Katrina Gallagher Public Feed
Kat Gallagher's Capstone
in Capstone
On a 36 x 36 canvas, I created a piece to express my struggle with depression. I choose bright colors in dark hues of acrylic paint to shade my image. I came up with the concept of a profile of a dazed person showing the inner battle in their mind ( a person taking one step at a time) I sketched it on paper and added more meaning throughout the design and mapped out the design on scrap paper. Then painted the background waited for it to dry and outlined my design in chalk. After that, i began to block in color starting with larger objects like the hair, mind, and neck and then went on to smaller objects like the eye and lips. When I completed that I went back and added more detail. When I was finished I let it sit and decided that I didn't like the eye and hair so, I repainted them… twice. As far as color scheme and proportion I was inspired by artist like Mark Paul Deren although the design was completely original and I did not use a reference photo.
citations:
Gottlieb, /. FJ. "What makes art meaningful?" FJ Gottlieb. N.p., 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 31 May 2017.
Gravelle), Mary Rae Rush (Mary. "Three Techniques for Creating Meaningful Art." My Art Notes. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 31 May 2017.
FieldeyCustom. YouTube. YouTube, 09 Apr. 2016. Web. 31 May 2017.
"MARK PAUL DEREN (@madsteez) • Instagram photos and videos." Instagram. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2017.
Jessie Oleson Moore on July 24, 2015 Favorited Add to Favorites. "13 Must- Know Acrylic Painting Techniques for Beginners." The Craftsy Blog.N.p., 17 Feb. 2017. Web. 31 May 2017.
Q3 Project limited pallet
I decided on the limited color pallet project because I really enjoy painting even if it's not my strongest skill. I feel like acrylics are the best mediums to blend because the colors bleed into each other cohesively which is also why I choose the colors Blue, Black, and White because of the vibe they give and how they mix. The parameters around my project were based on an image I found and my goal was to recreate my interpretation of what resigned from the subject I found. I found it to be weird and intriguing in a depressed pessimistic way. I though the subject gave the sense of loss and confusion but also acceptance. This is what I wanted to convey in a similar was hence why the subject looks similar and have similar postures, and my creation has part of the subject leaving here which is the black substance coming from her mouth and why she fades into the background.
Overall I think I achieved my goal and others will read the sense of confusion, loss, and acceptance but I think it's one of my weakest acrylic paintings. I have similar pieces and some are worse but most are better. I think what caused a lot of the problems I encountered was the original sketch I struggled a lot and changed the position of the subject to many times. I also had trouble with over thinning the paints with water on accident making parts patchy but at the end, i got the hang of it. I think my blending and shadowing needs improvement. They are also very important to adding dimension to a painting which parts of mine have and others don't. I began with a sketch on the canvas then, painted the background and began to block in color then added in detail layer by layer.
I think we’ve all felt lost I have a lot in life and I think that what drew me to this subject. I feel all art is personal in a way this case the subject just resonated with me emotionally. I think the fact that people create art, in general, is to connect and inspire people to express them self safely. I hope my artwork would do the same. I Was inspired by the photographer (Nanihta (Sol Vázquez) and their work and I hoped to create a similar impact.
Subjective Dismantling
The creation of this work was spawned from processing the thought of how self-destruction could created serenity. I personally struggle with depression and have learned to embrace the beauty hidden in the dark as well as has many family member who struggle with addiction and tragedy and have learned mal addictive coping measures are a way to blind oneself from the troubles plaguing a mind rather than curing them. Art is a way to safely express one’s demons and remove their ability to weigh on you. It showcases the beauty in distress, rather than masking the issue and harming yourself further. I was inspired to put her removed eye in her mouth by a photograph of a model eating a cherry as kinda a cheeky nod to how the positive sides of modeling and sex are glorified as beauty masking the self destruction often associated with the industry such as eating disorders. The choice to make her naked represents vulnerability, and destroyed proportions are supposed to be semi realistic because this is how I like to represent people it is a strong theme through most of my past and present work. It is also in grey scale like most of my previous works I find it makes a more understated beauty rather than the conventional vibrant mixes of colors also I am more confident with blending chalk pastels in the same hue because it makes technique of shading and making things 3d looking easier. I learned that layering the different values of pastels is the way to go rather the applying the values then trying to blend them. This left the chest area a little streaky compared to the face. Layering is definitely the key for smooth transitions Looking at other modern artist I really resonate with the pieces of Ai Weiwei where he shows a man shattering a vase with a relaxed position i feel like it show case that destruction is the chaos in beauty. His pieces are simplistic but thought provoking and that’s what i strive for i want people to view my work and not feel uncomfortable or sadden but feel these complex emotions and realize the potential for beauty is just as much as positive emotions and therefore instill hope. I Don’t know if my work does this but I know that it’s thought provoking and that is satisfaction enough for me
