Art History Inspired (Project)

Art History Inspired Project- "Shady Greens" 

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The main idea that sparked my creativity was the inspiration from two artists. For this project, it was a requirement. The two artists that inspired me were Wilfredo Lam and Vincent Van Gogh.  One concept I wanted to explore was the impasto technique (found in Van Gogh's work), and a theme I wanted to present was a Jungle theme, found in Wilfredo's work. 

To create this, I used acrylic paint. To try to make thicker paint, resembling the impasto technique, I mixed in sawdust. The desired material to mix in was sand, but there was none available. I started by making a green-black background with paint that has no sawdust mixed in- I didn't want a thick, chunky background. After that, I layered on browns for tree trunks, and further added on the tree tops (leaves). After that dried, to make it look more like a jungle I added vines and mossy-looking vegetation on the trees.  This pulled most of it together. To create contrast, layers, and depth, I added bushes over the bottom part of the project, with colorful florals. This paint has sawdust mixed in; making it thicker and textured. For one final touch, I painted on a large tropical green leaf with acrylic that didn't have anything mixed in. I added black around it. With all of the small details layered on, a final jungle theme was pulled together. The sawdust helped me recreate the impasto technique. 

I went through several points of decision making, and had reasons behind my choices. First, I chose Wilfredo Lam because I wanted to explore themes in my artwork that I don't usually explore. Second, I chose Vincent Van Gogh because the impasto technique provided a challenge to me- it was something new and unknown. I decided to add the bushes as a top layer because they added depth and contrast to my work. I like how the bushes and the dark background work together, creating different light values. The bright, colorful flowers add large amounts of color contrast to the work; from dark greens and light greens, to bright rainbow / neon colors. I added the leaf on the side to bring movement from the deeper background, to the top layers. I added the black around / behind it to make it stand out, separate from everything else. Overall, I think I did a good job providing ideas inspired by my two chosen artists. I also like the way I used techniques to provide contrast, texture, and depth to this work.