Jorge Gomez-Corril

Artist Statement

Ms.Hertz

January 7, 2018

Limited Palette Painting

As for my project choice for quarter 2, I decided to choose the Limited palette painting. For my painting I choose to do a Mexican flag in order to show some sort of respect for my culture and background. It is made up of three colors; red, white and green. In the middle of the flag there’s an eagle on top of a cactus biting a snake. Through my work, I would want the viewer to have an understanding of what my ethnic background is and how it means something to me. I could have chosen something else, ie a self portrait or an image of the sunset but the flag is just something very meaningful and I decided to incorporate that in my painting. There’s not a lot of times where there’s an opportunity to show off your ethnic flag and this was a great opportunity to show that off.

The tools that I used to create my work were; acrylic paint, brushes, pencil, eraser, cup of water,  newspaper, palette, cloth,  paper towel, wood  and a palette knife. First  I had to sketch an outline of my flag with pencil and eraser. Then, I cut a piece of wood and used it as my base while covering it with a cloth and painted it white (with special paint)  so it would have a white base. So when I was ready to start painting, I used acrylic paint because I thought it would stand out more than water colors to draw out the details in the flag, the brushes were used in order to do this and I used a variety of sized brushes. The cup of water was used in order to clean off the paint after I was done with it and then I would use a paper towel to clean off the water. After I was done with my work, the last step was to sit it on top of a newspaper to let it dry.

My current work relates to my previous work because they both had to do with my connection that is close to limited and non existent with my ethnic roots. I am not well connected with my background and don’t have a large understanding of my culture so I thought that by informing myself and creating this work, it would encourage me to have a better outlook on that. I am most proud of how this work came out because I was expecting it to be much worse that how it came out. This was an interesting experience to go through and choose my own project. The only thing that I would change about this project is the amount of colors we were allowed to use. Some people can’t limit themselves to 5 colors in one artwork. Through my completion of this project, I’ve learned that it’s not good to waste your time on other things while instructions are being given and always use your time wisely because those were two things that majorly negatively impacted me.

My artwork has an alien like person standing on a cloud reaching out to other clouds and a sunset like setting in the background. Through my art I hope to show how alienation is something that I face in my life with my culture. I feel isolated in a room full of mexican culture because I feel as if I don’t fit in. This brings me back to my personal life experiences and feeling as if I wasn’t part of the culture that makes me, me.

As for the drawing portion of my work, I used a pencil to first draw an outline and then oil pastels to color in everything. This was a struggle because oil pastels are very messy and can easily ruin your drawing if not used correctly. Then i used a conte crayon in order to help the outlines have more definition in them so that there would be a separation between two things on the drawing. The sharp edges of the square crayon helps for a more subtle straight look to the finished product. Something that I learned while using the crayon was having to push the crayon slow but put pressure on the crayon at the same time so that if you draw a curve it looks neat.

The artist that inspired my art was Frida Kahlo because although her painting were very sad and had bad/dark meanings to them, she still managed to put some love or good heart into the background story. For me, although I feel disconnected from my culture, I still have love for it and want to make my relationship with it stronger. Throughout my life going to family gatherings would be uncomfortable for me since the music, food and people felt distinct to me. I didn’t feel a warm welcome when I would be around my own family.

In conclusion, one thing that I am most proud of in this work is the background story that it has because it’s very important to me. While one thing that I would change is the things that I decided to include in my drawing. I would change the clouds for planets and the background to the Mexican flag so that it would have a more clear meaning in my drawing and when I explain.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years ?

“In 5 years I see myself in college studying veterinary medicine, I see myself in a college dorm and having fun being a college student.”

What motivates you ?

“People around me and like music such as Ed Sheeran. I love music It motivates me to wake up everyday.”

Are you easy to talk to ?

“I believe so I have a lot of friends and everybody is kind and I’m kind to other people so I think I am.”

I chose this sculpture because tumblr is a way in social media where teens can go and express themselves instead of doing it in real life. I personally do this and i think it brings my self esteem up because i can socialize with other people around the world. I can now talk to someone in California or the UK i think it’s very interesting. The internet in general has evolved from 2000 - 2015. Social Media is changing peoples lives. It changed mines too because when i started going on social media and started making accounts i met new people and i had all of these online friends and i eventually met some of them.

This project maybe may sound easy at first but you brainstorm so much that you don’t even know what to do your project on or what topics interest you. I think having a parallel circuit was better because when they are in series it needs more resistance and the more resistance you need means the harder it is for electricity to flow through the copper wires. But when you have a parallel circuit it will be easier for the energy to flow because it doesn’t need that much resistance. I had two different branches one vertical one horizontal. I had a parallel circuit for one direction and a series for the other.

To me it says that social media such as tumblr can “light up” somebody’s day because when i am sad or bored i usually stick out to social media and interact with my thousands of followers. Social media can be used in a good way or in a bad way. It can be used in a good way to make friends or connect with people around the world/ talking to your family members online on facebook or twitter.

Social media can affect teenagers mental health and cause damage in the brain. For example facebook or twitter can shorten attention spans. “The Oxford University said that repeated exposure could effectively rewire the brain.” People care afraid that technology can damage the younger kids mind since they are just attracted to bright lights and buzzing noises.

Tumblr is very important in the social media world since they have tons of accounts. Tumblr has grown since 2010 over 47%. This shows that every year tumblr has gotten more popular and there’s years to come so i estimate its going to grow as big as facebook or maybe even bigger.