UWM Illustration
In and Out of Focus20cm x 30cm
Gouache Painting 1/15/20 Exhibition Text
The Diptych piece "In and Out of Focus" was inspired by what I see when I take off my glasses (I'm far sighted so I can't really see anything right in front of my face) as well as the Studio Ghibli Illustration style. Everyone was doing a serious approach to this project, so I wanted to do something a little different and a little funny. I really enjoy every movie that Studio Ghibli animates because, well, I guess their directors and style give it the magical, realistic-looking feel to every movie.
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Planning
Inspiration
My inspiration stemmed from the way I see pictures without my glasses. The style is inspired by my favorite animation film studio-Studio Ghibli. What sparked my initial remembrance of Studio Ghibli was actually my friends talking about Disney movies they liked when they were little, and I, having not seen half of the movies they were talking about, thought of Studio Ghibli's movie Nausicaä of the valley of the wind. I watched Nausicaä of the valley of the wind on repeat when I was little, it was my favorite movie of all time and I would practically recite the lines as they were playing. The story is basically about this princess named Nausicaä's journey to find peace for her small kingdom. It has a very strong female lead which I adore, she is wicked smart and fly's through the sky on her glider saving everyone, she is a warrior princess after all. My family had always had me watch Studio Ghibli movies instead of Disney movies, so I think this embedded a love for magical stories, old victorian houses, and shiny little copper pots and pans. When I found out this was an illustration assignment I just knew I had to use the Ghibli style. The background style in particular has this realistic feel to it, and this where most of my inspiration came from. Since this was going to be a semi-realistic piece I decided to try and find an interesting looking Victorian house. The picture on the top left is the reference photo I ended up using. In the newer Ghibli films the backgrounds are very detailed and aesthetic, for example reference photo #1, 2, and 3.
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(Click on pictures for larger viewing)
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Planning Sketches
The only planning sketch I used was my original color pencil illustration that I completed in the first semester. This was the only sketch I needed because I decided I wasn't going to change the piece that much. After my critique of this piece I decided to pay attention to the lighting more, as well as make the black space a more even and less messy shade. I decided to change the chandelier to more candles because I didn't like the way it looked in the composition after all. I also made the out of focus more messy and a little cubist.
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Process
Process
(½) Out of focus
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(Click on pictures for larger viewing)
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Experimentation
Since it was my first time using gouache I found it natural to make a color chart using the pigments and hues I got in class. This was actually really helpful to me, so I left it out to reference when I was mixing paint. It was especially useful when painting the wood fixtures. The furthest picture on the right was when I was experimenting on how fragile the paint is. I found out it is very fragile as the picture may look as if it was the paper ripping, it was in fact the dry paint.
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(Click on pictures for larger viewing)
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Critique
Inspirations:
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(Click on pictures for larger viewing)
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Reflection
I feel as though I didn’t do as well as I could have, especially on the in focus part. On the left near the windows looks really nice and like the art style I was inspired by. But as I went on it started looking worse because I didn’t give myself enough time to complete it to my liking. Other than that, I really like how the out of focus looks. I wanted it to look more messy than the out of focus color pencil is, just to exaggerate how I see without glasses. In truth my vision isn’t as bad as depicted. I maybe could have added more candles to make the composition brighter and more intricate which would have been nice.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?