Exhibition
The main inspiration of this piece is the work of Gerald Lovell, specifically his impasto painting technique, composition and his drive to capture a narrative. This piece serves to express the content mood that one would be when settled in the place they call home.
Inspiration
The inspiration for this piece was the work or Gerald Lovell. Gerald Lovell is an artist in Atlanta uses the impasto painting technique and uses layers upon layers of oil paint in order to give depth and texture to his figures creating emphasis to his subject. His technique involves having the strokes visible and the different strokes can be distinguished. He reserves the technique for the skin of the subject of his work to contrast against the simple background While the clothes and background of his portraits are painted with smoothed paint, the facial features aren’t lost with the layering of paint for the skin. The eyes pop and give the subjects their humanity. He makes the ordinary extraordinary by layering the paint onto canvas to paint flesh that pops
His drive to painting and his following through with his chosen technique is his decision to paint as a documenter meaning that he paints a moment in any given situation wanting to capture a brief pause in a story and he believes that painting in a form of three dimensions best conveys his narrative. He states that his ordinary lived life is his window through which he observes the subject matter of his work. Lovell paints the figure of his work with thick layers of paint and develops texture to create emphasis as the painting physically comes out towards the audience. He also tends to paint up close and personal portraits of people to that the audience has a face to face moment with the piece, once again, to have the attention of the audience is his focal point. |
He states, “Subjectively, my interactions and my reaction to things as I experience them bring life to the art. Objectively, the subtle qualities of my experience are preserved when I don’t “break the fourth wall”, so to speak.” He paints as a documenter and believes that a script and roles obstruct the narrative.
In painting he works to convey not only his outward perspectives but also the internal struggle between the creator versus his choice of medium and technique. He finds it important to convey things with a certain degree of realism. To do this, he observes “as is”; As him being the documenter, he is careful not to subject the subjects to fictitious narratives. He does this so he can primarily be be critiqued on practice, technique, and overall quality of work rather than making work that attempts to induce a particular reaction from the audience.
For this piece I wanted to mimic his composition by having my focal point be centered and up close. I also want to replicate his technique by using the impasto technique only on the skin of the figure while also applying flat brush strokes to the background. I also want to mimic his decision to keep a rather simple and background that contains enough detail to capture a narrative while the main subject takes up most of the space.
In painting he works to convey not only his outward perspectives but also the internal struggle between the creator versus his choice of medium and technique. He finds it important to convey things with a certain degree of realism. To do this, he observes “as is”; As him being the documenter, he is careful not to subject the subjects to fictitious narratives. He does this so he can primarily be be critiqued on practice, technique, and overall quality of work rather than making work that attempts to induce a particular reaction from the audience.
For this piece I wanted to mimic his composition by having my focal point be centered and up close. I also want to replicate his technique by using the impasto technique only on the skin of the figure while also applying flat brush strokes to the background. I also want to mimic his decision to keep a rather simple and background that contains enough detail to capture a narrative while the main subject takes up most of the space.
Planning
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Process
- I began by painting the background in different grey tones and after the paint dried I drew the basics of the figure.
- I then got white acrylic paint and kept the same pigment from straight out of the container and applied it to the shirt area. Usually when painting clothing I would leave a bit of the area with shadows untouched but when applying the paint I did not worry about folds or shadows.
- Considering the technique that Gerald Lovell would use other than the technique used on his figures I decided to mimic that but with acrylic paint. Before the white paint could completely dry, I went in with a small amount of a light grey color and quickly applied it onto the white paint. For more prominent shadows I went in with a darker tone. I did not want the white paint to be dry so that the grey paint could easily blend in with the white and could have visible brush strokes. In comparison to the technique of Gerald Lovell I believe that I did a decent job mimicking his technique but using acrylic paint instead of oil causes it to appear less thick and textured.
- I then took the time to switch to oil paint and create different skin tones with a pallet knife and using the colors brown, red, yellow, white and black. I also set out napkins to clean the pallet knife after each appliance.
- When applying the paint, I used the pallet knife by picking up enough paint and layering it onto the canvas. Referring back to the work of Lovell I made sure to apply the lighter tones onto the canvas first followed by the darker tones. Whenever I did not apply a sufficient amount of paint the paint I had just applied would mix with the paint next to or below it which did not allow the two to be distinguishable. So to fix the issue I would use a pallet knife to scrape off the paint and remix it then reapply it.
- I then went in with black acrylic paint to paint the hair. However while I was painting with the oil paint the paint at times went beyond the faint drawing lines of the face. Knowing that if I put acrylic over oil the paint would crack and in order to prevent it from mixing with the each other again I used a pallet knife to carefully scrape off some of the paint that went past the edges and then went in with the black acrylic paint.
- After I was done with the entire figure I compared it to the work of Gerald Lovell and noted that the composition of the piece was a replica of his work along with the dull background to create emphasis on the focal point. The use of thick layers of paint was decently mimicked. However, despite all I realized that I relied too much on the pose of the figure to express the theme and decided to add to the background to not only have an empty grey background.
- Then I went in and painted the a table that would be cut off from the frame with tuna fruits on it and a small plant in the background
Reflection
Overall I am satisfied with the final result because looking at this piece I can see components that are stronger and done appropriately. My application of the Gerald Lovell’s impasto technique was replicated very similarly. However I know I could have done better because even though the colors match the skin tones I know that the features were beginning to become a little blurry. Also I now notice that some skin tones were too similar to each other and the shadows came out to be a little lighter than anticipated. The composition of this piece is also well replicated in comparison to the work of Gerald Lovell since the figure was centered and up close to the viewer. Not only that but the background was a decent mimic of Lovell’s since I did not out too much focus to the aspects and did not crowd the figure.
ACT questions
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your work?
The cause of my inspiration was my fascination with Paul Gauguin's emotive use of colour which lead me to be very expressive in my works color pallet.
2) What is the overall approach(point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors who wrote the work I conducted research for my work with used objective language in their works. They presented factual historical evidence on the painting in a professional tone.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
From my research I can generalize that the inspiration for the creation of works is rarely 100% original but instead based on the most impactful parts of others work to the individual.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea for my research was focused on observing the way Paul Gauguin used color
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
While conducting research I came to the conclusion that throughout time portraits have played an important part in preserving not only technique in style but emotive qualities in color.
The cause of my inspiration was my fascination with Paul Gauguin's emotive use of colour which lead me to be very expressive in my works color pallet.
2) What is the overall approach(point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors who wrote the work I conducted research for my work with used objective language in their works. They presented factual historical evidence on the painting in a professional tone.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
From my research I can generalize that the inspiration for the creation of works is rarely 100% original but instead based on the most impactful parts of others work to the individual.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea for my research was focused on observing the way Paul Gauguin used color
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
While conducting research I came to the conclusion that throughout time portraits have played an important part in preserving not only technique in style but emotive qualities in color.