Watercolor Landscape
Exhibition Text
I wanted to express the drive toward a destination. People are often so driven to complete one singular goal, that they do not stop to check the scenery. like being consumed with thoughts on college and being consumed with the thought of your life in the future, when the present is existing and your missing it.
Inspiration
Planning
my first sketch I was unsure if I wanted to create a flat scene or a hill filled scene, so I experimented with the landscape.
|
I then realized the meaning of the piece would come across easier if it was on a flat landscape, showing a better sense of direction.
|
I then sketched out the model of car that I might want to use, and ended up with an old Toyota.
|
Handwritten pages:
Process/Technique/Experimentation
while painting the sky, I really wanted to emphasize the time of day, by creating a warm color to cool color gradient, while keeping the clouds dark. While making the clouds I experimented with different brushes and brush strokes. I started off with longer stringy clouds, and built them up with a fan brush. I didn't want to loose the shape of the clouds that the watercolor created, so I went in and built them up disappearing into the sky at some points. I then focused on the sun and the highlighted effect it would have upon the clouds. I went in with white acrylic paint to created the light toughing the clouds, and then went over with the orange/red to add to the effect. I started creating the cliffs by applying a base color, and going in with long parallel strokes to the horizon, and layering them to look like cliffs in Arizona.
I layered a mixture of a sandy brown and a muddy brown to get those desert colors to create the textures of the mounds, after I was done with the mounds I moved on to putting down the base layer of ground using the sandy brown and a large flat brush. I then created the shadow of the mounds due to the sun setting with the deep muddy brown.
I then started painting in the car, and I found it difficult to keep a deeper red, so I mixed the lighter red with a darker red to help with the coloring of the car. I colored in the one way road with a ashy grey and moved on to the vegetation. For the small bushes of grass, I used a fan brush for the grass closer to the car, and a small hard brush for the farther vegetation. To create the grass like texture I took the fan brush and pushed upward from the base of the plant. I found it to work better the dryer the brush was, It was able to create a more defined piece of grass.
I Created the long shadows for the pieces of grass by taking the fan brush from the base of the plant, and pulling it down. when using this technique I found it easier to create a more defined shadow the wetter the brush was. I then added the last defining details of the car and darkened the origin of the road, to make it look like it was farther away. I added the last defining details to the ground, by creating long strokes of a mixture of the sandy brown, and the muddy brown, then adding water to make it look more cohesive. I went in with a dark green fine liner pen to define the singular pieces of grass, then with a black liner to define the road and car.
|
Reflection
Holiday Road was inspired by Erin Hanson and Albert Namatjira in their portrayal of landscapes, and the way they captured the essence of mother nature through oil paint and watercolor, contemporary and realistic. The dark purple clouds hovering over the desert landscape featured in Erin Hanson's painting, and the textures of Albert Namatjira's Painting. There were many difficulties when creating this piece, as I had never worked with watercolor before, I had to get used to the paint, and had to be patient for the paint to dry before I would be able to layer over it. There were many instances where by hand would go into wet paint and smear it as I was working on a different section of the piece, because I am used to resting my hand on a piece while I am working on it. Despite everything that went wrong during the making of Holiday Road I was very happy with the results, I have never done a landscape either, and I've always wanted to. This was an entirely new experience for me. I am proud of how it turned out, and what it stands for. People will go through life living out one goal to another, and wont stop to enjoy the present, and the life that is taking place now all around us.
ACT questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My inspiration effected the clouds that were featured in my painting, and the medium I used to create this piece.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach was explaining how the inspiration influenced my painting, and background information of the artists that I was inspired by.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
People are inspired by great feats of nature and often use landmarks in their local areas as inspiration when creating a landscape.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
The theme around my research was finding artists that were inspired by their surroundings to create their pieces.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I was able to Infer that people's culture, and where they live inspire them when creating a landscape piece.
My inspiration effected the clouds that were featured in my painting, and the medium I used to create this piece.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach was explaining how the inspiration influenced my painting, and background information of the artists that I was inspired by.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
People are inspired by great feats of nature and often use landmarks in their local areas as inspiration when creating a landscape.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
The theme around my research was finding artists that were inspired by their surroundings to create their pieces.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I was able to Infer that people's culture, and where they live inspire them when creating a landscape piece.
Bibliography
- Shovava. “Art History: The Evolution of Landscape Painting and How Contemporary Artists Keep It Alive.” My Modern Met, 3 Oct. 2017, https://mymodernmet.com/contemporary-landscape-painting/.
- Smith, Tom. “10 Indigenous Australian Artists You Should Know.” Culture Trip, 25 July 2018, https://theculturetrip.com/pacific/australia/articles/10-indigenous-australian-artists-you-should-know/.
- Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Albert Namatjira.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 4 Aug. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albert-Namatjira.
- Hanson, E. (2019). Contemporary Impressionism Art Gallery in San Diego California Featuring the Artwork of Erin Hanson. [online] Erinhanson.com. Available at: https://www.erinhanson.com/ [Accessed 23 Sep. 2019].