Project 3
Title: "mi vida, mi madre"
Size: 16 in x 16 in Medium: Drawing Pencil, Water Color November 2019 Exhibition Text The piece "mi vida, mi madre" inspired by Frida Kahlo's "Self-Portrait with Monkey" and "Self Portrait dedicated to Dr Eloesser" portrays an image of my mom when she was younger in mexico. I chose to create this drawing portrait because I've always admired my mother's strength.
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InspirationThe two inspiration for my pieces for my artwork were "Self- Portrait with Monkey and Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser by Frida Kahlo. The reason why I chose both of these artworks was because since Kahlo is well known for her portrait paintings I chose to replicate a photograph of my mom that was in a similar pose, Another aspect of the inspiration work that influenced the final piece was the background.
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Planning Sketches
Experimentation
Process
(1&2) The first step in creating the piece was to collect the things needed to start. The materials were a sheet of water color paper, drawing pencils, an eraser, water color paint, and water color brushes. Once the materials were gathered I began by drawing a rough sketch of the facial features and face outline.
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(7&8) To the left, image 7 shows the drawing after adding the first layer of shading and refining the details for the first time. I was not satisfied because it didn't look like the original photograph so in order to make it accurate I erased the eyebrows and eyes. After erasing them I drew the eyebrows as accurately as I could and then drew the eyes by measuring where they were placed under. The results after redrawing it are shown in image 8.
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Critique
Compare & Contrast
Similarities:
- Both "Self- Portrait with Monkey" and "mi vida, mi madre" have a lively and bright and light color scheme. - Like Kahlo's painting, my piece demonstrates the same balance since it is a portrait. - Similarly "mi vida, madre", displays the same frontal angle/ point of view. Similarities: - Both pieces display a portrait format. - Like "Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser", "mi vida, mi madre" use darker shades to create a gradient look on the leaves. - Similarly to "Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser" both artworks include a paint medium. |
Differences:
- Unlike the piece "mi vida, mi madre" Kahlo's piece "Self- Portrait with Monkey" displays a colorized portrait of person. - Another difference between both pieces is the medium. Kahlo's artwork is an Acrylic painting while my piece is a combination of realistic illustration and water color. - There is a difference between the way the women are shown and their surroundings due to the creation time gap. Differences: - Unlike "Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser" the piece "mi vida, mi madre" shows the use of bright hues instead of darker hues. - Another difference between "Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser" and "mi vida, mi madre" is the way the painting style creates texture in the pieces. - In contrast "mi vida, mi madre" has different objects shown. |
Meaning
- The reason why I began to make this piece was because I wanted to connect the theme of my work to a person. In this case I chose to draw my mom because she is very important to me and i wanted to express my admiration and love towards her. The exact photograph I decided to replicate through realistic illustration was from the year 198? when my mom was younger and it was taken in her hometown in Michoacan, Mexico. As I grew up she began telling me about how life was when she was little and how she went through so much hardship.
Reflection
- Once the final piece was done I was pretty satisfied with the way it looked. In the beginning when I had started to paint I did have a rough time with blending the colors without being too rough with the water color paper. Even though I did try to be gentle I ended up making the paper too wet and bits of it started to come off. As a result of this issue I decided to paint in sections in order not to dampen the paper too much. Every night after painting one section of the image. I placed the whole drawing under newsprint paper and added weight on top so that it would also dry flat and not wrinkly like it would be if I let it air dry.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you were able to "identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork" - I was able to identify the cause and effect of Magritte and Kahlo because the elements that are similar are obvious. The inspiration taken from Magritte's piece is clear through the way the painting is formatted. Kahlo's piece had an influence on the color scheme and cultural connection.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration? - My overall approach for this piece was to deliver the idea of how my culture is important to me and how it impacted my childhood.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration? - I have learned that traditions and culture affect a person in different ways. Just like Magritte and Kahlo culture affected their art and what they express in their pieces.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research? - The central theme of my research was to find the common values in culture, tradition and how they impact a person.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research? - Inferences I made while reading my research is that not only does culture affect a person but it also changes how they express themselves
Clearly explain how you were able to "identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork" - I was able to identify the cause and effect of Magritte and Kahlo because the elements that are similar are obvious. The inspiration taken from Magritte's piece is clear through the way the painting is formatted. Kahlo's piece had an influence on the color scheme and cultural connection.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration? - My overall approach for this piece was to deliver the idea of how my culture is important to me and how it impacted my childhood.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration? - I have learned that traditions and culture affect a person in different ways. Just like Magritte and Kahlo culture affected their art and what they express in their pieces.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research? - The central theme of my research was to find the common values in culture, tradition and how they impact a person.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research? - Inferences I made while reading my research is that not only does culture affect a person but it also changes how they express themselves
Citation [MLA Format]
- Self-Portrait with Monkey, 1938 by Frida Kahlo, https://www.fridakahlo.org/self-portrait-with-monkey.jsp.
- “Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser.” Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser by Frida Kahlo, www.kahlo.org/self-portrait-dedicated-to-dr-eloesser/.
- “Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser.” Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser by Frida Kahlo, www.kahlo.org/self-portrait-dedicated-to-dr-eloesser/.