Title: Flower Garden
Size: 26 cm x 40 cm Medium: Oil Pastels Completion: August 2022 - Exhibition Text-'Flower Garden ' is a 26 cm by 40 cm oil pastel illustration done on paper. It was inspired by the 1864 oil painting 'Choosing' by artist George Fredric Watts. This piece acts as a study of blending with oil pastels and also as a study of facial structure and lighting. Along with this, it represents careful decision making at a delicate time during your life- for me, the beginning of senior year and figuring out a career path as well as an educational path.
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- Inspiration -
- Process -
After making an outline of my process and experimenting with oil pastels on the type of paper I was going to use, I took a few reference photos of my side profile. Typically, when I attempt realism I will take a reference photo and use the grid method to get the best proportions. This time though, I wanted to draw the face without using this method to test my abilities. I chose the photo that I think best mimicked the pose of the original painting and began to free-hand sketch it onto my paper. One thing I found difficult was the proportions of my nose, since it is much longer and pointier than other noses I am used to drawing.
After my sketch was completed I started coloring in the skin with the pastels. Because there wasn't one skin shade that fit the hue I was going for, I started by going over the nose area lightly with the peach shade, and then again with the tan shade. I blended it out in the lighter areas with the white oil pastel, and in the shaded areas I used a hint of blue and some brown, then blended it with the peach or tan shade. Around the nose and on the cheek I also blended with the pink crayon to give my face a rosy appearance, similar to those in Watts work. This also helped portray a theme of femininity in my work. Under the cheekbone I used a base of brown, purple, and blue, and blended it out with the tan or peach crayon to make it look darker. As I studied skin and color theory I realized that the blue, in contrast with the yellows and peach hues of the skin, creates a more realistic shadow appearance, as well as adds depth to the piece.
With a pattern for my skin-drawing process established, I colored in other areas such as the jawline and the chin. This is where I deviated from my reference photo, as my jawline and chin are not that defined . For the lips I started with a light base of peach and added pink and brown until I reached the hue I wanted. For the eyes. I colored in the whites of the eyes, and decided not to add in a pupil. The eyelashes were colored with silver, black, and blue, and was smudged with the brown around the rest of the eye to give the appearance of light makeup. The hair on this piece was something I initially struggled with. I did a base coat of a golden color for highlights, and blended with black and brown. Because it was more difficult to blend colors on the wispier parts of the bangs, they ended up being slightly more saturated than the rest of the hair.
The final touch to my piece was the leaves and stems of the flowers. I started out with a dark grey base and added light green and silver to the top and blended by way down with a darker forest green. When this was done I went back in with the light green and some white to highlight the edges of the leaves, to give them a bit of thickness. The further up the leaves went, the less light was on them. I used more black and more dark green compared to the silver and mint green in these portions. After the leaves and stems were completed, I used the black crayon to completely black out any remaining white spaces.
- Critique -
Similarities include:
- Layout and Composition. Because my piece attempts to recreate Watts work, the focus and the weight of the piece lies in the center, with the face being the brightest part. Along with this, both pieces are symmetrical in terms of the weight on each side.
- Warmer tones. Both pieces use warmer tones such as yellows and peaches for the skin. The red flowers and the warm browns of the hair give a feeling of warmth to the pieces.
- Symbols of femininity and delicacy. Watts work as well as mine contain small details that give an underlying feminine tone, such as flowers and pearls.
Differences include:
- Medium. The usage of oil paints by Watts gave his piece a more blended, finished, and realistic look compared to the more harsh marks of the oil pastels.
- Meaning and Symbolism. The original piece by Watts was a commissioned painting for Ellen Terry, and was created for aesthetic purposes. I used the red flowers seen in the piece as a symbol of confidence and desire
- Lighting and hue. The original piece had a soft, yellow lighting that highlighted the top of the face and the hair. My piece had more of a frontal lighting, although it was not consistent and realistic throughout the entire piece.
- Reflection -
This piece acted as a study of oil pastels and facial structure for me. I used crayola oil pastels, which, to my surprise, blended quite nicely and were easy to use. In the process of using oil pastels I learned better how to color match and use color theory to make shadows and highlights more realistic. Overall, the theme of the piece, which was delicacy and decision making, was second to the importance of the medium for me. There are a few things I would change If I had to re-do this piece. I would make the outline of the background around the face first to avoid overlapping and ruining the sense of depth I had originally created with shadows. I would implement more of the blue in my shading technique and make them darker in order to create realism in the skin. I am happy with how it turned out considering I didn't use my traditional grid method, and I did a good job drawing a face free-handed.
- ACT Connections -
1) Clearly explain how you were able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your art?
George Fredric Watts, being a commission artist, didn't have a super strong theme behind many of his paintings. I mostly took away the composition of his piece to use in my own, and replicated the painting of his I thought was most beautiful. I chose it because of its simple lighting that would be easy to replicate for someone using oil pastels for the first time.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Because its very unlikely that Watts had originally meant for the red flowers in his artwork to be symbolic of anything, they were probably just meant to be aesthetically pleasing and stand out. When researching the meaning of red flowers, however, I found that they would be a nice metaphor for the theme I had connected to previous pieces.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research, when looking for a painting originally, was realistic portraits, preferably painted in the 19th or early 20th century. Although my favorite styles of art were rococo and baroque, I also enjoy romanticism and decided to choose a romantic painting to do.
5.) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I learned a lot about oil pastels and how to use them effectively. For my next project I would love to do another oil pastel portrait to refine my skills and learn how to blend and use color theory to create shadows that give the illusion of depth and realism.
George Fredric Watts, being a commission artist, didn't have a super strong theme behind many of his paintings. I mostly took away the composition of his piece to use in my own, and replicated the painting of his I thought was most beautiful. I chose it because of its simple lighting that would be easy to replicate for someone using oil pastels for the first time.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Because its very unlikely that Watts had originally meant for the red flowers in his artwork to be symbolic of anything, they were probably just meant to be aesthetically pleasing and stand out. When researching the meaning of red flowers, however, I found that they would be a nice metaphor for the theme I had connected to previous pieces.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research, when looking for a painting originally, was realistic portraits, preferably painted in the 19th or early 20th century. Although my favorite styles of art were rococo and baroque, I also enjoy romanticism and decided to choose a romantic painting to do.
5.) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I learned a lot about oil pastels and how to use them effectively. For my next project I would love to do another oil pastel portrait to refine my skills and learn how to blend and use color theory to create shadows that give the illusion of depth and realism.