Digital Collage
Artist Inspiration: |
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Citations for pictures:
Rene Magritte's paintings. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.renemagritte.org/ |
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The artist/art work I decided to take my inspiration from is Rene Magritte. The specific pieces are named The False Mirror and The Mysteries of the Horizon. Rene Magritte is a surrealist artist from Lessines in the province of Hainaut. Magritte has practiced many art styles including Impressionism and Fauve. Magritte's medium of choice is oil painting on canvas. One specific painting I focused on is The False Mirror. The False Mirror was completed in 1928, focusing on World War 1. This painting is an allegorical piece and was meant to bring up the question, " Is what your seeing correspond with what you think you know?" I chose this piece because I really like the way he challenges the viewer. He wants you to think. That is what I wanted with my piece. I wanted the meaning to be clear but also to pose the question, " Does the higher power you believe in correspond with your personal beliefs and morals?" I also like the almost magical way he made the piece. I wanted my work to have this quality as well. I also like how he made a direct connection with thoughts and morals with the use of the eye. I wanted to make a direct correlation with the eye as well. The second piece is The Mysteries of the Horizon. This piece is oil on canvas and was created in 1928. I chose this piece because it was interesting and I could represent myself with three different bodies.
Journal: Planning, technique and process
Process:
IDEAS:
- The False Mirror: Eye(s)- I chose this because I enjoyed it and the eye is known as the "window to the soul". Since my topic is about Religion and God, It would be an easy connection to the soul and religion.
- Barbara Kruger: use of words to get point across- I chose this because I like Barbara Kruger and I could use words to express my ideas. I am much better at writing than art, so I could express my emotions through a short phrase or a combination of describing words.
- The Mysteries of the Horizon- I chose this piece because it would be easy enough to represent my ideas. I could picture myself in two different positions with God as one position. I also enjoyed the shadowing and I could really utilize that in my art work.
IDEAS:
- The False Mirror: Eye(s)- I chose this because I enjoyed it and the eye is known as the "window to the soul". Since my topic is about Religion and God, It would be an easy connection to the soul and religion.
- Barbara Kruger: use of words to get point across- I chose this because I like Barbara Kruger and I could use words to express my ideas. I am much better at writing than art, so I could express my emotions through a short phrase or a combination of describing words.
- The Mysteries of the Horizon- I chose this piece because it would be easy enough to represent my ideas. I could picture myself in two different positions with God as one position. I also enjoyed the shadowing and I could really utilize that in my art work.
Planning Sketches:ABOVE:
This drawing is not one of my favorites. I decided to incorporate both Magritte and Kruger. I decided that the only way to incorporate both was the have an eye with words inside. This one turned out no so well because it was difficult to draw and did not really encompass what I wanted. ABOVE:
This one was one of my original drawings. I wanted to do both eyes and depict God in one eye and me in the other with my back turned. I liked this idea a lot because It depicted what I wanted and portrayed my message about my struggle with religion. In the end, I did not complete this because it was hard trying to find a picture of God with his arms out the way I wanted. |
ABOVE:
This drawing was another sketch that incorporated both artists I got inspiration from. This one incorporated my theme better then the first one, but It was sort of sloppy and not well thought out. I also realized how hard it would be to cry since I'm not a very good crier on demand. Photo-shopping tears is harder then it looks and I didn't want to go through that difficulty due to lack of time. ABOVE:
This drawing was the second one i envisioned. I was going to only do one eye because Magritte only did one eye, but it seemed a little cramped to me. I didn't like the lack of space and how harsh it looked when I attempted it. |
Experimentation:
Throughout my process, I encountered many problems. The first big problem is being satisfied with my work. I redid my piece more then two times. I originally wanted God with his hands outstretched towards me in one eye, but that deemed hard because I couldn't find God with his arms open. I then wanted myself standing up, but found it simpler to cut out if I was sitting down. The second problem I faced was whether I wanted this piece in black or white or not. I originally wanted it in color because Magritte's piece was in color but decided against it being as black/white could portray my idea better. The second problem I had was that I wanted to use a filter to make my eyes glassy. I could not do this because it, in my opinion, took away from the actual point. The focus was on God, not on my eyes.
Pictures that I used:Compare and Contrast:
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I used a number of images. The most important part and one of the main focuses was my eyes. The whole piece centered around my eyes. I took multiple pictures of my eyes and chose the one I liked best. Another main part was God. I originally wanted a picture of God with his arms out, but decided against it. I found a picture of God on a cross and chose that one since it would look nice If I put it under a specific filter, which I did. Another picture was a picture of me, sitting down. I was originally going to have my stand up, but i decided against it on the basis of it being to hard to Photoshop out.
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My piece and The False Mirror are similar in a way. I took the eye concept for my piece. I really like that I used the eye because I believe that the eye is the "gateway" to the soul. Instead of using clouds in mine, I put other objects. I liked the way I didn't exactly copy The False Mirror, but put a twist on it. I thought about using the clouds like The False Mirror to emulate God and Heaven, but decided against it because I wanted the piece to be mine over anything. I was going to leave mine in color like Magritte, but decided to use a black and white filter to give it a more dark feel.
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Explain/Reflect:
I genuinely believe that my digital collage turned out well. I had a real struggle trying to produce the piece being my lack of access to a computer. I took all the pictures myself and I made sure they were at the highest quality. I had a problem designing my piece overall. I did not have access to God himself so it was hard trying to find a good picture of him that I could use in my piece. I also had high hopes creating the piece and I strived for goals I could not reach. I originally wanted God with his hands outstretched towards me but I could not find a picture of him like that. I settled for God on a cross because God did die on a cross for all our sins. I wanted a picture of me standing up, but I found it harder to cut out on Photoshop because my hair was everywhere. Creating the piece was hard as well. I did not want it black and white to start off with. I wanted it colorful because I thought it would look better. I opted for black and white because it better conveyed the emotions that I felt. I was sad and felt almost betrayed by the Catholic religion. I felt black and white portrayed that. I also only wanted one eye because it would be close to Magritte's piece. I decided this was not a good idea being as I could show a division between my and God by putting us both in two different eyes. I tried it out with one eyes and it looked crowded and not very professional-looking. It couldn't portray my message.
In further comparison to my artist inspiration, I did try to get a shadowy effect on my eyes. It didn't really work out because it made the picture look horrible and low quality. In contrast to my artist inspiration, I used two eyes and didn't use color. I chose this because I wanted a more sad and sorrowful impression while Magritte wanted a more whimsical approach. I used two eyes because I was showing a divide between two pieces. Magritte wanted to convey a question while I was conveying a message and my personal story.
In further comparison to my artist inspiration, I did try to get a shadowy effect on my eyes. It didn't really work out because it made the picture look horrible and low quality. In contrast to my artist inspiration, I used two eyes and didn't use color. I chose this because I wanted a more sad and sorrowful impression while Magritte wanted a more whimsical approach. I used two eyes because I was showing a divide between two pieces. Magritte wanted to convey a question while I was conveying a message and my personal story.
ACT Questions
1) Magritte used one eye while I used two. The use of an eye in my piece showed that I was conveying my soul and my beliefs. It made my piece more personal especially since I used my eye.
2) My topic doesn't have really anything to do with Magritte and his piece. I just liked the eye because religion can be easily conveyed with the eye. Religion is all about faith and soul. Eyes, in my opinion, are the window to the soul.
3) I realized that many other people have struggled with what I face everyday. I learned that people question their faith, just like I did. Magritte also posed the question "Does what you see correspond with what you think?" I really liked this message and tried to convey it in my piece as well.
4) Religion and God was my central theme. I chose this because it was a big part of my life.
5) I concluded that Magritte struggled internally with himself and who he was. I found out that Magritte used art to express these problems, like I did with my piece.
2) My topic doesn't have really anything to do with Magritte and his piece. I just liked the eye because religion can be easily conveyed with the eye. Religion is all about faith and soul. Eyes, in my opinion, are the window to the soul.
3) I realized that many other people have struggled with what I face everyday. I learned that people question their faith, just like I did. Magritte also posed the question "Does what you see correspond with what you think?" I really liked this message and tried to convey it in my piece as well.
4) Religion and God was my central theme. I chose this because it was a big part of my life.
5) I concluded that Magritte struggled internally with himself and who he was. I found out that Magritte used art to express these problems, like I did with my piece.