Planning
Inspiration Artworks from Grégoire A. Meyer such as Reflection and Shattered and artworks by Salvador Dali including Ship with Butterfly Sails and Landscape with Butterflies had influenced the movement that I wanted my dry point piece to reflect which is the surrealist movement. I had chosen this movement because it embraces the concept of individuality while also having elements of the irrational mind. For instance, in the piece Reflection, Meyer wants the viewer to stop and think about the "complex relationship between fact and fiction". Meyer continuously demonstrates this from the way that he contorts the human body using 3D sculpting. I had wanted the same effect in my piece because I want the audience to take a step back and interpret the meaning for themselves. As for Salvador Dali, he keeps a dream-like, unconscious, feel to his art. I decided to go with his pieces that involve butterflies because butterflies can symbolize many things such as freedom, change, hope, life, and in most cultures, butterflies are associated with our souls. |
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Planning Sketches
After doing research on my inspiration pieces and the artists, I began to make sketches in my journal resembling closely with the art pieces I was inspired by. As viewers can probably tell, I implemented more characteristics of Meyer's work into my sketches than Dali's. At the time of drawing those sketches I still had not made up my mind about who my second artist would be so that my artwork could fit into the surrealist movement. However, I wanted my piece to express how change can be difficult for people in many ways. Change can have many meanings and symbolize something different for each person. Nonetheless, I wanted to use a butterfly in order to represent change. The main focus of my piece is for it to mainly ask this question, 'does our past actions, or the past actions of our family/ancestors, prevent us from changing'. Changing as in letting ourselves make our own choices, not tied down by expectations. For my first sketch, I had decided to sort of replicate Shattered by Meyer. By having the outline of the human skull lined and filled with geometric shapes representing fragments. These fragments are there to represent the feeling of not knowing how to flow with change or how to step out of comfort zones. That the mind is so afraid that it explodes with its worry. I did not choose this first sketch because I believed that it did not express the idea behind my piece well enough to present it through the artwork. For my second sketch, I had decided to implicate more butterflies into the piece so it would be obvious that the butterflies were there to symbolize something. I had drawn the eye without an iris or pupil because I wanted it to be interpreted as that the butterflies hold the soul outside the person, not letting them have control or reach to it. That it is so close, yet still untouchable. Although my second sketch would've represented my theme nicely I still was not satisfied enough to complete my dry point print with that design. Once I created the last one however, I believed that it would be more dramatic and be more thought provoking, which was my goal for this project. The skeleton hand reaching toward the human figure represents the haunting of expectations or past mistakes that hold people back from changing or making things happen. The human figure is constricted with vines while a butterfly patiently rests on its back, showing that as soon as the barriers are broken, change is likely to come by, when it's not being avoided. |
Process
1. First, in order to create my dry point project I had created three sketches and then chose one to actually print
2. Then, placing my sketch under the plastic plate, I used an inscribing dry point tool to carve out the design 3. Next, I gathered all of my materials needed to complete the print which included:
5. While the paper was soaking, I put on gloves and used the pallet knife to apply the oil based ink onto the plate 6. I then pressed the ink into the plate by using the plastic scraper 7. After pressing the ink into the plate I used pieces of paper to remove the excess ink 8. After the eight minutes I dried the paper in the towel so that it was only a little damp 9. To complete the print, I placed the damp watercolor paper over my plate and used the printing press in order to roll pressure onto the paper so that the ink would transfer |
Experimentation
My experimentation phase consisted of me having to make numerous different prints in order to receive the final look that I wanted it to be. After each print I experimented with how much pressure I was putting on the plastic scraper when pressing my ink into the plate. However, I realized that the problem was that I was either leaving too much ink on my plate, or I was taking too much off. In order to get my final product, I had completed a print, however, for the next one I did not add any more oil based ink. Because of this, the print came out with the least amount of smudging of the ink.
Reflection
Critique
I am very content with how my piece turned out. Although my final piece was very clean and without smudges, I still wanted it to be a little darker. If I were to do this again I would have took more time to do extra prints in order to have the final product have the right contrast that I wanted it to have. I also would have wanted some time to experiment with water color. On the other hand, I feel like my piece should remain without color for the message I wanted to project. I would have still wanted to see what it could have been like with color to see if that would have been a better option.
Critique
I am very content with how my piece turned out. Although my final piece was very clean and without smudges, I still wanted it to be a little darker. If I were to do this again I would have took more time to do extra prints in order to have the final product have the right contrast that I wanted it to have. I also would have wanted some time to experiment with water color. On the other hand, I feel like my piece should remain without color for the message I wanted to project. I would have still wanted to see what it could have been like with color to see if that would have been a better option.
Compare & Contrast
Reflection
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Similarities:
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ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork.
Dali's Ship with Butterfly Sails and Meyer's Reflection had inspired my piece by providing symbolism's that I also wanted to implicate into my piece. They had provided me with a starting off point as to what I wanted my piece to look like.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach that the author had regarding the topic of my inspiration was to provide information upon what the art pieces symbolism's were and how they were incorporated in the surrealist movement.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Conclusions that I had discovered while researching my inspiration was that I learned that cultures have symbols for different things, however, most of the time they surround the same concept of ideas. I also learned more about the techniques of 3D sculpting and how to provoke thought with dramatic elements.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea or theme around my research was art pieces that have symbolism of change and how that change is not always easy to come by.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Some inferences that I made while doing my research was that a lot of artists tend to use symbols that provoke deep thinking, or maybe use one symbol in a way that could be interpreted in an infinite amount of ways.
Dali's Ship with Butterfly Sails and Meyer's Reflection had inspired my piece by providing symbolism's that I also wanted to implicate into my piece. They had provided me with a starting off point as to what I wanted my piece to look like.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach that the author had regarding the topic of my inspiration was to provide information upon what the art pieces symbolism's were and how they were incorporated in the surrealist movement.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Conclusions that I had discovered while researching my inspiration was that I learned that cultures have symbols for different things, however, most of the time they surround the same concept of ideas. I also learned more about the techniques of 3D sculpting and how to provoke thought with dramatic elements.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea or theme around my research was art pieces that have symbolism of change and how that change is not always easy to come by.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Some inferences that I made while doing my research was that a lot of artists tend to use symbols that provoke deep thinking, or maybe use one symbol in a way that could be interpreted in an infinite amount of ways.
Bibliography
Landscape with Butterflies. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://salvadordaliprints.org/landscape-with-butterflies/.London, UK artist Gregoire A. Meyer #artistaday. (2014, December 22). Retrieved from https://www.artistaday.com/?p=24330.
Staggers, N., Staggers, N., & Nerissa Staggers. (2019, June 18). Grégoire A. Meyer – Digital Art. Retrieved from https://creativeartsadvocate.com/gregoire-a-meyer/.
Gregoire A. Meyer. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://artphotoexpo.com/gregoire-a-meyer.
Meyer, G. A. (2018, October 25). Digital Art by Gregoire A. Meyer. Retrieved from https://www.artpeoplegallery.com/digital-art-by-gregoire-a-meyer/.
Salvador Dalí Art, Bio, Ideas. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.theartstory.org/artist/dali-salvador/.
Salvador Dalí and Surrealism. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.thedaliuniverse.com/en/salvador-dali.
Gottesman, S. (2016, June 30). What You Need to Know about Salvador Dalí. Retrieved from https://www.artsy.net/article/the-art-genome-project-what-you-need-to-know-about-salvador-dali.
Staggers, N., Staggers, N., & Nerissa Staggers. (2019, June 18). Grégoire A. Meyer – Digital Art. Retrieved from https://creativeartsadvocate.com/gregoire-a-meyer/.
Gregoire A. Meyer. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://artphotoexpo.com/gregoire-a-meyer.
Meyer, G. A. (2018, October 25). Digital Art by Gregoire A. Meyer. Retrieved from https://www.artpeoplegallery.com/digital-art-by-gregoire-a-meyer/.
Salvador Dalí Art, Bio, Ideas. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.theartstory.org/artist/dali-salvador/.
Salvador Dalí and Surrealism. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.thedaliuniverse.com/en/salvador-dali.
Gottesman, S. (2016, June 30). What You Need to Know about Salvador Dalí. Retrieved from https://www.artsy.net/article/the-art-genome-project-what-you-need-to-know-about-salvador-dali.