"Shhhhhhh"
Acrylic on canvas
REflection
1. Define which techniques you tried and mastered? Struggled?
I have become quite familiar with acrylic paint over my years, but this was my first time painting anything other than a human face. The brush strokes and texture I needed to create to paint a rooster was different from that of a human face. While I continue to struggle with the blending and texture of human skin, wild strokes of feathers came more naturally. With this painting I was able to let loose and not worry about perfection. I finished this piece much sooner than I would've a portrait.
2. How did you draw inspiration from other artists techniques or aesthetics in your work? In what ways did you derive meaning or gain historical perspectives from their work? Why these artists?
My inspiration from this piece came from my classmate Angela, who piped up when I asked, "What's like a religious symbol or animal thing?" She told me that, "The cock crowed before Jesus was crucified," and I immediately knew that I wanted to paint a Rooster.
3. Describe the evolution of your piece. Decisions made. Compositional elements.
I started by painting a muted background with a rooster. I then outlined the rooster in white to make it stand out more and made the piece look less traditional. I felt as though the space was empty and the meaning wasn't clear, so I added white crosses emerging from the outline. My art teacher mistakenly thought she saw a black cross in the bottom of the painting, and I loved the idea. I painted upside down black crosses coming from the bottom of the crow.
4. If you could consider doing something over, explain why you would do this and what you would do next time?
Nope!
5. Elaborate on how this piece links with your other pieces? What is the common thread?
The common thread throughout my pieces is religion in literature and our modern society. The cock crowing is typically seen as a banishing of evil, a transition from dark to light, as seen in Hamlet. In my piece the cock is blind and silenced, he cannot see whether it is night or day, stuck in a perpetual darkness where he cannot crow to banish the evil. In our society, we are trapped in a darkness from which we cannot escape and situations that we cannot change, unable to banish the evil in ourselves and our world.
I have become quite familiar with acrylic paint over my years, but this was my first time painting anything other than a human face. The brush strokes and texture I needed to create to paint a rooster was different from that of a human face. While I continue to struggle with the blending and texture of human skin, wild strokes of feathers came more naturally. With this painting I was able to let loose and not worry about perfection. I finished this piece much sooner than I would've a portrait.
2. How did you draw inspiration from other artists techniques or aesthetics in your work? In what ways did you derive meaning or gain historical perspectives from their work? Why these artists?
My inspiration from this piece came from my classmate Angela, who piped up when I asked, "What's like a religious symbol or animal thing?" She told me that, "The cock crowed before Jesus was crucified," and I immediately knew that I wanted to paint a Rooster.
3. Describe the evolution of your piece. Decisions made. Compositional elements.
I started by painting a muted background with a rooster. I then outlined the rooster in white to make it stand out more and made the piece look less traditional. I felt as though the space was empty and the meaning wasn't clear, so I added white crosses emerging from the outline. My art teacher mistakenly thought she saw a black cross in the bottom of the painting, and I loved the idea. I painted upside down black crosses coming from the bottom of the crow.
4. If you could consider doing something over, explain why you would do this and what you would do next time?
Nope!
5. Elaborate on how this piece links with your other pieces? What is the common thread?
The common thread throughout my pieces is religion in literature and our modern society. The cock crowing is typically seen as a banishing of evil, a transition from dark to light, as seen in Hamlet. In my piece the cock is blind and silenced, he cannot see whether it is night or day, stuck in a perpetual darkness where he cannot crow to banish the evil. In our society, we are trapped in a darkness from which we cannot escape and situations that we cannot change, unable to banish the evil in ourselves and our world.