Triptych
Limbo
Tryptic
December 2019
Exhibition Text
These pieces I created that are called Limbo, is a story about religion and my place in it. In mexican culture, we mostly are catholic. My family isn't really religious, we don't go to church or practice anything. But we believe in god and heaven and hell. These pieces tell the story of the heaven and hell with me in the middle as the dove. I wanted to tell a story of my lifestyle and where I stand between the religion with it's beliefs.
Tryptic
December 2019
Exhibition Text
These pieces I created that are called Limbo, is a story about religion and my place in it. In mexican culture, we mostly are catholic. My family isn't really religious, we don't go to church or practice anything. But we believe in god and heaven and hell. These pieces tell the story of the heaven and hell with me in the middle as the dove. I wanted to tell a story of my lifestyle and where I stand between the religion with it's beliefs.
Planning
Inspiration For this overall project and artworks I wanted to show disappointment. I was debating between having a nun or the virgin Mary. I felt like having the virgin Mary would be more accurate considering the catholic religion prays to her. For catholic religion she plays a huge role and she's a figure to look up to. So looking around on the web, I found the perfect picture of the virgin Mary. She's looking away and has a really sad/disappointing face. Something I wanted and was looking for. I wanted this for the painting because I don't follow Catholicism and I don't look up to the virgin Mary nor do I believe I should pray to her. But that's just my belief, and I truly only believe in god and Jesus and feel those are the people I should pray to. As much as my family isn't religious, I think we lean towards Christianity more than Catholic. So I wanted to show the virgin Mary as the catholic religion and wanted to show her disappointed and away from me. I wanted that because she would be disappointed because I don't really follow the religion or look up to her. I also wanted her to face away from me to represent the distance and no connection between me and the religion. Then for the second/middle painting, I didn't necessarily want to insert myself in it. I wanted to create a symbol for myself. The symbol I chose was a dove, I chose a dove because they are a symbol of purity and innocence. I wanted to show that I am innocent and pure to religion because I believe in god and Jesus and I also wanted it to represent me as something/someone good in a world of evil. So I wanted the bird/me to stand out and I painted the background red to represent evil surrounding me. Red is a main color for hell and the devil is considered to be red. The red represents sin, sins in the world that revolves around me, and the devils power. I added the tear to the bird to show I don't want to be sinful and to kinda show a guilty expression. Due to not being really religious. Then for my last piece, I put the devil himself. I wanted to put the devil to show the different worlds and to show he has affect to. I also put his eyes to look my way to show that not the devil, but the sins affect me. In Catholicism, it explains that the devil can affect us everyday by making us sin everyday. So that's what I wanted to portray with creating him on a painting and him looking at me/the bird. Also with the red background for symbolism. |
Virgin Mary
By: Carlo Dolci Beautiful fruit dove
By: Maggie Hurley Cartoon Red Devil
By: Christos Georghiou |
Planning Sketches
My first planning sketch was the virgin Mary, This sketch was just the same as the original. But I added a cross instead of hands to show the religious side. I didn't want people to think it's just a woman. So I added a cross to show the religion aspect. Then I also added eyebrows that were visible and hair to resemble a woman. When I was drawing it and there was no hair or eyebrows and she looked like a man. I wanted to clearly show she was a woman. I kept the hooded cloak because nuns usually wear them, But so does the virgin Mary. Then for the the background I wanted to keep the light glowing behind her. I wanted to keep it to show she's good.
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This is my second sketch, it was the easiest to do. This sketch is more basic, because it's not final and doesn't have colors. All I really had to do was draw the sketch of a branch and bird. The original isn't really detailed, so the sketch isn't really detailed. The bird is the main focus, So I plan on making it the focus and make a bold color in the background like the original.
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This is my last sketch of the devil. It is a detailed piece, Not as much as the virgin Mary, But it is detailed. I also wanted to show connection between this piece and the virgin Mary. So just like the virgin Mary painting, The painting has a light behind her. So for the devil I wanted the light to be below the devil to represent hell. Then I wanted to eyes to be looking towards the bird/me in the middle. To make it look like the devil is affecting me and make it look more devious and evil.
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Process
Experimentation For the virgin Mary painting, I played with paints to make a really good matching skin tone to the original. Then I also played with the looks of the face. She looked like a man at first so I added hair and eyebrows, That isn't in the original. Then instead of adding hands, I added the cross from my sketch. Then I also experimented with the light in the background and the texture it should be. So I tried different size brushes that can create the background. Then for my second painting of the dove, I painted it blank with no outline, But I felt it was to basic and not bold enough, so I outlined everything of the bird with black paint. Then for my third painting, the devil. I really experimented with the right red for the devil, because he's portrayed with bright red orange hue skin tone. So I wanted to create that. Then I also experimented with the strong facial expressions and details of the face with lines. |
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Process
For each painting, I had to construct the canvas. I put together the wood and canvas with staples and a hammer. I had to make sure each canvas was the right scale of tightness and wouldn't become lopsided. After that whole process of making the canvases, I had to apply gesso to the paintings. Gesso is a primer and had to be put all over the canvas, even the back. I then had to draw the painting I wanted to do on the canvas. I didn't use any techniques to sketch it on the canvas. I just drew freely, but precise to match the images. Then after drawing the sketch I wanted on the canvas, I would begin painting the drawing. I did have some errors, But the errors could easily be fixed by painting over it or blending it. For the virgin Mary and devil, I had to do a lot of blending and lots of swatches of different colors of paint. Then for the bird one, it was easy and not much texture put into it. Just a lot of line work and bold lines. |
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Reflection
I think I did extremely well on all three of my paintings the message that I was trying to convey with all three of them together really shows through to the end when you follow it like a story almost, I wanted to convey religious beliefs and a religious story with what i created. My technique was very well done as I used the styles and ways of painting in the same way that the original artist did, by adding layers of color on the skin for the Virgin Mary, which helped give her face depth and detail with the style of painting I was going for, with the Baroque period by making her stylistically semi-realistic, with great amounts of shading and detail put into their character. I think that I really kept my theme of my self in tact with this piece, as this piece really reflects a large aspect of my life and my Mexican culture and Heritage, I carried out my vision with detail and congruent paintings that reflect the message and undertone of the whole piece. I am very satisfied with my work and am proud of the outcome that I have Made. I think from my inspiration the paintings match, but with my own style and twist. Viewers can easily tell I used my inspiration and connected them strongly.
I think I did extremely well on all three of my paintings the message that I was trying to convey with all three of them together really shows through to the end when you follow it like a story almost, I wanted to convey religious beliefs and a religious story with what i created. My technique was very well done as I used the styles and ways of painting in the same way that the original artist did, by adding layers of color on the skin for the Virgin Mary, which helped give her face depth and detail with the style of painting I was going for, with the Baroque period by making her stylistically semi-realistic, with great amounts of shading and detail put into their character. I think that I really kept my theme of my self in tact with this piece, as this piece really reflects a large aspect of my life and my Mexican culture and Heritage, I carried out my vision with detail and congruent paintings that reflect the message and undertone of the whole piece. I am very satisfied with my work and am proud of the outcome that I have Made. I think from my inspiration the paintings match, but with my own style and twist. Viewers can easily tell I used my inspiration and connected them strongly.
ACT Responses
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
My inspiration gave my work life, and by that I mean it gave my piece a good sense of direction and meaning, with how It evolved while I was creating it. I'm trying to create a self insertion religious piece to give context to my culture and my heritage.
2) What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
My overall approach is to present my work and my personal life as a Mexican, growing up as a semi religious person, with no actual church related events but has ties with religious concepts, I wanted to express that through my research, which is why I chose to research this topic
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I made conclusions on meanings of certain figures and religious figures for the reasoning of my piece, showing my understanding of how my culture represents its beliefs and values.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea was myself and my heritage, I wanted to express a small part of myself and my culture as a 3 part art piece through my religion, which I may not be a major part of, but I still respect and follow the beliefs of it.
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made inferences on meanings of certain figures and what they represent and how I can use them and put them into context based on the research I did and where they came from and how they were used in the art pieces I used as my inspiration.
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
My inspiration gave my work life, and by that I mean it gave my piece a good sense of direction and meaning, with how It evolved while I was creating it. I'm trying to create a self insertion religious piece to give context to my culture and my heritage.
2) What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
My overall approach is to present my work and my personal life as a Mexican, growing up as a semi religious person, with no actual church related events but has ties with religious concepts, I wanted to express that through my research, which is why I chose to research this topic
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I made conclusions on meanings of certain figures and religious figures for the reasoning of my piece, showing my understanding of how my culture represents its beliefs and values.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea was myself and my heritage, I wanted to express a small part of myself and my culture as a 3 part art piece through my religion, which I may not be a major part of, but I still respect and follow the beliefs of it.
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made inferences on meanings of certain figures and what they represent and how I can use them and put them into context based on the research I did and where they came from and how they were used in the art pieces I used as my inspiration.
Bibliography
Georghiou, Christos, and Krisdog. “Devil Face Cartoon Vector Illustration © Christos Georghiou (Krisdog) (#7245281).” Stockfresh, Stockfresh.com | Royalty Free Stock Photos, Graphics and Vector Illustrations Https://Stockfresh.com, 19 Aug. 2016, stockfresh.com/image/7245281/devil-face-cartoon.
“Original Bird Painting - Beautiful Fruit Dove.” Maggie Hurley, www.maggiehurley.com/shop/original-bird-painting-beautiful-fruit-dove/.
Georghiou, Christos, and Krisdog. “Devil Face Cartoon Vector Illustration © Christos Georghiou (Krisdog) (#7245281).” Stockfresh, Stockfresh.com | Royalty Free Stock Photos, Graphics and Vector Illustrations Https://Stockfresh.com, 19 Aug. 2016, stockfresh.com/image/7245281/devil-face-cartoon.
“Original Bird Painting - Beautiful Fruit Dove.” Maggie Hurley, www.maggiehurley.com/shop/original-bird-painting-beautiful-fruit-dove/.