of the tattoo artist and the hair of both figures. To get the buzz cut effect I colored in with black with a minium amount of pressure on the pencil. I decided to place the tattoo, which is a man wearing a headdress from the aztec culture, first before doing the skin tones of the figure because I noticed that if I were to put the skin tone first and then put the colors of the Penacho it would lighten the colors. I also decided to color the tattoo on first because the colors would appear to blend together if I would have colored the skin tones under it.
I then finally filled in the skin tones for the figure being tattooed and after multiple attempts i finally made the blending decent. During the first attempt I colored over the surface with a minimal amount of pressure and colored over it with white but the outcome made the skin look lighter than what I intended. I then erased the area and again used a minimum amount of pressure to color the skin tones and lightly went over it with a peach color to fill in the white spots and to make the tones blend smoothly but the peach color made the skin look orange. Still not satisfied with the outcome I decided to go over it with the mid tone color and the result were better that the first two attempts.
Reflection
The overall outcome of my illustration was satisfactory because of the decision I made to depict my theme of coming to a sense of appreciation for the significance of one’s culture. One of the parts of the piece that I am content with is how the expression on the figures face matched the dash of playfulness that Norman Rockwell uses in his work. I also am glad to that I did a fair job in blending skin tones but I know I can improve because there were remaining white spots. Despite the metal part of the chair being an almost insignificant factor of the piece, I am appeased but the outcome. I also would improve the appearance and add more shadows and highlight to give it the realistic clothing appearance. My intention of keeping the tattoo artist old fashioned could have been enhanced by hinting more at the pachuco style rather than only utilizing the pants as the representation.
ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon the work
In Tattoo Artist, Norman Rockwell intended to showcase a good-natured joke of a man crossing out what is presumed to be a past lovers names while the sailor slyly glancing at the tattoo artist as he does his work and essentially presenting how things of the past linger in the present. The intention is visible through the use of tattoos and emphasizing its permanency through crossing out the names of the women that previously played a role in the sailor's life.
what is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from you research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author 's approach to Norman Rockwell was that he was a high-spirited artist that used playful and closely considered scenes to help depict the message of his work.
what kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I discovered a new aspect of Hispanic culture named Pachuco which arose in 1940’s Los Angeles. The style began with the Mexican youth after at the start of a rebellion.
what was the central idea or theme of your inspirational research?
The central idea of my inspirational research rooted from playful portrayals of a man's way of showing his realization and appreciation to his cultures significance.
what kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
An inference I had developed in the midst of my research is that culture is being evolved in every aspect of history. I also concluded that Rockwell's intentions were to portray touching and close detailed works.
In Tattoo Artist, Norman Rockwell intended to showcase a good-natured joke of a man crossing out what is presumed to be a past lovers names while the sailor slyly glancing at the tattoo artist as he does his work and essentially presenting how things of the past linger in the present. The intention is visible through the use of tattoos and emphasizing its permanency through crossing out the names of the women that previously played a role in the sailor's life.
what is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from you research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author 's approach to Norman Rockwell was that he was a high-spirited artist that used playful and closely considered scenes to help depict the message of his work.
what kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I discovered a new aspect of Hispanic culture named Pachuco which arose in 1940’s Los Angeles. The style began with the Mexican youth after at the start of a rebellion.
what was the central idea or theme of your inspirational research?
The central idea of my inspirational research rooted from playful portrayals of a man's way of showing his realization and appreciation to his cultures significance.
what kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
An inference I had developed in the midst of my research is that culture is being evolved in every aspect of history. I also concluded that Rockwell's intentions were to portray touching and close detailed works.