Accentuated Features ]Size: 12in x 16in (30.5cm x 40.6cm)
Medium: Watercolor, Fineliner and Colored pencil on Illustration Board March 2020 "Accentuated Features" was inspired by the pop art movement, Surrealist Salvador Dali and by Belgian artist Rene Magritte. I wanted to visually represent the common conflict and saying "a game of cat and mouse". The title refers to the enhanced features of each of these animals that may lead to the mouse being caught or getting away. Cats have the advantage of eyesight, while mice have their acute sense of smell. |
Planning ]
Inspiration
For this piece, I wanted a good balance between realism and surrealism, or a sort-of pop art appearance, with a contrast of realistic qualities. My inspiration started with Salvador Dali, a Surrealist artist that not only created surrealism paintings and other medium pieces, but often did photography as well. He often used his artistic style to not only show what he saw things as, but also to connect people. Dali used his extraordinary painting skills to show many different things like our shared fascination for mother nature and the outside world, or to show his view of the catholic church. A select few of his pieces also touch on sensitive topics like death, self-torture and cannibalism, or things that are often unspoken of in society like his attitude toward sexual intercourse, or his sexual fantasies. They often portray realistic and imaginative qualities, something I wanted to portray as well. I also gained inspiration from a somewhat famous piece by another surrealist, Rene Magritte. "Golconda" portrays several men "raining" from the sky, all dressed in similar clothing and similar form. He was fascinated by the "draw" a certain piece had and what the pull was that caused you to want to look at it, making this his main goal. In an attempt to try and perfect this "eye-candy" quality, Magritte created many infamous pieces that are still popular and loved today. They, like Dali's, also pictured realistic and imaginary qualities, using many gradations and qualities of nature you would see in everyday life. Though he was a surrealist, we can see the remnants of other movements in his work as well. When Golconda was created in the 1950's, the pop art movement was beginning to flourish, and though he was known as a surrealism painter, we see the same repetition and foreground/background contrast that we would commonly see in a pop-art artist as well.
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Symbolism/Meaning
Hence the title, "Accentuated Features" was created to portray the best and most prominent features of each animal that may be the deciding factor in a game of cat and mouse. The cat may use its amazing eyesight to catch a mouse, however, on the contrary, a mouse could use its sense of smell to recognize the cat is near and escape. The repetition in the piece is meant to re-iterate on the strength of the senses. There is a division line that splits the two sides, and contrasting colors in the background. Being on complete opposite sides of the color wheel, they are the most contrasting colors, though the pink was supposed to turn out more of a purple. I wanted to make the eyes on the cat very, pun intended, eye-catching because it is important to the piece to show the cats strong sense. I made them a bright blue, also contrasting the orange fur coat. The mouse was slightly more difficult to do this same effect because a mouses' nose is so small and seemingly insignificant. So I tried to add many whiskers to add some emphasis, but it did not quite turn out as emphasized as expected.
Planning/experimentation
Drawing/Painting Process
I started by drawing out the general idea on the board. I then measured the distance between the eyes and noses and made all of them the same distance apart, leaving open space for the cat and mouse. Then I began with the cat and the eyes and outline of fur patterns. I wanted to use bright colors you would find on an orange cat to contrast the bright blue eyes. I laid a very light wash of color over all the colors before then proceeding to use a freshly sharpened pencil to begin on the fur. Along the way, I colored in the nose and finished off the eyes. I made sure for both animals I kept my pencil very sharp to create the most realistic fur/hair. Then after all that was complete, I went in with a white gel pen to add detail and highlights in the eyes and for fur in the cats ears and whiskers. I did the same process for the mouse as well, making the hairs farther apart to give it a rougher less detailed texture, followed by the eyes and highlights as well.
Compare/Contrast
Similarities
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Reflection
As Im satisfied with the outcome of my work, Ive learned to better experiment with my materials prior to jumping into the creation. I personally would not change much about the design, however the board I did it on was something that should have been considered. I couldn't do many layers of watercolor on this board because it would warp and peel, which rendered the watercolor to become a little translucent. I like the spacing and uniformity of the eyes and noses and how realistic both animals turned out. As realism vs surrealism was one of the main goals, I think that was greatly achieved. One thing I wish would have been more accurate were the contrasting colors in the background. The background color was initially intended to be green and purple, opposites on the color wheel, however the final turned out very pink. I think I may have been able to wash another color over this to make it more purple, if the board would have allotted this layering. To correct this, swatches on white paper may have been beneficial prior to painting on the illustration board.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork...
Rene Magritte used repetition to prove a point or reiterate on an idea he wanted the viewer to focus on, and I did the same in my piece using the main animals feature.
What is the overall Point of view the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors of my research gave great information of Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali's artistic intentions and common patterns in their works.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
The surrealism movement was a popular art movement that was made popular by several artist working together and producing some of the most memorable and recognizable pieces in modern history.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea was to make something with repetition used to show contrast between the differing strengths of the two most well-known rival animals.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
After researching Rene Magritte, I found that repetition and detail can attribute to the visual appeal or draw to a given piece.
Rene Magritte used repetition to prove a point or reiterate on an idea he wanted the viewer to focus on, and I did the same in my piece using the main animals feature.
What is the overall Point of view the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors of my research gave great information of Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali's artistic intentions and common patterns in their works.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
The surrealism movement was a popular art movement that was made popular by several artist working together and producing some of the most memorable and recognizable pieces in modern history.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea was to make something with repetition used to show contrast between the differing strengths of the two most well-known rival animals.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
After researching Rene Magritte, I found that repetition and detail can attribute to the visual appeal or draw to a given piece.
Sources
Images
“Golconda.” Https://Www.renemagritte.org/Golconda.jsp, 2020.
Dali Atomicus. 2020, www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-story-surreal-photograph-salvador-dali-three-flying-cats.
Websites
Rene Magritte. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.renemagritte.org/
“Golconda.” Https://Www.renemagritte.org/Golconda.jsp, 2020.
Dali Atomicus. 2020, www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-story-surreal-photograph-salvador-dali-three-flying-cats.
Websites
Rene Magritte. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.renemagritte.org/