Exhibition TextThis piece is a representation of my family. I used oil pastel to create a drawing with symbols that represent each member in my family. I used the Chinese Zodiacs to symbolize the members of my family. My mother and father were born the year of the rat, my sister the year of the tiger, my brother the year of the monkey, and I the year of the dragon.
Planning/ExperimentationI had originally planned on doing a cubist style for this piece, but the oil pastels were a poor choice of medium to do this. I created a quick drawing of what I wanted to do, but the oil pastels didn't work as well as I had hoped. What I did like was the solid uniform colors that the oil pastels were able to create. I could combine the solid color that could be produced with hard pressure and their ability to blend to create a pleasant contrast.
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Family Zodiac
oil pastel 18 x 12 in September - October 2017 |
Inspiration
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The Chinese Zodiacs are represented by different animals depending on the year. They were traditionally used to track the years in a twelve year cycle. The twelve symbolic animals include: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. With each animals year comes certain characteristics which make it different from the rest.
The symbolic animals were all chosen for a reason because of connections to Chinese tradition or superstitious attributes. The ox, horse, pig, rooster, goat and dog are common domestic animals in china while the other six are generally liked or praised creatures in China. The animals are also organized in their order because of the Chinese Tradition of Yin and Yang. The animals alternate between Yin and Yang determined by the number of toes per limb they have. This creates equality throughout the twelve year cycle. The zodiacs also each have a certain meaning behind them. The Rat is connected to wisdom. The tiger is connected to valor without caution. The monkey is connected to changeability and inconsistency. The dragon is connected to strength without flexibility. This piece was also inspired by the modern sculptor and abstract painter Gerhard Richter. His abstract works include vibrant warm and cool colors that blend in some areas but contrast in others. This creates a range of different patterns and color schemes. Many of the patterns clash together creating movemment from one section to the next. A. B. Courbet is one such piece. There is some blendong between cool and warm colors, but the majority of blending is between warm and warm colors or cool and cool colors. This creates unity throughout the piece but also sets the subjects through the piece apart. |
Process
ReflectionThis project went pretty well. The use of oil pastels was a bit of a struggle at first, but it came together well at the end. I had origonally been using them without blending, but oil pastel's best asset is its ease of blending. I took this into considersation when redoing the project in order to get a much more aesthetic result.
The Chinese Zodiacs are well represented and easy to recognize, but the simplicity might've been too far in my first attempt. I decided to keep the simplistic design, but instead to create a sillouhette type of representation that kept the simplicity interesting. CritiqueThis piece is strongly connected to the cultural inspiration. The style is very different from traditional Chinese art styles, but the tradition of the Chinese Zodiacs are obvious. I attempted to use a colorful pallet throughout the piece while also incorporating the Chinese Tradition. This pallet is similar to that of Richter's as I used very bright colors focusing on the blending and contrast between blended sections. Overall the piece reflects my inspirations well both the cultural inspiration and artistic inspiration.
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For the first attempt I tried to do a cubist style with oil pastels which didn't work well, but the process helped later with getting the blending and solid color techniques down.
For my final piece I created a stencil for each of the zodiac symbols. I did this on graph paper to ensure that the space would be sufficient and measuring out the size of each symbol would be much easier. I then cut them out and traced them onto a larger paper so that they were all together. With the stencils traced i cut them out of the sheet so that a second page could be seen through the negative space. I then proceeded to put one uniform layer of black over the top sheet to contrast the second sheet. on the second sheet I blended the oil pastels differently for each animal. For each animal i blended one primary color into a secondary color so that no two symbols would be exactly the same and so that there would be a balanced mix between warm and cool colors. Once the blending was complete, I placed the sheets together to finalize the contrasting look to bring out the focus of the Zodiac signs. ACT Connection1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between you inspiration and its effect upon your work.
My inspiration directly influenced the subject matter of my work as I used the Chinese Zodiacs as representations. 2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration? The author viewed the Chinese Zodiac's as a traditional aspect of the Chinese culture. Each one has a deep story behind it giving them all character. 3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, ect. while you researched your inspiration? Although it may seem like superstition, the Zodiac's are still an aspect of Chinese culture. 4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research? The central idea of my research was cultural symbols. I searched both Astrological Zodiac's but then I soon discovered the Chinese Zodiac's. 5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research? The Chinese Zodiac's are actually fr more complex than I had originally though as they have to do with years, times, tradition, and unlucky anniversaries. There is a lot going on with these symbolic animals. |
Kelly. "Chinese Zodiacs". China Highlights. https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/
Richter, Gerhard. "Gerhard Richter". Gerhard Richter. https://www.gerhard-richter.com/en
Unknown. "Which Gerard Richter Painting Reached the Highest Price in Auction?". Wide Walls.
https://www.widewalls.ch/gerhard-richter-artwork-auctions/
Richter, Gerhard. "Gerhard Richter". Gerhard Richter. https://www.gerhard-richter.com/en
Unknown. "Which Gerard Richter Painting Reached the Highest Price in Auction?". Wide Walls.
https://www.widewalls.ch/gerhard-richter-artwork-auctions/