Narrative
Historically important events
Legends
Real events
fiction
Stories
fairy-tale wars
Rebellion/revolution
mythology
Mythical creatures
People
Who they are/were
Narrative
Portraiture Narrative through people
Gives hints to who someone is
Narrative of their life
people’s feelings, human emotion
Greek mythology, Gods
Norse Gods
Roman myths Classical Greek sculptures
Renaissance paintings
The Birth of Venus
Sandro Botticelli was born 1446 – 1510 and to the name Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi. He was given the nickname 'Botticelli' which is created from the word 'botticello' meaning 'small wine cask'. Being smart beyond his years, Botticelli found himself restless and bored in school. Fortunately, his artistic abilities were recognised resulting in his withdrawal from school to work as an apprentice, training first with Maso Finiguerra, a goldsmith, before entering into the art studio of Fra Filippo Lippi. To begin his career, he found himself painting frescoes for Florentine churches and cathedrals, working with the painter and engraver Antonio del Pollaiuolo. He then had his own workshop by 1470. Botticelli was known as one of the most esteemed artists in Italy. His life-sized mythological paintings, such as ‘Primavera’ and ‘Venus and Mars’ were extremely popular during and after his lifetime. All of Botticelli’s paintings are part of the Renaissance period and are all done in this style. The Renaissance began in the 1400’s or the 15th century and ended in the 16th century. The term ‘Renaissance’ literally translates to ‘rebirth’. The Renaissance is a period in European civilization immediately following the Middle Ages. It has been characterized as a surge of renewed interest in classical learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome. It’s seen as a revival of classical learning and wisdom after a long period of cultural decline and stagnation after the fall of the Roman Empire in the sixth century. Because of a positive change in political stability, growing prosperity and the development of new technology, there was a flowering of philosophy, literature and, especially, art. The style of painting that the Renaissance uncovered became most famous in the Italian city, Florence.
One of Botticelli’s most famous works is The Birth of Venus. This painting was created using tempera, (also known as egg tempera) is a permanent fast-drying medium which consists of pigment mixed with egg yolk, on canvas. The image narrates the mythological birth of the roman goddess, Venus. The original idea of the Birth of Venus was taken from the writings of the ancient poet, Homer. The Greeks referred to Venus as Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. The roman goddess also stands for love and beauty but also fertility and good fortune. In Greek mythology, according to Hesiod, she was born when Uranus, the father of the gods, was castrated by his son Cronus. Cronus threw the severed genitals into the ocean which began to churn and foam about them and from the aphros ("sea foam") arose Aphrodite, and the sea carried her to either Cyprus or Cythera. In Botticelli’s painting, we see Venus noticeably depicted in the centre of the painting as she rises from the sea in a contrapposto-like stance, floating along on a giant seashell, as she rides to the shore. Botticelli has painted with dark lines around the contours of Venus’s body, thus making it easier to see her bodies form against the intricate background. This also brings out the colour of her milky skin. Botticelli has created Venus in a way that almost gives an illusion that her flesh is made out of marble, linking back to the contrapposto- like stance and the sculpturesque nature of her body. To the left, Zephyrus (the west wind) carries the nymph Chloris (also known as ‘Aura’) and blows a wind to guide the goddess to shore. An array of roses are also scattered with the wind indicating that the rose was born along with Venus. To the right, on the shore, a woman is shown in motion rushing to Venus to clothe her. Wherever Venus goes, roses fall around her from the sky. There are also roses collected around the waist on the woman on the shore and her clothing is floral too.
It and its copies are often referred to as the Venus Pudica ("modest Venus") type, on account of her covering her naked pubis with her right hand. The nudity of Venus in this painting is an obvious note. During the Middle Ages, depicting nude women in art wasn’t something normally done. Because of this, Botticelli must have referenced the models body on a statue of Aphrodite statue, such as the Aphrodite of Cnidos, where the goddess attempts to cover herself in a gesture of modestly. There was a demand for this type of scene when the rise of humanism, a new religion that encompassed all religions and embraced the classical world, came about. Humanism came to life in the court of Lorenzo d’Medici in the 1480s. Renaissance humanism was open not only to the use of a pagan sculpture as a model, but also a pagan narrative for the subject matter.
The figure of Venus is also based on the account of the fabled classical artist Apelles lost painting of Aphrodite rising from the waves. The birth of beauty means her secrets are given to mankind.
Botticelli paid close attention to Venus’s hair, which reflected his interest in the way women wore their long hair in the late fifteenth century. Hairstyles were generally worn in this style but in Venus’s portrait, Botticelli has worked to create an idealized fashion of her hair, the popular vision of what was considered immensely beautiful during this period. He also gave Venus an idealized face, completely free of blemishes, and beautifully shaded her face to distinguish a darker, shadowed half fading smoothly into a lighter half where the sun shines onto her skin.
Venus’s face in ‘The Birth of Venus’ holds a striking similarity to a women named Simonetta Cattaneo de Vespucci, who was born 1453 – 1476. Possibly the face of Venus was based on Simonetta and she was perhaps what could be called Botticelli’s muse. The face of Simonetta personified the Italian Renaissance concept of ideal beauty: that outward beauty reflected inner beauty or virtue (spiritual beauty). Simonetta was the wife of the Italian nobleman Marco Vespucci of Florence, a distant cousin of Amerigo Vespucci. There is debate over whether this is true or not. However other paintings by Botticelli include familiarities to the face of Simonetta Catteneo’s. Botticelli also asked to be buried at her feet in the Church of Ognissanti – (the parish church of the Vespucci). His wish was in fact carried out when he died some 34 years later, in 1510.
I created this piece because I wanted to experience the medium Botticelli used in The Birth of Venus. This piece is size 22 x 14 cm and was painted with egg tempera on a small board. The composition is a spontaneous study of Venus’s close up portrait. I consider this piece spontaneous due to the fact that I copied this piece straight onto the board rather than gridding the picture and taking into consideration all the proportions. My soul purpose of this piece was to better experience the medium of the 15th century and Botticelli’s creative process. I used a lot of experimental colours and tones in this painting, mixing skin tones and hair colour that is not existent in the original painting of Venus. I found this happened naturally and I’m quite happy with the outcome, the colours blend well considering the unrehearsed composition. Now that I have a better understanding of Botticelli’s portrait of Venus and have revised the pose, I would like to continue by creating a Venus inspired photoshoot, focusing especially on the direction of her pose and hair.
I conducted this photoshoot inspired by Botticelli’s portrait of Venus in The Birth of Venus. My aim was to replicate her pose and the angle in which her hair flies and the lighting. I thought that this was important to the photoshoot, because when zooming into the portrait of Venus in ‘The Birth of Venus’, it is noticed that Botticelli paid close attention to her face: in the way it’s angled, the colours and tones, and especially the hair. The hair is seen flying away from her face to the right in correlation to the breeze blowing Venus to shore. Here I have tried to recreate these conditions by using a fan to create a breeze to allow the hair to fly in the right direction. Here are four of the best photos from the photoshoot. I plan to work from one of them to create my own original response to Botticelli’s Venus.
This is a digital painting I created using one of the photos from my photoshoot as a reference. I decided to create this piece digitally to recreate Venus’s portrait in a modern version. The use of such modern media to create a piece linked to an ancient narrative is interesting and juxtaposed. My intention for this piece was to explore the lighting and the detail in the hair and face. When drawing the outline for this piece, I found it interesting depicting the loose curls of hair. In Botticelli’s painting, Venus’s face is shaded in a specific way, choosing to shade dark to light, smoothly and perfectly across the face. Here I have tried to achive the same effect, using different skin tones to show direction of light. However, I realise now that I could have craed a smoother effect if I had used the blend tool on my painting.
I also focused a lot on facial expression, especially the directness of the gaze by bringing attention to the eyes, as in Botticelli’s portrait, the eyes are what stands out. I achieved this by using ticker brushes and darker tones just for the eyes. Here I have also decided to take my previous piece further by inserting it into a background. I decided to try and slot the portrait into the original painting of Venus, cropping it to how it would look so close up. I gathered that only the blue sky and a few leaved would be visible. Because of this there is not a lot to depict that it is the background of Botticelli’s painting, but enough to indicate it to an audience. I have painted the background digitally like the portrait, using the same colour palette as in The Birth of Venus, paying close attention to the leaves.
Renaissance Portraiture During the fifteenth century, there was seen an outpour of portraiture painting and the development of portraiture. The growth of trade, together with a new emphasis on self-governing in the political units of Italy, resulted in a sizable number of wealthy and powerful individuals who wanted to record their features through painting. The range of possibilities painting allowed was vast. A portrait could function as a narrative and a way of announcing one’s piety, virtue, learning, and prosperity, or even one’s inner soul.
Self-Portrait at the Easel Sofonisba Anguissola 1556 Oil on canvas 66 Ă— 57 cm (26 Ă— 22.4 in)
This painting was done using oil paint on canvas and depicts Sofonisba Anguissola at her easel. On her easel sits a canvas or possibly a panel of wood which has the image of a women and a child or Madonna and Child painted on it, positioned in an affectionate pose. There is paint smeared on the palette beneath the painting. Anguissola holds a paintbrush in her right hand and a mahlstick in her left, both held elegantly in front of her. Her face turns to the audience as if someone has called her and she has taken her attention away from the painting, mid-stroke. Her expression is simple and unexaggerated, she appears to be looking at us with serenity of her resting face. Her hair is pulled back away from her face and she wears a black attire with white frills around the neck and wrists. All of the image is in the foreground of the painting, the background is one colour and appears to be a wall behind her. We notice that there seems to be a source of light coming from the right which shines on her face, causing the other side to be enveloped in shadow. The light illuminates the painting on the easel, leaving the actual easel in darkness. Her black attire along with the dark green toned background and shadow create an evident contrast of light and dark. The lighting here along with the colours are designed to make Sofonisba Anguissola’s face, hands, and the painting on the easel the focal points of the painting.
Portraiture during the Renaissance acted as a window to the soul or personality of the subject, either how they were or how they preferred to be perceived. This painting especially shows off Anguissola’s skills as an artist and makes a statement about the type of woman she must have been. Anguissola, during her time, painted more selfportraits than most other artists. Anguissola was not shy of painting herself participating in work and activities (unlike most male artists); there are other selfportraits which depict her reading books, playing the piano, and writing. Anguissola’s self-portraits represent her as a well-skilled and educated young lady and someone who wants to portray her productivity. Possibly she did this to showcase her talent as a female artist and prove her accomplishments against the restrictions placed upon women of the 15th century.
I have conducted a photoshoot in an attempt to recreate Sofonisba Anguissola’s “Self Portrait at the easel” in a modern aspect. I decided to do the photoshoot of myself so that I was able to paint my own self-portrait as Sofonisba Anguissola did. In my interpretation, you can see me sat at a desk. On the desk is my laptop and my graphics tablet. In my right hand I hold the pen above my tablet, ready to paint digitally. I peer over at the audience, as Anguissola does in her painting, a surprised, yet resting, or weary expression gazing at the audience as if, like in Anguissola’s painting, someone has just called my attention. Atop my head are headphones, leads and cables drape from my head and around the table. The abundance of technology comes across as normal today but placed next to Anguissola’s painting, act as a focal point for the modern interpretation. My clothing and glasses also represents the modern day; unlike Anguissola, who is clothed heavily, I wear a top that shows my shoulders and arms. However, I have my hair tied up away from my face to mimic Anguissola as I thought this brought more attention to the face.
This is the most successful photo from my photoshoot because it is the closest to Sofinisba Anguissola’s painting that I could achieve. When conducting my photoshoot for my painting, I wanted to ensure that my recreation had the likeness of “Self Portrait at the Easel”. To do this I set up a makeshift scene at a plain wall as a background and made sure the lighting came from the right, in the same direction as in Anguissola’s painting. This created a similar effect of the right side of my face being in the light and the left side being in shadow. This also made a shadow on the wall and reflections on the surface of the table which I think adds drama and intensity to the photo and my painting. Here I have edited my photo, changing the contrast and brightness and levels of colour to enhance the photographs as they were only taken in natural daylight.
This is my painting of my recreation of “Self Portrait at the easel” by Sofonisba Anguissola. I created this piece using oil paint on a size 24x20” canvas. I chose to use oil paint as Anguissola did because I wanted to experiment with the media she used and thought this medium would create an interesting effect. The oil paint gives an authentic Renaissance appearance which acts as an almost humorous gesture because it’s as if this painting is out of time. It’s been painted in the Renaissance style but obviously couldn’t possibly be from the 15th century because of the modern interpretation. I found this piece quite challenging considering the size. This was the first time I’d ever tried oil on canvas and found that many layers had to be applied before I could create a smooth effect; it was difficult to paint with ease which made this piece take twice as long than if I had used acrylic paint. I especially found applying close detail to areas such as the eyes, mouth, and nose difficult because of the texture of the canvas. This piece took possibly 16 hours. I have recreated this painting as a modern interpretation. I did this by showcasing what a girl at her ‘easel’ participating in art-making could look like today.
I decided that the part that stood out the most to me about Anguissola’s self-portrait was the painting on the easel. Keeping this in mind, I thought a lot about whether I wanted to have my own digital painting on my laptop screen to act as the painting on the easel in “Self Portrait at the Easel”. I came to the decision that I wouldn’t have a digital painting shown in my painting. Notice how my laptop screen shows an open empty page. I did this intentionally, I feel that by having a blank screen it depicts the modern interpretation accurately or, more likely, shows a personal aspect about me. As Anguissola may have wanted to show off her talent to portray her as a skilful, productive person, here I have depicted the type of person I am as the opposite, and how I usually take a lot of time thinking of what to draw and staring at blank pages rather than actually drawing. I also think it represents modern day, in a way. The renaissance is documented as a time of rebirth and renewal of things, especially in art. It marks a celebration of prosperity and production. Whilst I feel that my painting represents the laziness of the 21st century and how technology may contribute to this laziness: the endless vastness of the Internet, although convenient, can also be the biggest source of procrastination.
Although I generally think this piece is successful, I do regret not paying more attention to lighting and colour whilst doing the photoshoot. The obvious contrasts between my painting and Anguissola’s is the colouring. ‘Self Portrait at the easel” is made up of dark colours and deep, rich tones whilst my painting is lighter and very grey based. I would have preferred painting a stronger contrast of light and dark within my painting however, due to the natural lighting in my photoshoot I felt inclined to keep to the palette in the photos. During my photoshoot, I was paying more attention to props and clothing in a modern aspect, rather than lighting and recreating the colours and tones in Anguissola’s painting. To continue, I want to explore colour more and try painting a self portrait that really emulates the colours and lighting and materials used.
Self- Portrait Raphael 1506 8 cm x 33 cm Oil on wood Uffizi Gallery This painting depicts Raphael’s portrait and was painted by himself using oil paint on wood. We see him turned towards us, glancing out at the audience with a relaxed face, a slight smile curving at his lips and his eyebrows slightly raised as if he were listening to conversation. We can tell his head is turned because his shoulder is visible, his body turned at an angle. He wears black clothes, with frills at the neck and a black hat atop his head. His hair drapes down his neck, covering his ear partly and can be seen behind his face. Raphael’s portrait makes up the foreground of the painting, the background appears to be a backdrop of a wall; his shadow hovers to the right of the painting, dark and seeping out onto the wall. It’s rather notable, the satisfying shape of Raphael’s portrait repeated on the wall, starting as cloudy wisps and fading into blackness, a smooth transition and evident against the colours of the wall.
This painting shares a lot of repeated colour, the general scheme appears to be brown, it’s the first noticed colour when glancing at the piece. This might have something to do with the painting being painted on wood. The natural colour of the wood could be shining through the paint, emphasizing the brown tint. The entire painting appears to be on orange base, there is a warm glow about the whole painting. The strict colour scheme creates a harmonic aesthetic, the portrait is satisfying to look at because of it’s complementary colour. Raphael has painted his portrait with realism, especially in the face and the facial features, but the thin lines around the figure gives a sketched, illustrated effect. There appears to be thin lines of cross-hatching as the shading that may have been created by individual strands of the paintbrush. There has been a close focus on the shading and details in the face. Even the background and black clothing is precise, each brushstroke appears visible due to the medium used.
Portrait of Bindo Alvotiti Raphael 1515 60 cm x 44 cm National Gallery of Art This portrait depicts Bindo alvotiti, a rich banker born in Rome in 1491 but of Florentine origin, in a similar position to that in Raphael’s own self portrait. The graceful position of the figure here, along with the clear contrast between the light and shadow are a typical trait of Raphael’s work, especially in his portraits of men. The composition shows Bindo Alvotiti turned in a dramatic, almost theatrical way, to fix his eyes on the viewer. Along with the pose here, the lighting is also evidently parallel to Raphael’s self portrait; notice the plain background appearing to be a wall behind the subject, and the curving shadow to the right of the painting. The light seems to be coming from the left, as in Raphael’s self portrait, shining on the subjects profile, leaving half of the face in darkness. Alvotiti’s hair also cascades down his face, and around his neck. His neck and shoulders appear to be seen as in Self-Portrait but we can see here that Alvotiti is turned slightly more to the side than Raphael, his back being more on display to the audience in this portrait. We can also see his hand, resting just below his shoulder on his chest. The entire pose creates a serene, comfortable atmosphere about the painting. The colours here are different to Raphael’s portrait, there is more range from the blue cape to the green background matching the subjects eyes. There is definitely not a strict colour scheme here but still the colours appear complementary.
'Study for Saint Catherine', about 1507
'Head of Saint Catherine and sketches of cupids', about 1507-8
Many artists would sketch and explore ideas on paper before working with paint on panel or canvas. Here are some of Raphael’s preparatory sketches for a painting called “Saint Catherine of Alexandria” which was completed about 1507. Here the artist supplies an interesting insight into their creative process.
This is my attempt at painting Raphael’s Self Portrait. I decided to paint this piece as a way to familiarise myself with Raphael’s work and style. By doing this piece I was provided with more creative understanding and insight into Raphael’s piece, especially with colour palette, shading and tones. I found copying this piece really interesting, repeating Raphael’s technique was difficult because it was tempting to fall into my own style. I also found replicating this piece hard because of the proportions and different scale my painting to his is. My painting is size A3 on paper, greatly smaller than Raphael’s. I also painted this piece in acrylic paint rather than oil so the change in medium and surface creates a massive difference. I found exploring the colour palette in this painting really enjoyable, all the colours were of the same base and blended and combined to create the right tones. I feel confident to create my own pieces using this colour palette now.
I have determined Raphael’s colour palette through painting his self portrait. This will prove helpful because when painting my own self portrait, I will be able to match Raphael’s colours used in his painting completely. Unlike my previous self portrait which didn’t focus on replicating the colours of the original painting at all, this painting will be improved and a much better recreation due to my planned colour palette. This will also limit the time I’ll have to spend on mixing paint and colours now that I know the exact narrowed down palette.
I directed another self-portrait photoshoot in response to Raphael’s Self Portrait. I aimed to recreate Raphael’s pose and the lighting in the painting in this photoshoot. To achieve this, I set up the scene, focusing on lighting, and especially the positioning of my body to the lighting for the shadow to fit in the frame and take up the right shape. I set up the camera to capture the photo from my waist up, giving enough space for cropping. I positioned a chair in front of a plain wall. Here I positioned lighting that would appear to shine from the left of the photo, shadowing one side of my face and casting a shadow on the wall to the right.
I narrowed my photoshoot down to three, these I feel are the most successful from my entire shoot. Here I have experimented editing each photo, changing the brightness and contrast to see what worked with my face and also didn’t wash out the shadow.
I further edited this photo by changing the colour levels to create the same yellow/brown tones seen in Raphael’s Self Portrait. This also really enhanced the shadow.
I decided to sketch my self portrait before painting it, as Raphael did with most of his paintings, to gain an initial understanding of the proportions and shading. This piece was sketched using pencil and black colouring pencil, I found that after sketching I needed darker tones due to how black my shirt is and my hair. I think it will be very satisfying painting these blocks of black colouring with acrylic or oil paint. I found the pose challenging, the position of my face is quite tricky, I especially found drawing my nose difficult because of the subtle shading making it up. The lighting also caused a unnatural shading to fall over my face which was hard to depict. However, I am glad I started with a pencil sketch of this piece before painting because I feel I have better understanding and experience of the portrait now. I also liked exploring the piece in monotone before applying the colour palette to it.
This piece is a painted version of my Raphael-inspired self portrait. I painted this piece in watercolour paint on A3 paper. I decided to use watercolour paint because it blends and mixes well so it was ideal for experimenting the colour palette before using a different, thicker medium like acrylic or oil paint. I also enjoy watercolour because of its ability to blend and layer, I thought this would work well for the background. However, I think the background wasn’t as successful as I thought it would be. I think this is due to the thinness of the paper I used. The outcome would have been more successful on watercolour paper perhaps, this would have allowed me to apply more layers of water and paint. I think watercolour worked really well on the face, the lighting appears subtle and simplistic, the layers of tones and colour creates a satisfying effect, the light seems to illuminate on the face. I also really like the layered lines making up the shadow around the eyes and hair shadow around the face. I dislike how the background seems to work around the portrait, you can see the brushstroke lines from the top of the head. I think this whole piece would look better if I had painted the background first and then painted the portrait atop it. It might even look nice collaged atop a background. The watercolour paint was too thin too attain a background.
I decided to take my watercolour study further because I enjoyed the medium and wanted to experiment a different colour palette of Raphael’s. Here I have painted a portrait inspired by Raphael’s “Portrait of Bindo Alvotiti”. I think this piece suits the medium more than the first due to the lighter shades of colour. There is a lot less black in this piece, making the subtle shadows appear loose and watery complementary of the medium. I think that the hair is extremely undetailed, especially the tangled part at her hoodie, however I do think this suits the medium. Perhaps with a different medium detail will be better obtained. Again, I just really like the shadows on the face, around the eyes and drips around and down the face. I also think the background is more successful in this piece, when painting this piece I decided to paint the background before the portrait which ultimately made it appear much more like a wall behind the figure. I also think
I managed the proportions a lot better in this piece, this piece has enhanced my ability and understanding of drawing portraiture.
I conducted another photoshoot for my previous painting in the style of Raphael’s “Portrait of Bindo Alvotiti” As you can see in my painting I changed the colour palette to replicate the original painting. I used Raphael’s palette with my photo to create a recreation. Here you can see the pose is almost identical to Raphael’s painting and I especially focused on the shadow here again, this shadow is different to the one in my self portrait because of the different angle of the pose, it was important for me to achieve this.
I painted this close up of my self portrait in oil paint on paper to familiarise myself with Raphael’s media. I found oil paint quite agreeable, it suits the portrait but on the paper did not create a smooth texture, brushstrokes are clearly visible.
I then did a close up experiment of oil paint on a small block of wood. Raphael painted his self portrait using oil paint on wood. This is what a plan to do for my final painting of my self portrait. I like this tester piece, I think that oil and wood really go together.
This is my final outcome, size 60x59cm, oil paint on wood. I chose to do my self portrait with oil on wood as Raphael did to keep the authenticity of the renaissance style. I found using oil paint on wood quite pleasing. The wood allowed me to paint over the surface with ease, unlike paper which takes a lot more layering of thicker application of paint. I found that blending the paint on the wood was easier too and the colour of the wood behind my paint complemented the palette well, it shone through red/orange tone that is present in Raphael’s painting. Because of the size of the portrait, painting it took a lot of time. I found it difficult gridding the board to determine the proportion of my drawing because of the shape of the wood in relation to the photo I was copying from. Because of this dilemma, my final outcome looks slightly out of proportion. However, aside from this, I am quite happy with the outcome. I think I achieves using the colour palette and creating depth and tones through my painting well. I’m also very happy with the background and the shadow. I would like to do this piece again, perhaps in black and white. It would be interesting to explore how the wood effects the lack of colour. To improve next time, I will focus on proportion and I would prefer to paint a portrait of someone else as I didn’t enjoy painting myself.
Picasso’s Blue Period Pablo Picasso explored multiple periods and styles throughout his artistic lifetime. One of his most memorable periods today is the Blue Period. The Blue Period happened between 1900 and 1904 and consisted of paintings by Picasso in which he’d essentially paint in monochromatic shades of blue and blue-green. The blue was only rarely warmed by other colours, the use of warming colours atop the blue tones ensured the muted colouring to prevail. These painting were painted in Paris but were influenced by Spain at the time, especially by the suicide of his friend Carlos Casagemas. These works are considered sombre and overall hold a depressing and dejected mood and are now some of the most popular of Picasso’s work.
The Old Guitarist, 1903 1.23 m x 83 cm 1903–1904 This piece depicts a man grasping a guitar in his arms, one hand positioned at the neck as in the shape of a chord and the other at the body of the instrument, in a frozen mid-strumming pose. He’s sat in a cross-legged position on the floor, what looks like the sidewalk outside. Behind him is a wall he may be leaning against, what one imagines could be a building that the man is slumped against in the cold, outside. This piece has been painted using oil paint on canvas and notably done in a monochrome blue. The blueness of the background and his skin really reflect this idea that he is outside and in the cold. The only slight difference in colour is the guitar, which still appears blue based. The guitar could be symbolic of a small notion of hope or happiness among the sorrowful tones of the rest of the image. Even so though, the colouring of the guitar is muted, presenting the fragility and fading flicker of good mood. The figure in the painting and his posture is also important to the mood and atmosphere of the whole piece. Here we see the man’s body is twisted, arched in an unrealistic position so that the figure becomes almost grotesque and disturbing. This distorted style is reminiscent of the works of the great 16th-century artist El Greco. His head is bent downwards, an expressive motion of his misery. The skeletal angles of his bones and sunken skin suggest the man’s homelessness. The colour palette along with the subject matter demonstrates great sadness overall.
Picasso’s Rose Period Picasso’s Rose period started in 1904 and lasted till 1906. This period, in contrast and after the Blue Period, consisted of paintings which expressed a palette of orange and pink colours. Unlike Picasso’s sombre paintings in his previous period, the paintings of the Rose Period were considered cheerful due to their brightened colour. It was found that Picasso was happy in a relationship with Fernande Olivier, which is speculated as the reason for these changed in mood paintings. These works holds a romantic quality, as a series of paintings in warmer colours, many in the colour pink. Although the Rose period still depicts resignation, there isn’t any mourning that was presented in the Blue Period.
Garçon à la pipe 1 m x 81 cm 1905 This piece was painted in oil paint on canvas and depicts a boy, perhaps a teenager. Picasso painted this painting after settling in Montmartre, France, of a local boy who regularly visited Picasso's studio. He appears perched atop a stool or something, a wall resting behind his back. In his hand he holds a pipe and atop his head is a garland of flowers. The wall has been painted with a palette of red and orange tones, browns and yellows combine atop the wall. The paint appears scraped and messily applied, a sense of mixing on the canvas rather than in the palette. On the wall is a pattern of flowers, they give the impression of wings behind the boys body. The also match the garland around his head. The palette of this piece is warm, except for the blue colouring of the boys outfit. However, this does not bring disdain or heavy moods of sadness as paintings from the Blue Period do. The boys expression is concentrated, drawn to the audience, his eyebrows in a slight frown, his mouth in a displeased line, as if he’s scrutinizing at something. There seems to be a sunny atmosphere about this piece, a lazy sunny afternoon impression, the boy is relaxed, there’s a sense of warm belonging. Unlike the Blue period paintings that portrayed dejected outcasts of society, this piece shows a sense of welcome.
I captured these photos of my friend, two photos showing different poses. In the first, her face is covered by her fisted hand, her expression unidentifiable. The second shows a profile view of her smiling. I plan to paint these photos in blue tones and red tones, as inspired by Picasso’s blue and red periods. I want to explore portraiture in this way to experiment how colour changes or enhances a portrait, especially the emotion and feeling attached to the painting and what the colours do to an audiences reaction to the painting. By using colour in this way I can create a different narrative for each piece, paintings of different emotional states can tell multiple stories to an audience.
I have edited my two photos using a blue and red filter. This will benefit when painting each photo in Picasso’s Blue and Rose style because I can identify and copy the palette from these edited photos rather than trying to construct the colouring without a reference.
This piece was inspired by Picasso’s Rose Period. Here I have tried to convey emotion, specifically happiness, through the use of the warm colouring along with the pose and expression on the figures face. I painted this piece using acrylic paint on a 30.3 x 40.2 cm canvas board. After painting my self portrait in the style of Raphael, I became intrigued by colour palette and how it effects the portrait. I decided to explore Picasso’s Blue and Rose periods because they have specific meaning attached to the palette. The blue period greatly consists of dejected and low mood paintings whilst the red takes a turn in a happier, warmer connection. I like this piece, I think it’s quite successful. I think I achieved the proportions of the figure well and I am especially proud of the detail in the coat. I like the colour palette and enjoyed working with it, I really enjoyed painting the face and hair the reds and pinks running through her hair really add depth to the piece. It’s an unnatural colouring but illuminates the image, like a lens flare on a photograph. However, I do not like the finished appearance of the colouring as much as I thought I would. I think that I should have focussed on a more focused narrowed down palette rather than applying every colour I noticed in the photo. I also think the background is quite pale and could be improved, I would prefer a more apparent background. Although I like the style of this piece a lot, the visible brushstrokes, I think I would like it even more if I had used a thicker application of paint.
This piece was inspired by Picasso’s Blue Period. I created this piece using watercolour paint on canvas board. I found using watercolour paint more difficult on canvas board than acrylic as it didn’t work with the board, because of the texture and its inability to soak up the water. However, I do like the blend of the watercolour paint, especially in the hair and skin. I also didn’t enjoy how long this piece took due to the watercolour paint. It look many layers to create detail which was time consuming and tedious whilst acrylic paint was a faster process. Again, like the previous piece, I dislike the colour palette. I thought I would enjoy this colour palette more due to the much more muted blue tones but I realise now I should have painted in darker shades, to match the same disdain and dejection as Picasso’s pieces. The background as a gradient, fading into darkness would have been nice. Perhaps these pieces would have been greatly more successful as digital paintings. I think I achieved quite a high level of detail in this piece. I enjoyed the style of painting for both pieces, the visible brushstrokes, the squares of the paintbrush on the portrait, and the fading of the coat averting the eye to the detail of the air and skin.
To continue my journey
of looking into paintings depicting poses of
different emotion, I am going to research a series of historical paintings that deal with human emotion. I enjoyed looking at Picasso’s Blue Period a lot more than his Rose Period, so I’ve decided to continue looking at paintings that portray struggle and human defeat. I found that I was interested more in looking at and painting figures of dejection and loss, there was something more illuminating and captivating about the vulnerability and fragility of paintings depicting narratives of struggle and war.
The Death of Marat Jacques-Louis David 1793 Oil on canvas 162 x 128 cm
This painting depicts the death or assassination of, radical journalist and politician Jean-Paul Marat, who was part of the republican Jacobin group. He was murdered by 24-year-old, monarchy supporter Charlotte Corday. The painting was painted by neo classical artist Jacques-Louis David during the French Revolution and became a massive speculation among the public. After the Jacobins successfully defeated the king and queen, some were unhappy and disagreed with the revolution and were sent to execution. Marat conducted a large part of the executions, as he was the one to write a list of names of each person that was to be killed. David depicts the single figure of Jean-Paul Marat. We see him sat in his bathtub, due to his skin condition, slumped to the side, his left hand resting on a table across the bathtub, holding a piece of paper. His right hand falls over the side holding a quill. Here we get the impression that he was writing a letter, on a wooden box next to him, his ink pot and other written notes sit. There are sheets hanging from the bathtub, blood stains near his arm. The water in the bath is coloured red with blood. A knife lies on the floor to the side of his arm.
The painting is very situated in the foreground. The background is simplistic without any details that attract the viewer away from Marat. The background is mostly a dark empty space apart from a light at the right which casts a soft, yellow glow over the scene. There is a strong contrast of dark and light in this painting. The use of chiaroscuro here creates a dramatic effect and also a definite focus on the foreground scene. The light shining from the side casts a particular lighting on the figures body. We see that his chest and half of his face and arms are in shadow but his left hand and the letter is completely in the light causing it be more prominent suggesting the importance of the message on the letter. David has clearly used colour in this painting to manipulate an audience. Notice how the sheets and turban on Marat’s head are white, possibly linking to the idea of purity or innocence and the yellow/ golden light gives the impression of God or heaven, as if now Marat is being welcomed into heaven; the relaxed expression on his face also hints to this idea.
Another important note, is how Marat’s right arm is positioned, falling limply down the canvas. People during this time would have connected this as iconography of paintings of Jesus, a tool David also used as manipulation. The positioning of Marat's right arm is notably the same as the death pose of Jesus in Caravaggio's ‘The Entombment of Christ’ and Rubens ‘The Decent from the Cross’.
The other colours in this painting are very subtle; they are not bold colours as used in paintings of wealthier people, but colours that would be associated with “peasant” paintings. This is another part of David’s propaganda, Marat would have been quite wealthy considering his position, however, through these colours David gets an audience to believe that Marat was actually one with the people, portraying his death as the murder of a poor, innocent man. David has chosen to paint the image in a realistic, naturalistic way by applying the paint smoothly. The painting looks almost photographic because of David’s style of painting. This, along with the size of the painting created an illusion that upon seeing the painting in person, you were on the actual premises of Marat’s murder. David was charged and sent to prison after this painting by his false imagery of Marat, making him a falsely recognised as martyr of the revolution and an idealised “hero”.
David uses many techniques within this painting to suggest Marat’s innocence, the use of colour, lighting and placement of objects and figure enhance David’s delusion of the event. However, the most prominent aspect of this painting has to be the letter loosely held in Marat’s dying hand. The letter can be read as a letter of admiration from Marat’s killer, Charlotte Corday, and her asking for his help. Next to his dead body, on the wooden box, other pieces of paper, possibly money checks addressed to Corday as if Marat was complying to help her. This can be considered the focal point of the painting. Not only is the letter a complete lie, it’s exposure to the public would have been the push of political sidings during the revolution, with an image like this; of course the public would come to assumptions that Marat was innocent and Corday was the “bad guy”.
The letter reads (in French) "Il suffit que je sois bien malheureuse pour avoir droit a votre bienveillance" or in English, "Given that I am unhappy, I have a right to your help“
The Raft of The Medusa
Gericault 1818-19 Oil on canvas, 491 x 716 cm
This painting was created by French Romantic painter Théodore Géricault and was done using oil on canvas. The painting has the monumental scale of 491 x 716 cm. The Romantic era began in the late 18th century and ended in the middle of the 19th. Géricault painted this piece to depict the futile struggle of the passengers of The Medusa and his epic, or possibly inadequate, attempt to give the survivors a voice. The Medusa was a navy frigate that crashed on a sandy reef off the West Coast of Africa. Some of the more fortunate passengers were taken to safety on to the ship's boats, however, the less fortunate assembled themselves on to a self-made raft, which was later discovered to be deliberately cast adrift, sending the survivors out to sea. The conspiracy was fuelled by the fact that the captain of the Medusa, an officer of the Ancien Régime, had not sailed for over twenty years.
At first glance, you can see multiple figures, and count about 20 (although there started approximately 150 in the actual event). The figures are all sprawled across a wooden raft, that appears to be breaking up and made up of a broken ship, as you can see the sail at the left of the painting. The raft and figures are in the foreground of the image and in the background we see the choppy waves of the ocean. A wave to the left looks extremely violent and about to crash over the raft. On the left very far in the distance the grey silhouette of another ship, Argus, can be seen.
We see that there are two pyramidal shapes in this painting. One of them are a group of people holding each other on the right of the painting. We notice how they appear to be trying to flag the other ship down, waving pieces of cloth and arms in the direction of the ship. They all join together to help push one another up in a pyramid in desperate hope that the ship will see them.
However, the other pyramidal shape in this painting is to the left where the sail stands. We can see that on this side of the painting the people tend to be mostly dead, falling, losing energy; one man looks as if he’s completely given up. The ship is so far away that at first glance, it’s not even noticeable in the painting, a single tiny blob of paint in the distant horizon. And we still have the imminent threat of that violent wave about to crash over the raft. The imagery here is very clear to an audience. We get the apparent feeling that everyone on the raft is doomed. The colours in this painting also suggest this ominous mood. The stormy sky, the black behind the clouds create a dark impression. Black, brown and the dull greens and greys of the ocean appear to be central colours in this piece, suggesting the devastation and sad tone of the painting. The colour red appears throughout the painting, hidden amongst the struggle of people suggesting danger and death and blood. Along the horizon where the ship is, a streak of gold or yellow lights the sky, in symbolism of the small flicker of hope the ship represents. Notice the use of chiaroscuro in this painting to create the intense and dramatic appearance to portray the uncontrollable chaos of the situation. The scale of this painting also makes it appear to be life-sized which adds to this because it seems as if this scene is happening right in front of you if you were to see it in person. Paintings of this scale were usually reserved for heroes of the time, Gericault created this painting this large to make a political rebellion, showcasing the stories of the survivors as heroes and making an audience aware of what they had to endure through the horrific beauty and tragedy of this painting.
Gericault wanted to complete this painting with the best of his abilities, making sure he achieved every part of it with correctness true to the actual event. He based the painting of the account of two survivors. He drew sketches from their intonations and planned the painting out like a classical painting, which is evident in the finished piece.
Because Gericault wanted the painting to be as real as possible, he visited the morgue and did observational anatomical paintings of dead flesh to envision what the drowned flesh would look like.
GÊricault included these objects hidden in the painting, a bloodied axe and what appears to be a royal uniform, possibly the captain’s hinting at the conspicuous theory that the Medusa was purposely devastated under order of the monarchy. The bloodied axe symbolises the extremes and horror the passenger's of the medusa had to endure, the axe must relate to the ideas of cannibalism.
GĂŠricault showcases cannibalism in his earlier pieces and planning's of The Raft of The Medusa.
Cannibalism on the Raft of the Medusa Black crayon, brown ink wash, and white gouache on beige paper 28 by 38 cm. Louvre, Paris. 1818-19
Liberty Leading the People
Delacroix 1830 Oil on canvas 259 cm x 325 cm.
This painting depicts the July Revolution that took place in France of 1830 against the Bourbon King Charles X. This battle lead to the rise of the July Monarchy, Louis Philippe. Here Delacroix, although he took no part in the battle that overthrew the King, paints the scene as a mixture of both realism and allegory. He depicts Liberty as a semi-nude female figure, a potent symbol of the struggle for freedom. The French called her Marianne. She holds the banned tricolor flag, rising above the others with strength and energy, acting as an embodiment of democracy. Democracy was founded in Ancient Greece which Delacroix references to through the semi-nude figure of Liberty here.
This painting consists of a foreground, a mid-ground and a background. In the foreground we see at least three dead bodies thrown across the front of the canvas, one of them is semi-nude and appears to be in bed-clothes suggesting the violent notion of him being pulled out of bed into the streets amongst the bloody revolution. One of the other dead bodies we can see is dressed in uniform, relating him to one of the King’s soldiers that was fighting for the monarchy. In the mid-ground, two figures are in the centre of the painting: a semi-nude woman, Liberty, standing with a strong stance, a French tricolor flag in her right hand, a rifle in her left. The other figure is at her feet, on hands and knees, his head bent up at her, staring at her as he probably slips into death. Possibly he is the only one that can see Liberty, as an apparition of consolation of his sacrifice before his death. This figure also is clad in tricolor, reminding the audience of what he died for. All the figures in the painting can be seen, that by their clothing, are of all different classes and societies, suggesting the significance and importance of the revolution that everyone joined the fight. Far in the background, atop Notre Dame, another tricolor flag flies. However, below it, the royal troops re-group suggesting that victory for the rebels is not assured. This painting can be interpreted differently by audiences depending on their political alliance, in one aspect it is a portrayal of the righteous determination of the French people but in another light it could be shown as a warning or reminder of this feeble attempt at freedom against powerful leaders.
It is evident that Delacroix drew inspiration from The Raft of The Medusa due to his composition of sprawled bodies across the canvas, moving in action and creating a mass of twisting bodies and limbs. We also can see a pyramidal shape, much like that in ‘The Raft of The Medusa’.
The colours in this painting are also reminiscent of ‘The Raft of the Medusa’, the general colours an audience will first notice in the painting is the browns and yellowish tint. The same can be said for ‘The Raft of The Medusa’ which could be suggesting of the mood of the painting, hinting at the dark narrative. However, unlike ‘The Raft of the Medusa’, this painting has been painted with bright, bold pigments and the colours of the tricolor flag are repeated throughout the painting. The sky especially brings attention to the pure palette of the artist, notice the sharp application of the primary colours here. The colours create an intense feel to the painting, and although making it seem less realistic, it highlights and intensifies the emotions and mood in the painting.
The Execution of Lady Jane Grey
Paul Delaroche 1833 oil on canvas 246 x 297 cm
This is a large scale painting. Paintings of this size during this time period were reserved for works of royalty and especially pictures of historic events, such as this one. This painting was welcomed into Paris at the city’s famous Salon in 1834 and was viewed as a masterpiece. The French viewed the painting with empathy and related to it due to their recently previous executed King Louis XVI and youthful wife, Marie Antoinette. As Salon styled artwork mostly consisted of neo-classical and romantic artwork, this piece has elements of both. Delaroche drew inspiration for this piece from his mentor Gros and gained influence from another French painter called Ingres and occasionally Delacroix. These styles are evident in his artwork.
This painting depicts Lady Jane Grey, the Grand-daughter of Mary Tudor (Henry VIII’s sister) who was crowned queen for only nine days. Henry VIII’s only son, Edward VI was the rightful ruler of England but died at 15 from tuberculosis in 1553. After this, England had to make a choice to who should take the Crown. Mary (later known as Queen Mary I "Bloody Mary" 1516 – 1558), Henry VIII’s daughter by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, or Lady Jane Grey. Although Mary had the support of Catholic worshippers, Lady Jane Grey had support from the Protestant worshippers, which was more favourable to Henry’s legacy. Because she was a Protestant, Jane was crowned queen in the idea to ensure Protestantism and keep Catholic influences at bay. In order for Mary to gain the crown, she had Jane tried for treason. As Mary was the more legitimate candidate to the throne, Jane was sent to the tower of London and was sentenced to death and executed at Tower Green on 12 February 1554. She was just 16 years old when she died. This painting is Delaroche’s interpretation of this historic event and how he imagined its happenings.
Looking at the painting, five people can be seen. The figures to the left appear to be two distraught ladies, shown in poses that suggest their grief and pain for the situation. One of them is slumped on the floor, facing away and her head lolled back in a faint expression. The other has her back to us, leaning her hands above her bent head onto a pillar. On the right of the painting stands the executioner in in an almost classical contrapposto stance. In the middle we see Lady Jane Grey, in a light white or ivory attire, a matching blindfold over her eyes, being led by a Lieutenant of the Tower of London, Sir John Brydges, to an execution block on the floor. There is straw mounted under the block, to soak up the blood. The painting has a generally grim and sombre atmosphere and the figures contribute to this. Notice how everyone’s eyes are averted from the cruel execution block in the middle, even the executioners. The way Lady Jane Grey has her hand tentatively reaching out for the block, the expression on her face that of someone who is taking their fate with uncertainty but acceptance.
The figure leading her holds a solemn expression, his mouth curved downwards and eyebrows creased. Lady Jane Grey stands out in this painting, her white clothing alight among the grey and duller tones of the other figures and background. Delaroche has used chiaroscuro here, especially clear in Lady Jane Grey’s dress. Lady Jane and the man leading her along in the middle create a pyramidal shape which also brings attention to them as the focal point of the painting. The painting appears to be set in a dungeon, we can see the cold stone walls behind the figures and at the edge of the right side, we see the black cloth in which all the figures are places upon scuffed up to reveal a wooden platform. It gives the illusion that the scene is being acted out, as if on a stage, causing more drama and intensity. This could also reflect Delaroche’s enthusiasm towards theatre and also marking how this painting is his own interpretation of the actual event, like a play.
We see that there is an apparent contrast Lady Jane Grey’s skin and the Lieutenant’s leading her. We see that hers is lighter, suggesting that she is in the spotlight of the painting, and also that she is pale and young. His hands appear lined by age and her skin is smooth which reflects her young age. The lightness of her skin, along with her white clothing, could suggest Delaroche’s intention to create Lady Jane Grey as this vision of purity and innocence. Other than the evident specific colours of Lady Jane Grey herself, the colours in the rest of the painting, though hold a sombre mood, come across as rather natural colours which also gives the image a hyper-realistic appearance. This, along with the smoothly applied, modulated painting technique makes the painting look almost like a photograph.
To me, the significant objects in this piece are the chopping block and straw beneath it and the blindfold wrapped around Lady Jane Grey’s head. The straw and chopping block are obvious, one would not think of anything other than execution when seeing these objects, it stands as a sinister object, the straw waiting there to seep up the blood. The blindfold is significant because it also brings the audience back to the meaning: execution, but also because of its colour, the white, paleness is the same shade as Lady Jane’s dress, linking back to this idea of her innocence.
Symbolism: Lighting, objects (noose, chopping block) Dark vs. light
Portray through feelings/emotions – facial expressions Always the ominous mood of failure
Liberty Leading the People
The Death of Marat
The Raft of the Medusa
Paintings
Fighting to stay alive The execution of Lady Jane Grey
Narrative Dark room with one window/light - Longing for freedom - Portray depression/battle everyday Consider hope as a feeble aspiration, unobtainable and far away
Common Themes
For hope For life
Battle For country
Murder For Beliefs
Death
Suicide Ophelia
Kim Byungkwan X_report#30 Acrylic on canvas 73x60cm This piece depicts a portrait, of what appears to be a woman screaming. We get this impression because of her wide mouth, stretched open to reveal a shape of darkness. A grey brush-stroked line indicates her top teeth. The entire portrait appears distorted to the point where it’s only recognisable through the shapes and tones and light and dark. Her mouth is the only sure depiction in this painting, her other features remain blurred and painted through use of shapes and gestural marks. It looks almost like the artist wanted to capture their vision quickly, leaving no time for detail but simply marking the shapes and shades where each of the features should be. This leaves a haunting effect, the lack of a face and the merging paint marks and smudging's create a feeling of uncertainty and horror. The painting as a whole has a rather creepy, freaky mood. The monochromatic black and white also enhances this, along with the scratchings and rough application of paint. The pose is also notable, the head appears to stand alone, the focal point of the painting. The neck appears elongated, the shoulders are roughly drawn and stick out with tension to emphasise the strong emotion the figure portray. The shoulders also have less paint applied to them then that of the face, emphasising the face again. The background is plain but the brushstrokes are clearly visible.
X-report_oldster#00 Acrylic on canvas 90.9x72.7cm
X-report_oldster#06 Acrylic on canvas 90.0x72.7cm
GhostBackup_OldStar #002 Acrylic on canvas 90.0x72.7cm
GhostBackup_OldStar #004 Acrylic on canvas 100x72.7cm
Byungkwan’s work all shows the same depiction of distorted portraits, painted in the same style. Byungkwan’s creates multiple series using portraits of famous people such as Marylyn Monroe, Wonder Woman, and Hitler. The significance of using such well known people as subjects to these portraits, shows not only Byungkwan’s talent as an artist, but also societies remembrance of their legacy; that these people can be recognised within the blurry, distorted effect of Byunkwan’s technique, shows the extent of their fame and Byunkwan’s achievement as an artist. These portraits tend to leave the viewer with a haunting memorabilia of the person in the painting.
“
What I would like to express through my
work is very simple. I am trying to bring out strangeness from familiarity (visual habit). Everything there is out there in this world, more or less, provides familiar vision. This familiar vision can be replaced as habit. This habitual vision which every object gives us and creates comfort. However it shuts down all the other possibilities. The habitual vision or visual habit makes us go by the routine ways. It stops us from having adventure and checking out the wonders out there. My work is trying to destroy, tear up, and reconstruct this habitual vision so that our vision can be expended to other images. I have strong faith in my work that my personal behaviour may lead us ‘Strangeness within habitual vision off from the track.’
”
Byungkwan’s technique and painting style could be suggested as impressionistic, there is a great use of gestural imagery within their work and a use of mark-making done with brushstrokes to achieve impressions of their portraits. This effect appears to be achieved using tools such as a palette knife to scrape the paint across the canvas, and also by applying acrylic paint quite heavily to the canvas’s surface. The notion of applying thick layers upon layers of pain creates the freshly painted appearance we see in Byunkwan’s work, and the left-behind imprints of the brush indented on the surface. Byunkwan seems to also use a “dripping” technique, notice how the paint appears to be dripping down the canvas, the face sagging with the weight of gravity as the paint pulls it down with it. This effect can be achieved by applying water to the canvas, mixing the water and the acrylic paint together, like watercolour paint, and allow it to flow naturally down the canvas. There also appears to be a use of stamp marks of some sort, think circular shapes imprinted onto the canvas with white paint. These could have been applied using a template dipped in paint and carefully pressed to the canvas. Byunkwan creates this notion of movement in their pieces with these horizontal blurred lines, pulled across the portrait, as if Byunkwan creates his piece by painting it out perfectly first and then, whist still wet, smears the paint across the page using a palette knife or other material to blur the image, dragging the face across the canvas. The portraits themselves are not particularly painted with close detail and perfection, the outline of the body is thin and scratchy, applied like the rest of the distortion. It is clearly noticeable in the hair of the Marylyn Monroe pieces that there is little definition and detail, and the hair is painted in a few strokes just to establish it’s existence. Within all the portraits the focal point appears to be the face and especially the mouth. The eyes are usually gone completely, or painted roughly and without patience.
restraint; This is a photoshoot I conducted as inspired by my previous studies, especially the works of Kim Byunkwan. I have called this series “restraint� due to the vision it was founded on. I wanted to portray, through these photos, the idea of struggle (which I found a common factor among the previous artist research I undertook). The idea of struggle is to break free from restraint. In my photo series, I have strived to depict strong emotional restraint, that of depression and anxiety, and the victims struggle, perhaps inadequate, to free themselves from their own mind.
In these photos, a single figure can be seen. She appears distressed, the first photo shows her teeth clenched, hands wrapped around her neck and the second a tearful, pained expression on her face and her hands atop her head, arms raised in a pyramidal shape. The photos are extremely dark, darkness envelopes the scene around the figure. I created this effect by setting up my photoshoot in a dark room, a black sheet behind the figure. I used a white spotlight to shine on the figures face to illuminate her in the photos. I wanted to set up the lighting on the photoshoot set like this to create this illusion that the figure is grasping around in the darkness, as if she is in a never-ending abyss of blackness. It creates this ominous, hopeless mood, that there is nothing but herself and her emotions. I edited these photos in Photoshop, this helped to smooth out the creases in the sheet behind her and define the figure more.
I wanted to portray much more exaggerated poses and imagery through these photos. I directed the figure to create strong gestures, and exaggerated poses using her hands and arms in an attempt to portray this deeper, inner struggle outwards. I really like the shadows from her arms cast across her body in these photos, like like her neck and face just fade into the blackness of the background, it makes the darkness look perpetual, as if you could walk for hours through it – rather than the reality of the sheet behind her. I really enjoyed editing these on Photoshop, I lightened them a lot which created the fuzzy noise atop the photos. I think this looks really effective. There’s this sense of oldness about them, or nighttime. It enhanced the idea of private struggle, moving around in the static blurriness.
I decided to have a change of scene for these photos. I created this photoshoot in the daylight, against a white wall with natural lighting. I decided I wanted to create a photoshoot the opposite to the previous one because I wanted to see how the emotion varied and I just felt that the opposite would work well together with the dark photos. I really like these photos, I like the darkness of her hair and shirt against the pale background which almost blends with her skin. There is a washed out appearance, like she’s fading away into the light herself. There’s a similar notion as in the previous photoshoot, the idea that the pale room is all she has. As if she could walk around this room and all she’d meet would be plain white walls. I get a chilling, paranoid mood from these photos. There’s a sense of being watched, monitored, as if she’s trying to hide from watchful eyes among the emptiness, an impossible task. The sterile, silence and bare walls fuelling her emotions of paranoia and stress. Whilst the dark photos show a figure trying to escape inner demons and darkness, these photos show the pain of wanting to escape.
I decided to experiment colour when editing these photos. I found that I really like the colouring in the unedited photos, the pinkish tones in her skin stood out a lot against the black and white of the rest of the portrait. For these photos I desaturated the colouring slightly, I didn’t want the colour to be too prominent as to ruin the dull and depressing mood of the portraits. Although I do like these photos with colour, I dislike the way the static looks, especially on her clothing. This is due to poor lighting and camera quality. The static low quality on the images look bad her but better, if not natural, on the black and white photo-edits. I also think overall I like the black and white photos the most because not only do they fit in as a set with each other, they present the emotions and atmosphere that I wanted to portray more effectively.
I did these palette knife tests using different sized palette knives to see what each shape and size would produce onto paper. I found this a useful exercise before creating my first painting in the style of Kim Byungkwan as they use palette knives a lot in their work, scraping and pulling the paint across the canvas.
I also did some “drip tests� to test out different sized brushes and what size drips they’d produce. I also experimented with mixture of paint on the page and how well the drip combined the black and white paint and where it faded to grey. I found that both a lot of paint and water had to be applied to the paper to produce drips. I also found that because of this the paper was extremely thin, in future I will use thicker paper when painting.
To begin working in the style of Kim Byungkwan, I used two photos from my photoshoot and printed them out on to cartridge paper. I then proceeded to paint on top of the photographs, copying and mimicking as closely as possible Byungkwan’s technique. I found that their technique is very free and not so restricted however, I remained restricted to their style, focusing intently on precise markings and brushstrokes to create as much as a replicated effect as I could. I would much like to take Byunkwan’s technique and mould it with my own style, creating an entirely unique artistic style. Byunkwan’s work, due to their technique, holds a particular aesthetic, this imagery of loose, flowing brushstrokes and dripping paint, smeared and mixed on the canvas, a thick, freshly painted appearance. I think mixed media would work really well when creating these pieces, but I also think I will never truly achieve Byunkwan’s technique until I paint on canvas.
I like this piece a lot more than the previous one. I think that by creating the first one, I familiarised myself with Byungkwan’s approach better thus my second experiment turned out even better than the first. I learnt whilst creating the first, that use of a smaller paintbrush was in order to achieve the smaller, finer details seen in Byungkwan’s work. I also opted to use less of the palette knife, smearing less across the page (although maybe not as similar as Byungkwan) I found this looked better for this specific composition. I like this piece, I like the direction of the paint. It appears like sand being blown across a corpse by the wind. There is a wispy appearance, especially on the hair, how the background blends into the hair and face, thin lines separating the figure from the white room. I really like the background, the subtle hints of darker grey atop the lighter shades and the square like application of paint making up the portraits face, specifically notable on the ear.
I created this piece using acrylic paint on black card. I thought this would be a good idea because my photos have a black background and the white against the black paper would look really bold and effective. Before deciding to use acrylic paint I thought about pastels or chalk, these felt like the more natural option for black card but I considered that Byunkwan’s technique would not be achievable without paint. I dislike this piece, I found drawing on black hard and applying black paint to the paper didn’t blend in as much as I expected it to. Having said that, I do like the sharp outlines of the figure in this piece, especially notable on the arms. I think the drips here are really underwhelming, they don’t enhance the image and appear murky against the black paper, I think overall the black card as unsuccessful when imitating Byunkwan’s style.
Before my final piece, I wanted to experiment a different style alongside Byungkwan’s technique. Here I have first drawn the portrait in marker, much in the style of a line drawing, and then gone over it using acrylic paint. I thought this an interesting idea because I was able to obtain a high level of detail that only enhanced my painting. I also really like the look of the paint atop the marker, especially on the face, I like that it is not completely covering the whole face as well, it’s fleeting, looks as if it’s being dragged away from her face across the page. On this piece I added some patterns, circled brushstrokes atop the head and thick scraped lines at her neck. I thought this at first a good idea however now reflecting back on it, I think this piece would look even better if I had painted the entire background black. Althought I enjoyed creating this piece, I don’t think it really emphasises or coincides with Byungkwans style or portray the emotions and narrative I want my final piece too. There is something too surreal and abstract about this piece that it directs from the raw, stripped down human emotion I want to convey in this artwork.
Final Piece process‌
Final Piece Evaluation This is my final piece for ‘Narrative’. I was inspired by my artistic journey to create this piece. I decided I wanted to look into concepts of struggle after looking at Picasso’s Blue Period. After this, I researched a series of historical paintings which sparked the idea of looking deeper into human emotion, and inner struggle. I drew inspiration from the compositions of paintings such as “The Raft of The Medusa” and “Liberty Leading The People” which depicted images of people twisting and groping around, struggling with external factors such as war. I decided I wanted to use this idea and use of similar poses and imagery in my own photoshoot which portrayed a single figure reacting externally to an internal battle. The technique and style of my painting was greatly influenced by Kim Byungkwan’s works. This piece is 69.5 x 49.5 cm on canvas and was done in acrylic paint as Byungkwan does. I decided it was best to use canvas and acrylic paint to replicate the same effect they have. I also undertook a few test pieces on different surfaces and came to the conclusion that canvas was the best. This piece depicts a painting of one of my photos from my photoshoot “restraint”. I decided to choose this photo because I felt it portrayed the most struggle and pain, and I really liked Byungwan’s “screaming” paintings. I felt they suited the style of painting a lot. The gaping mouth frozen in a perpetual scream, the paint fading and blocking out shapes and colour, dripping from the face like a melting image. There’s a sense of horror and scariness, abnormal distortion which I think really makes sense of the concept of inner struggle being shown externally. I’m really happy with how this piece turned out. I think that I achieved the concept I wanted to portray and created a compelling narrative attached to the piece. I enjoyed painting this piece and think that I accomplished merging my own style with Byungkwan’s technique.