Artist Reference

Make reference to relevant artists and artworks to inform your own artmaking process.

Your chosen artist may be relevant to your work through concept, subject matter, medium, style, etc. EXPLAIN the connection in your annotations.

WHEN - The artist lived or born (dates). WHERE - The artist worked or works. WHAT - Kind of work he/she made or makes.

THINK about the subject matter and DESCRIBE how the artist has employed Elements of Art and Principles of Design to create composition and evoke feelings.

REFLECT and ELABORATE how the artist has inspired you and DEMONSTRATE his/her influences through your own sketches in your preparatory studies.

Referencing to artists can happen at ANY juncture of your art making process.

Example

You can interpret a theme such as “UNDERGROUND” in different ways based on your personal experiences. Consider how the following artists and students have expressed their own interpretations through their artworks.

"Underground" can refer to an underground railway, such as the one in London

Artist Reference: Ewing Paddock

Artist Ewing Paddock spent three years painting people travelling on the London Underground.

Student's Response

Inspired by Ewing Paddock, student made studies of commuters she encountered on the MRT.

"Underground" can also refer to secrets that are hidden from plain sight.

Student's interpretation of the same theme based on her personal experiences and cultural influences.

Subject Matter

The content of a work of art - what the artist decides to draw, paint or sculpt.

Artist Reference: Sarah Graham

British painter’s photorealistic oil paintings of confectionery.

Student's Response

Student's research and first hand observation drawings of junk food as inspired by the subject matter in Sarah Graham's paintings.

Artist Reference: Christian Waters

'The Price of Convenience', 2015 is a series of photoshopped images to raise awareness on the effects of littering on marine life.

Student's Response

In responding to the theme "From The Sea", student made reference to Christian Waters' depiction of the devastating effects of pollution on sea creatures.

Observational Drawings

Observational drawing is the core method of researching, investigating, developing and communicating ideas. It is essential to demonstrate competency in making realistic drawings in the early stages of your preparatory studies.

Artist Reference: Loui Jover

Australian artist known for his ink drawings on the pages of books, magazines and newspapers.

Student's Response

Student’s drawing of butterfly on pages of dictionary to experiment with drawing on different surfaces as inspired by Loui Jover.

Development Sketches

Explore and experiment with different possibilities to transform your research (gathered images and observational drawings) to express your artistic intentions. Studying the way artists develop their ideas can provide you with much inspiration.

Artist Reference: Nigel Tomm

Nigel Tomm's photography deliberately distorts the look of celebrities and good looking models and brings them down to realistic level of beauty.

Student's Response

In responding to the theme "Distorted Viewpoints", student studied Nigel Tomm's method of crumpling photographs to create new and unusual viewpoints.

Student's Response

Student used a photo of herself, folded and crumpled to show DISTORTION as inspired by Nigel Tomm. Then she painted it using acrylic paint.

Artist Reference: Bruce Nauman

In 'Infrared Outtakes', 2006, the artist photographed his body twisted and pulled in different ways, exposed to security camera-style infrared light.

Student's Response

Student experimented with Bruce Nauman's method of distorting facial features.

Student's Response

Student’s interpretation of CONTORTED in response to Bruce Nauman's work.

Artist Reference: Justin Lee Chee Kong

Justin Lee's artworks offers a different understanding of today’s Singaporean society and lifestyle with a blend of eastern and western cultures.

Student's Response

Student played with positive and negative spaces by JUXTAPOSING the chinese character '乱' on the Coca-Cola can.

Composition/Layout

The arrangement or placement of visual elements in a piece of artwork.

"Composition is the art of arranging in a decorative manner the diverse elements at the painter's command to express his feelings." Henri Matisse, 1908

Artist Reference

Artist placed the human figures strategically at the foreground, middle ground and background to create a sense of space.

Student's Response

Student took photographs of possible poses for his final artwork to help him in composing his layout.

Student's Response

Student also made reference to artist's use of FORESHORTENING to create the illusion of spatial depth.

Artist Reference: Michael D'Antuno

'American Pie', 2015 by New York-based social commentary artist who paints to tackle socio-political issues.

Student's Response

Student made reference to Michael D'Antuno's use of a figure at an exaggerated scale to create EMPHASIS. She also studied how the artist arranged the visual elements to direct the viewer's eye into and around the artwork to give a sense of MOVEMENT.

Style

Describe the way the artwork looks and is basically the manner in which the artist portrays his or her subject matter and how the artist expresses his or her vision.

In most instances, artworks that have certain characteristics in common are considered to have the same style.

Consider how the following student has made reference to a particular art style and incorporated influences from different artists in her artwork.

Student provided a brief introduction on the chosen STYLE (Pop Art) and justified her choice in her annotations.

Student chose one representative artist (Andy Warhol) of Pop Art as her artist reference.

Student developed her ideas in the STYLE of Andy Warhol.

Student’s composition for her final artwork is inspired by Vadis Turner’s 'Fast Food Quilt', 2006.

She painted it in the Pop Art STYLE using acrylic paint.

Medium

Materials that are used to create a work of art.

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