Artist Inspired Background

For this project we were asked to create a background for our gridded-self portrait drawings that are inspired by the artist we did our art history research project on. I did my research on Vincent van Gogh. My work was made using watercolor paint, paintbrushes, paper towels, and a thin sharpie. I started by painting the bamboo which you can see in the foreground, I used simply just green, blue, black and yellow but was able to create various colors that flowed nicely. I also used the water to my advantage as its watercolors. The water helped to mix the colors and spread them out at times. After generating the idea of a restaurant menu later on I painted the background a light yellow, adding orange and other tints and shades of yellow. After that I added the red frame which I had some trouble with but pretty easily fixed with some water. Once that was dry I added in the sharpie outlines. The sharpie outlines are featured on bamboo, the red/maroon frame, the title and blurred food items, and even my mask. My project evolved once I started to add the little details, especially the sharpie. I also went back and added the faded yellow paint at the bottom of the artwork that overlaps my self-portrait drawing.

I used color and its value with my watercolors to create contrast and a rhythm within the piece. Like I already stated, I think the colors flow nicely and create balance and unity as well. I also used texture to create an emphasis on the bamboo as well as a desired movement(the bamboo stands out to me the most however that could be different for other viewers).

There are no specific ideas evident in my work. I really wanted to express the Japanese culture in a respectful manner and I feel that that worked. I have always liked the idea of bamboo and have actually been wanting to incorporate it into one of my pieces for a while. The idea for the menu in the background was actually given to me by Finn Furtney. I thought this was a very cool idea and knew that it would match the vibe of the bamboo I had already painted. The reasoning for the Japanese inspired piece was because Vincent van Gogh actually for a little bit studied Japanese art prints and created multiple pieces like, “Almond Blossom” (1890), and, “Bridge in the Rain(After Hiroshige)”. Even though he is famous for his brushwork and amazon art pieces I really wanted to experiment with the Japanese art aspect of his art history. I’m very proud of the bamboo, the yellow background, the red frame, and the sharpie work. It all fits nicely. The sharpie was a cool asset to the art. I could have left it alone but the sharpie further emphasized the objects in my work. I also feel that the sharpie technique works very well with watercolors - it could work with acrylic but in my opinion doesn’t look as good. I struggled with some of the watercolor parts at times. I would either add too much water or mess up the red frame and by accidentally blend it into the yellow background. However, like I said, watercolors are good in a sense that you can usually easily fix your mistakes. When I make a mistake with watercolors I put a lot of extra water over the mistake and then take my paper towel and dab it right off. This is what I did with the mistakes I made throughout the process. I also struggled with the sharpie title. Instead of writing ‘menu’ I wrote ‘mene’. I tried to think in my head of ways to fix it however none of them seemed reasonable as they could make it look like I had clearly made a mistake or end up ruining it even more. I am bummed that I didn’t pencil in the word at first but its pen and I couldn’t fix that. Overall I am satisfied with how this turned out and think it looks slightly abstract but clean.