Exhibition Text
"Horizon" is a painting that portrays the amount of power and pride that all woman have within themselves and the way that we should all show the world. Feminism should be accepted and this woman shows that every single woman is important and beautiful.
Meaning
There is only one woman on this painting and that woman was created to represent all of us, all of the women that at some point of our lives we have been mistreated just for our gender. This woman was created to demonstrate the power and pride that we should all have for ourselves and for ourselves.
Experimentation
Painting is not my strongest skill, but I wanted to challenge myself and create a painting where I could portray a message about feminism. For the first part of my experimentation I decided to experiment on my theme, I wanted to do something minimalistic so that it could get the point across, that is where I began to investigate. As I was looking for inspiration I realizes that feminism is a very broad topic, thus I narrowed my research to just trying to find an image of a common woman that represented all of us. Once I changed my way of researching I was able to find the perfect artwork to inspire me.
Once I began to paint I realized that I could include my theme on the way that I painted, so I decided to use two different techniques t demonstrate that feminism is from everyone, not just women. However before starting to paint I decided to experiment with the techniques that I was going to use; I began to experiment with my hands, this did not work properly on the canvas, so I decided to use something else. I found a sponge and decided to experiment the range of options that a sponge could create, this lead me to choose this as my first choice to use. The sponge worked really great with the canvas and the acrylics, I used the sponge to make a smooth blending for the background. Finally I decided to use a brush, a paint brush to create all of the black lines that created this woman because this woman is a common woman, any of us, just like the brush that I was using.
Once I began to paint I realized that I could include my theme on the way that I painted, so I decided to use two different techniques t demonstrate that feminism is from everyone, not just women. However before starting to paint I decided to experiment with the techniques that I was going to use; I began to experiment with my hands, this did not work properly on the canvas, so I decided to use something else. I found a sponge and decided to experiment the range of options that a sponge could create, this lead me to choose this as my first choice to use. The sponge worked really great with the canvas and the acrylics, I used the sponge to make a smooth blending for the background. Finally I decided to use a brush, a paint brush to create all of the black lines that created this woman because this woman is a common woman, any of us, just like the brush that I was using.
Process
1. Investigation
Previously I had already thought about the theme that I wanted to portray via painting, but I needed to fins some inspiration to begin. I wanted to create a minimalistic painting where feminism was portrait, and I wanted this painting to be simple so that the message could be as clear as possible. I narrowed my research down to a simple women that could represent all of us because she is role model, then I finally found a painting that got my attention because it had color and was as simple as I wanted it to be.
2. Planning by drawing sketches
I really enjoyed the way that my inspiration looked and I wanted my piece to look very similar, I decided to change some of the colors in the background to make the meaning more antiquate with the theme, and I secondly wanted to have more of the body on my painting because I wanted to show the public that a woman can be whom ever she wants and that equality means being fair.
3. Transferring sketches into surface
The first step that I took was to create the background because I wanted to paint the black lines on top of the colors.
For the background I took a moisten sponge and began to apply an even layer of dark blue, once I was done with the line of blue I decided to make another line of light blue and with the sponge I blended these two colors together. I did this same process with all of the five colors until the whole background was filled with color, the gradient looked smooth and no canvas was showing through. Once the background seem to be complete I decided to sketch by hand in pencil the woman from my inspiration, I wanted her to have similar features and I included the upper body. Once I was done lining the canvas, I decided to take a medium pencil and fill in the thickest lines, then I took a variety of smaller brushes t fill in the rest of the lines that would be filled in with black acrylic. After all of the black lines were completed I went back to make some lines more crisps and some colors of the background that got covered with some other color, I did this until the painting looked just right.
Previously I had already thought about the theme that I wanted to portray via painting, but I needed to fins some inspiration to begin. I wanted to create a minimalistic painting where feminism was portrait, and I wanted this painting to be simple so that the message could be as clear as possible. I narrowed my research down to a simple women that could represent all of us because she is role model, then I finally found a painting that got my attention because it had color and was as simple as I wanted it to be.
2. Planning by drawing sketches
I really enjoyed the way that my inspiration looked and I wanted my piece to look very similar, I decided to change some of the colors in the background to make the meaning more antiquate with the theme, and I secondly wanted to have more of the body on my painting because I wanted to show the public that a woman can be whom ever she wants and that equality means being fair.
3. Transferring sketches into surface
The first step that I took was to create the background because I wanted to paint the black lines on top of the colors.
For the background I took a moisten sponge and began to apply an even layer of dark blue, once I was done with the line of blue I decided to make another line of light blue and with the sponge I blended these two colors together. I did this same process with all of the five colors until the whole background was filled with color, the gradient looked smooth and no canvas was showing through. Once the background seem to be complete I decided to sketch by hand in pencil the woman from my inspiration, I wanted her to have similar features and I included the upper body. Once I was done lining the canvas, I decided to take a medium pencil and fill in the thickest lines, then I took a variety of smaller brushes t fill in the rest of the lines that would be filled in with black acrylic. After all of the black lines were completed I went back to make some lines more crisps and some colors of the background that got covered with some other color, I did this until the painting looked just right.
Artist Inspiration
Reflection
"Horizon" was a success because from the beginning I was able to investigate and experiment my thought and ideas, this was the way that I was able to create this painting. Not only for the rich hues, but also for the meaning this painting conveys my message which was the goal that I had for this project. Some things that I would change if I were to recreate this project again would be to use a projector to sketch the figure into the background of the canvas, because here I used my hand, and some dimensions do not look like my sketches and I could be able to place more evenly the whole body. I believe that this piece is very focused on the meaning and the fact that it is pop-art and colorful it brings more attention from the viewers, which leads to more sharing of the knowledge that I want to convey with my piece.
ACT Questions
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
"Horizon" was made to represent a common woman and the power within her, not only because she is looking up to something, but also because she is standing strong, my inspiration had a similar woman with the same characteristics.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Feminism is very broad topic and there are some misconceptions, the author of my researched clearly explained what feminism could mean to different people and the way that they are all umbrella terms that mean equality for all.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Throughout my research I found that in the western culture feminism is more approved because it is a right, however in other countries feminism is not okay and that has to be respected because it is a part of their cultures.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme that I focused on was feminism and the power of one, I chose a common woman to represent all of us and how no matter how we stand we all deserve equality.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
The inferences that I made while doing my research were that there are many points of view about feminism and that some of these opinions have to be respected even though one might not agree, but being respectful is part of being fair.
"Horizon" was made to represent a common woman and the power within her, not only because she is looking up to something, but also because she is standing strong, my inspiration had a similar woman with the same characteristics.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Feminism is very broad topic and there are some misconceptions, the author of my researched clearly explained what feminism could mean to different people and the way that they are all umbrella terms that mean equality for all.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Throughout my research I found that in the western culture feminism is more approved because it is a right, however in other countries feminism is not okay and that has to be respected because it is a part of their cultures.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme that I focused on was feminism and the power of one, I chose a common woman to represent all of us and how no matter how we stand we all deserve equality.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
The inferences that I made while doing my research were that there are many points of view about feminism and that some of these opinions have to be respected even though one might not agree, but being respectful is part of being fair.