Artist Statement:

In this project, we were supposed to combine either 2 art movements or 2 artists from art history. In this unit, we spent weeks and weeks learning about art history and the impact it has on art today. For this art project, I decided to combine 2 pieces of art that really stood out to me. These were Pop Art and Renaissance. I loved pop art because it had so many colors. I also love pop art because it originated and was super popular in the 1960s. I always loved learning about the ’60s because the art trends in fashion, art, and music seemed so fun and cool. I think the ’60s were really the start of all the bright colors and groovy tunes that were huge in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. The apples that you see in my art piece were inspired by the Renaissance time period. I noticed that still, life portraits specifically of fruit were very popular in the Renaissance time period. I chose Baroque for my project because it was such a big movement with so many variations of art pieces. It reminded me of a lot of the victorian time period with big gowns and top hats. I think that the Renaissance is such a big base of art that it was important I included it. I also decided I added my own stamp to this portrait so, I added those vibrant colors I could find and made the apples look almost cartoony.

The main material I used for this project was paint. Specifically Acrylic paint. I decided to use acrylic paint because out of my trial and error I decided it dried the fastest and had a nice creamy texture that was easy to use especially when having to make such careful and accurate lines. I was going to use a thicker paper for this project but in the end, I went with a canvas. It was easier to use than paper because sometimes when you get a paper too wet with paint it starts to bubble which is not fun to deal with. The way I got my shades were… First, I would start with my base color which in this case is the background square color. Then I would work my way up and down the shades of colors by mixing different colors. To make it lighter I would generally just add white. But, if I wanted to make it darker I would either add black or any darker variation. While it took forever to mix shades it was a really good learning experience.

The process that I used for this project was layering. I first starter by using a ruler and pencil and mapping out where the squares would go. Then I went in with my first layer of paint and painter’s tape to make sure I was getting as clean of lines as possible. Then I had to ait for everything to dry and do the next layer. This project did take forever but in the end, I was happy with how it turned out! If I had to do this project again I would want to try 2 different kinds of art to see how that project would come out. If I were to add on to this project I would probably try something a little harder like a face. But, I think this was a good starting point for pop art and painting with layers.