Illustration |
Title:
Size: Medium: Mixed media Completion date: April 2022 Exhibition text: The overall objective for this piece was to explore pollution in an abstract way. The medias used were watercolors, watercolor pencils and gel pens on watercolor paper. Paul Chartrand inspired both the contextual and conceptual aspects of the piece. |
Inspiration
Paul Chartrand is a small artist who creates drawings of litter in nature using graphite and oil based pencil crayon on paper. His work is simple but speaks a large message. I wanted to incorporate his message into my piece with the visual of the litter looking like it doesn't belong within the nature. To achieve this look, Chartrand uses differing colors between the nature and the litter. This was something I had to decide if and how I would incorporate into my work.
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Experimentation
I started by experimenting with drawing different little litter pieces like chip bags, water bottles and more. I knew I wanted these to make up my piece in a crowded sort of overwhelming way and because of that, I was going to have to get good and fast at creating them. I played with the way the watercolors and water color pencils interacted with each other and the different affects I could create using the mediums.
Process for illustration 1
I decided to start with the center of my piece. I knew I wanted to have some sort of animal in the center of my piece that would appear to be almost smothered in the pieces of litter. I decided to go with a koi fish because of the symbolism that would come with the animal.
Koi fish represent strength, perseverance, change, love, bravery and dedication. I wanted to use the koi fish because I thought that these values represented how I wanted to portray the nature in this piece. |
For my koi fish I started by sketching out the shape of the fish with a graphite pencil and then I began applying color with saturated water colors. I used oranges, yellows and blacks to create the appearance I desired. Afterwards, I used water color pencils to sketch over the existing paint to create more detail and variety in texture.
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After this it was time to begin drawing the little pieces of litter that would surround my koi fish. For these, I wanted them to be realistic but have the sketch-like feel that was evident in the work of Paul Chartrand. I filled my space with these little drawings. At this point, I decided I wanted to invest in a white gel pen for the highlights and logos of my litter. This made for an excellent addition to the piece and broadened my ability of what I could create.
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Coca-Cola can without white gel detailing
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Lays chips bag without gel detailing
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I filled the space around the fish up more and more, outlining the fish in white as I went so he would pop out away from the trash.
To finish this piece, I completed filling the space with little objects around the fish before applying a careful light greenish brown wash to the background. I wanted it to look like water but also not distract from the trash and I worried the watercolor would activate the water color pencils in the objects so I was conservative with my watercolor. |
Process for illustration 2
While creating my first illustration, I knew I wanted my secondary piece to emphasize the message in the first one and and hold accountability to people for their carbon foot print. I toyed with different ideas like either a eutopic river to counter the trashed one in my first piece or an image of a person walking with a trail of trash behind them, abstractly representing the mess humans leave behind through air, light water and land pollution.
After this, I started coloring in the jeans using my water colors and water color pencils. My first attempt went very poorly. I tried to put down a wash of watercolor first and the the colored pencils but because of the amount of water on the page, the paper began to pill and the colors were not applying evenly. I decided to restart, reskecthing my image and this time using far less color with the pencils coming first. When it was time to apply the water, I scrunched up some paper towel and wet it, using that to apply the water colors and blend rather than a paintbrush that could and would hold a lot more water and therefore ruin my paper.
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I attempted to mimic the folds and shadows evident in my jeans to create a look that was slightly pop-art-y like my first illustration but also realisitic in a sense. I did this by first using smooth blending to create the depth in the jeans and then following this up with a semi-harsh blue outline on the seems that added the pop-art aspect.
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After I had tediously completed all the little dots of gravel, I used my brown watercolor brush and rubbed it over the dots to darken the background and soften the appearance of the stones.
Before After
Compare and Contrast
The chosen inspiration illustration and my illustrations are similar in that they are both pieces that explore litter in the natural world. Furthermore, the pop-art esque style I used in my work, specifically in my first illustration is something that I intentionally tried to recreate from the work of Pual Chartrand. The bright colors of the litter against the more monochromatic background is a part of the composition of both Chartrand's illustration and my first illustration.
Though similarities can be found between the works, differences are also very evident. Paul Chartrand's work with litter is always solely singular illustrations and I created my illustration as a diptych. Because I wanted my pieces to compliment each other and because I heavily relied on the influence of Chartrand in my first piece, the second piece displays far less of Chartrand's compositional values. Furthermore, Chartrand solely uses non-water color pencils for his work and I used water color pencils and water color. This gives his pieces a really sketchy look where mine are more blended. This is especially evident when you compare the orange bag to my orange fish. |
Critique
This project tested my patience at many times, but in the end, I am very proud of the object I work and my ability to maintain precision and effort throughout the course of the project time. The diptych aspect of this piece was very difficult for me because conceptualizing a secondary piece that reflected my message in the first illustration well without becoming it's own entity was hard. Overall, I think the two pieces compliment each other well and send the strong message I worked to send from the beginning. I plan to continue with work surrounding environmental sustainability and care because it is quite important to me and I enjoyed researching art surrounding the topic. I heavily enjoyed the mediums I used as I had previously only used them together very few times. I also enjoyed creating something mildly abstract because I usually put a heavy focus on realism and making things look as accurate as possible.
ACT questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
The sketches created by Chartrand inspired the way I created my pieces to send a message about litter and its lack of place in out natural world.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Chartrand creates his piece to send a message to viewers about the unfortunate amount of litter in nature and the way it appears out of place. He captured images and used bright colors against monochromatic backgrounds to capture the dis-belonging emotion.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Through this process, I discovered that many artists do work with litter and create art with the same message through different styles.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My research developed the theme within the way I would portray litter within nature and the sense of urgency I wanted portrayed in my piece.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
During my research I inferred that depicting litter in an abstract or realistic way were both possibilities to me that would send the same messsage.
The sketches created by Chartrand inspired the way I created my pieces to send a message about litter and its lack of place in out natural world.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Chartrand creates his piece to send a message to viewers about the unfortunate amount of litter in nature and the way it appears out of place. He captured images and used bright colors against monochromatic backgrounds to capture the dis-belonging emotion.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Through this process, I discovered that many artists do work with litter and create art with the same message through different styles.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My research developed the theme within the way I would portray litter within nature and the sense of urgency I wanted portrayed in my piece.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
During my research I inferred that depicting litter in an abstract or realistic way were both possibilities to me that would send the same messsage.