"Expectations"
December 1st, 2017
Exhibition Text: Our life is composed of comparisons to other people, hoping that someday we will accomplish those expectations that are imposed by either other people or even ourselves. In reality it almost impossible to be " perfect" in everyones eyes, therefore it only matters what each individual feels about themselves. This drawing was inspired by the artist Dada who draws half face of one character along the half of another character. This piece is meant to show that well might all have imperfections but it is important to acknowledge them and be happy of them.
December 1st, 2017
Exhibition Text: Our life is composed of comparisons to other people, hoping that someday we will accomplish those expectations that are imposed by either other people or even ourselves. In reality it almost impossible to be " perfect" in everyones eyes, therefore it only matters what each individual feels about themselves. This drawing was inspired by the artist Dada who draws half face of one character along the half of another character. This piece is meant to show that well might all have imperfections but it is important to acknowledge them and be happy of them.
Inspiration:
Lately I have been thinking a lot about the transition from a high school student to a college student. The transition has been a lot rougher than what I thought. Maybe even a lot more difficult that the transition from a child to a teenager. As a child I grew up looking at movies and princesses and all these characters and I always aspired to be like them, and life is nothing like a movies. I always had such high expectations. That is why I wanted to create a drawing that illustrated the reality of both worlds. I thought that maybe the best way to do so was to compare both world by drawing half of my face and the other half would be one of a Disney princess. This idea I saw one day that I was scrolling through social media. To the right are images of the art of the artist that inspired me to use this method. This artist goes under the name of Amanda Lee, also known as Dada and has a page that is linked below where she sells her art. Its main source of medium is color pencils. The color pencil allow the fine details that she uses to color and to create the gradients and smooth blending. That is something that I considered for my art work. Yet I will not use color in both sides, I will only use color to portray the unrealistic side, the princess side, to show the dreamy illusion. The side with my portrait will remain black and white to portray reality as cold and harsh.
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Planning:
I personally thought that it was important to create that effect of two different faces in order to compare the differences between myself and a person I admire. I created an image that I will later use as a template for my actual drawing. This image is seen to the right. It was hard to line up the face exactly because the dimension of our features were different. My lips plus teeth were much bigger than Emma Watson. Also I wear glasses but it was important that I incorporated that in the work because that is one of my "limitations".
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Process:
The first step to accomplish this piece of art was to use the graphite transfer method to create a much more defined and accurate faces. The half the face to the left is myself while the half to the right is Emma Watson. Emma Watson is an actress who interpreted the character of Bella in Beauty and the Beast. I chose to compare my self to her because she is considered one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, but not only that, she also interpreted Bella, a Disney princess who I grew up watching and wishing I was like her. After transferring the faces of both Emma Watson and myself I began the shading. I always start by doing a light layer of shading and then build up in necessary areas. From previous drawing that I had done I would start shading really hard and then the drawing would get muddy and really messy. I began by doing the eyebrows. The eyebrows and hair are probably the hardest and most consuming time . I wanted to make sure that they looked as realistic as possible, therefore I drew each individual hair. For both the eyebrows and the hair. I then proceeded with the yes and lips. I first outlined both of them with a 4B pencil in order to have a darker outline. I then proceeded by adding the contours of the face which required the most shading. The contours created a contrast between the differences of face shapes.
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Experimentation:
Before I began my drawing I experimented with the use color. At first I was planning to use color for the Emma Watson side, yet I decided to not so that because it would create an awkward situation. If I were to do that then the faces would not blend as much as I would like. That is also why I decided to not add the line that divided both halves. If I were to draw that line going down the center then it would have interrupted the flow of the faces.
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ACT Questions:
1.) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your work.
The method is used by both my artist inspiration and myself is that we both use the same medium. Although we both drew our art work she did use color which is one difference. Also the method used in order to communicate the message is the same, we both used the half face method to compare the beauty among characters.
2.) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author Dada is also trying to communicate that beauty comes in different forms, shapes, and colors. Comparing my self to the actress Emma Watson, in a way made me self conscious of my differences but it also helped me appreciate them.
3.) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspirations?
I believe that specifically the American society has certain standards to define a person beautiful, and that is what I wanted to address. I wanted to show that beauty breaks the imposed standards.
4.) What was the central idea or theme around the inspirational artwork?
The central idea of the inspirational artwork is using well known characters, like those we see in Disney movies in order to a address a major theme of braking imposed standards.
5.) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your
research?
The method is used by both my artist inspiration and myself is that we both use the same medium. Although we both drew our art work she did use color which is one difference. Also the method used in order to communicate the message is the same, we both used the half face method to compare the beauty among characters.
2.) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author Dada is also trying to communicate that beauty comes in different forms, shapes, and colors. Comparing my self to the actress Emma Watson, in a way made me self conscious of my differences but it also helped me appreciate them.
3.) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspirations?
I believe that specifically the American society has certain standards to define a person beautiful, and that is what I wanted to address. I wanted to show that beauty breaks the imposed standards.
4.) What was the central idea or theme around the inspirational artwork?
The central idea of the inspirational artwork is using well known characters, like those we see in Disney movies in order to a address a major theme of braking imposed standards.
5.) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your
research?