Title: Rapture
Size: 50 cm x 35 cm Medium: Oil Paint on Canvas Completion: October 2022 - Exhibition Text-'Rapture' is a self made oil painting on canvas completed in October 2022. The piece was made to have an obvious visual connection, and to replicate the work of artist Pamela Colman Smith in a completely different style. It represents the emotional state of making college decisions- of fear and anxiety, but also of personal growth and moving forward in life.
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- Inspiration -
Artist in focus: Pamela Colman Smith
The original Rider Waite deck was illustrated in 1909 by English artist Pamela Colman Smith. While tarot decks had existed centuries prior, this set of cards rose to popularity and is the most widely used among readers. Each card in the deck is incredibly symbolic, with every detail in the card having significant meaning for the reader to interpret. The illustrations are flat, with shading being implied with the use of thicker or closer black lines and outlines rather than through a gradient. Colors are displayed in solid blocks. While the colors of the card depend on the suit and message, almost all of them have a cool undertone, and include mostly shades of grey, blue, and yellow. Smith used all of her available space, distributing the weight of the illustration evenly.
The original Rider Waite deck was illustrated in 1909 by English artist Pamela Colman Smith. While tarot decks had existed centuries prior, this set of cards rose to popularity and is the most widely used among readers. Each card in the deck is incredibly symbolic, with every detail in the card having significant meaning for the reader to interpret. The illustrations are flat, with shading being implied with the use of thicker or closer black lines and outlines rather than through a gradient. Colors are displayed in solid blocks. While the colors of the card depend on the suit and message, almost all of them have a cool undertone, and include mostly shades of grey, blue, and yellow. Smith used all of her available space, distributing the weight of the illustration evenly.
The card from this deck that I chose to use as inspiration was the Judgement card. This card pictures a cherub with a horn passing judgement onto people in coffins. This design of this card was made in reference to the rapture that evangelicals Christians believe in, however, the meaning of the card as it is read in actual tarot readings is self discovery, new beginnings, and making life changing decisions. I wanted to replicate this card in my own style in a way that represented the college application process, and waiting to hear back for that life-changing letter. For the visual properties of the card, its weight is distributed quite evenly throughout the top and bottom halves of the card, with the angel at the top being the main focus and the detail of the people at the bottom drawing your eyes downwards. The angel is the only thing with much color in it, and so it draws the most attention. The illustration of the card is quite vertically symmetrical, which draws your eyes down the center of the horn in the middle. The flag on the horn is St. Georges Cross, a British flag associated with the middle ages of England.
- Process -
After my planning was done, I started making a sketch onto my canvas. Unlike most of my other projects, this initial sketch didn't use a grid whatsoever. My only reference image was the original card, as I wanted to replicate its layout as closely as I could. I started by drawing a horizontal line through the center of the canvas that divided where the angels and where the water, land, and people would be placed. I drew the face of the angel first and then branched out from there drawing on the wings, the clouds, the robe, and then the horn, which extended just over that horizontal line. I then used a one-point perspective to draw the coffins and then I drew the people inside of them.
I did not use a wash on this painting, and so my next step was to get right into painting. I decided to start on the lower half by painting the coffins first. I used a blue mixed with black and white to create a dark grey with cool undertones. On the edge of the coffins, to show the effect of light hitting the tops, I used a much lighter shade of the grey and mixed in a touch of yellow in order to make it appear that the angel was exuding some sort of bright yellow aura. Inside of the coffin, I used an even darker cool grey.
Then I painted the face of the angel. At first, I followed the cooler undertones that I used for painting the coffins. I mixed a peach color with a dark umber and a grey to create my shaded areas, and mixed that tone with white to create the highlights and middle tones. I realized, though, that not only did this make the painting appear flat, but that I wanted the angel to have a warmer tone that gave it contrast to the rest of the painting, which was cold and desolate. I went back in to paint over the original face with warmer skin tones. I added blush and made the highlights brighter, in order to give life to the cherubs face. For the eyes, I originally went in with a light grey tone and added shadows with a slightly darker grey, however I liked the look of the blank eyes, and so I decided not to add in pupils. I used a dark brown to add eyelashes, however this made the male baby cherub appear more like an adult woman with mascara on, as blonde babies often don't have dark thick eyelashes. I went over it with the skin shade in order to fix this.
One thing I struggle with the most in painting is painting fabrics and cloth, which was why I was so hesitant to start this part of my painting. Because the original card was flat and had no shading on the fabric for me to replicate, I had to make my own folds with shading and highlights. I started with a medium tone blue-grey color to make the shadows of the cherubs robe. I then used a very light shade of grey for the highlights and blended them outwards in order to connect the shadow and highlights. This made the fabric appear not very fabric-like, as the folds were too soft and had no real shape to them. To attempt to fix this, I went back in with a smaller brush to add sharper lines to the shadows, although this did not fix it completely.
After this, I painted the people on the bottom half of the painting. This was another thing that would be difficult, as I had no reference photo for lighting whatsoever. I would start with the darkest shades on the body, in the folds, crevices, and where the light didn't hit. I used a dark grey-ish brown for this, and worked my way outwards with slightly lighter colors until I reached the very edge. For the very edge, I used an almost white peach color, with a bit of yellow mixed in in order to give the appearance of light hitting the body. I found that painting with the darker skin tones was more difficult, because as I mixed it with thinner, it was much more streaky and sloppy than with the lighter skin tones, however I used a similar process for all of the bodies.
Then, I painted the wings of the cherub. This was another thing I struggled with without a reference image for lighting or shape. I used white and yellow paint to make the base, and mixed in small amounts of grey to create the shadows. I made the bone of the wing on the top using the lightest shade and feathered outwards to create that fluffy, wing-like texture. The last part of my painting was the clouds. I started with a light grey and did the shadows in swirls of the cloud, to give it this really mystical look to it. I then blended more white into it to get a lighter shade and blended outwards from there, creating spherical shapes and swirls in the clouds.
- Critique -
Similarities include:
- Symmetry and balance. Both sides of the painting, vertically, have an equal amount of visual weight on each side. Similarly, the equal amount of people on both sides along with the centering of the cherub create this symmetrical effect.
- Cool, desaturated color scheme. In the original card, Smith uses mostly greys and blues to give it a desaturated and cool color scheme. I used the same technique, using mostly greys and blues in the sky, water, and clothes of the cherub.
- Meaning and symbolism. My piece attempts to carry the same message as the original card, which is that of personal growth and life changing decisions.
- Symmetry and balance. Both sides of the painting, vertically, have an equal amount of visual weight on each side. Similarly, the equal amount of people on both sides along with the centering of the cherub create this symmetrical effect.
- Cool, desaturated color scheme. In the original card, Smith uses mostly greys and blues to give it a desaturated and cool color scheme. I used the same technique, using mostly greys and blues in the sky, water, and clothes of the cherub.
- Meaning and symbolism. My piece attempts to carry the same message as the original card, which is that of personal growth and life changing decisions.
Differences include:
- Medium. Pamela Colman Smith illustrated her original deck of cards with ink, giving it a lack of complex shading and highlights. In my piece, I avoided this ink and instead used oil paints to capture a more visually realistic style.
- Visual depth. Because of her chosen medium, the original Judgement card has a very flat appearance, with no shading or highlights. My piece attempts to give depth to the original card by adding dimension through shading.
- Intended meaning. The original card was intended to be used as sort of a fortune telling card, with the meaning of personal growth and life changing decisions. While my own piece also carries this meaning, it is applied through the lens of a senior in high school going through the college application process.
- Medium. Pamela Colman Smith illustrated her original deck of cards with ink, giving it a lack of complex shading and highlights. In my piece, I avoided this ink and instead used oil paints to capture a more visually realistic style.
- Visual depth. Because of her chosen medium, the original Judgement card has a very flat appearance, with no shading or highlights. My piece attempts to give depth to the original card by adding dimension through shading.
- Intended meaning. The original card was intended to be used as sort of a fortune telling card, with the meaning of personal growth and life changing decisions. While my own piece also carries this meaning, it is applied through the lens of a senior in high school going through the college application process.
- Reflection -
This was one of the hardest pieces for me to get done, for many reasons. The first being that I had no reference other than the original card, and so had to imagine my own lighting the entire time. This made it difficult to get the consistent, realistic art that I was aiming for. The second reason was that, because I didn't like how the piece was turning out, I had a difficult time completing it. This piece took me the longest to complete just because I dreaded finishing it. It is a good display of all of the things I struggle at, including textures such as fluffy clouds, fabric, water, and stone, and anatomy when I am drawing from memory. Along with this, the piece is not obvious with its meaning to those who observe it. Overall, I am glad I got this piece done so I can learn from my mistakes and start with another fresh slate.
- ACT Connections -
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My inspiration piece has a very obvious visual resemblance to the original Pamela Colman Smith tarot card. It has the same layout and meaning as well as color scheme.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Pamela Colman Smith was a commissioned artist for a printing company, although she did have a strong connection to her cards and their meanings.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
In my research process I learn a lot about pagan culture and tarot cards, as well as the spirituality and history behind them. This one card in particular has a lot of British culture behind it.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made a lot of inferences about my own meaning of the piece compared to the intended reading. For example, my choice to remove the flag of St. Georges Cross because of its incompatibility with my meaning.
My inspiration piece has a very obvious visual resemblance to the original Pamela Colman Smith tarot card. It has the same layout and meaning as well as color scheme.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Pamela Colman Smith was a commissioned artist for a printing company, although she did have a strong connection to her cards and their meanings.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
In my research process I learn a lot about pagan culture and tarot cards, as well as the spirituality and history behind them. This one card in particular has a lot of British culture behind it.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made a lot of inferences about my own meaning of the piece compared to the intended reading. For example, my choice to remove the flag of St. Georges Cross because of its incompatibility with my meaning.
- Citations -
Judgement, Pamela Colman Smith- 1909
Justice, Pamela Colman Smith- 1909
Justice, Pamela Colman Smith- 1909