Monday, January 18, 2016

Week 2 Activity: Aesthetics - Compare & Contrast

When you look at "The Weeping Woman" by Pablo Picasso

(image credit:  pablopicasso.org)




Here is my "Weeping Woman"
Small_Emily_Week2Activity_FINAL_MOD-O_1601

To compare the two you can clearly see that both are representing a woman crying.  Whereas Picasso used bright colors mine are fairly muted. I will wanted to give a contrast to the work so I made her almost pull away from the background by making it less noticable.  I thought that this would give a sorrowful feel to the piece. 
My shapes are less geometric.  I still tried to use the cool white/blue combination to give emphasis, as well as making the eyes a bit larger to get the viewers attention.

The black lines in my work I really wanted to help move the viewer around.  From the light lines in the background to the flowing hair from the blossom to the orange lines in the clothes.  I thought the thick lines on the sleeves would push the viewer's attention back up the piece.

His brushwork seemed to give a nice texture to it, whereas I tried to use my brushstrokes to give movement as well as texture.

Picasso's ear almost looks like a small bird flying off the tear drop and down the hair I opted to keep my ear showing but not really significant.

While working on this I actually grew to appreciate his work more, whereas at the beginning i found it unnerving to look at, I can see how he used the different elements and principles of design to get his point across.

All and all I think I pulled off successfully what I wanted to do.  I think using the cardboard my base helped.  What do you think?

Week 2 Activity: Aesthetics - FINAL

This is how I ended up doing my final version for this activity.  As we had to use traditional methods I went with Acrylic paint.

Small_Emily_Week2Activity_FINAL_MOD-O_1601

This is my final, I tried to use color, shape and lines to give focus and feeling to the piece.  I also wanted to make her the focus and make it more understandable to the viewer.

Work in Progress - Rough Drafts

These are a few of my rough drafts for this Aesthetics activity.

Small_Emily_WK2-Activity-PRE-PRO-COMP2_MOD-O_1601_V1

For this rough draft I used color pencil and really tried to capture the sadness with the coloring as well as the expression.  I think I need to tone down the background and make the line work help in the focus

Small_Emily_WK2-Activity-PRE-PRO-COMP1_MOD-O_1601_V1

I really liked how she was looking off to the side, as I felt it gave more movement to the piece, but I loathed the hands and the angle.

Small_Emily_WK2-Activity-PRE-PRO-COMP3_MOD-O_1601_V1

This is a digital sketch and coloring of where I want to go with the final version, making the woman the focus as well as keep the flow.

Work in Progress - Pre Pro

Here some of my sketches that I came up with as Pre Pro for this assignment.  This is in order of in which I drew them, in my attempt to find where I wanted to go with this piece.



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My first sketch for this activity, I really wanted to try and give her a feel that seemed appropriate with the timeframe of the original image.

Small_Emily_Week2Activity_PrePro2_MOD-O_1601

This was my second sketch Prepro for this activity.  I went with more of a whimsical feel to this one, but it didn't quite do what I wanted it to .

Small_Emily_Week2Activity_PrePro3_MOD-O_1601

This PrePro was kind of what I was going for, I wanted to use the expression to get across sadness and still have some of the elements Picasso used.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Objective Critique

Objective Critique:

In this work by Picasso you can clearly see the suffering he wanted to put out there. In the center of the image, the viewer's attention is grabbed by the sharp white with blue trimmed angles that jet off in various directions showing clenched teeth and hands grasping at a handkerchief.  Here he seems to use the element of Shape to lend itself to the principle of emphasis, and pushes the idea of sorrow to the viewer.

The facial form features are gaunt and the eyes are almost dead like depictions of what we would think them to be. The elements of value and color is a stark contrast that shows the differences drastically to the warmer tones of the surrounding areas and background.  

We do find a sense of the balance in the sense that the knuckles and lower part of the hand on the right side round out as does the hair on the left.  With his lines and shapes, It almost appears that the left side of her head is a cascading waterfall that starts at the blossoming flower at the top of her head and leads us down to the bottom of the painting giving this piece some very real movement across the canvas.

Subjective Critique

Subjective Critique:

Upon my initial viewing of this piece, it was more confusion than disdain.  It was as if my brain couldn't make sense of what was going on or which way the woman was actually facing.  Though it stated in the title that she was weeping, at first, I just thought she had a cold as it looked to me like she was coughing into a Kleenex.  
My eyes were drawn to the cool colors in the center of the image thus my initial conclusion. Another reason that it gives me pause is the way Picasso took apart the parts of her face and hands.  It makes the piece kind of scary to me.  I think if I was to remake this I would want to make her face forward, as well as try to have her different attributes make sense to the viewer.
I would like to have the background kind of fade and have her be the main focus. I would also like to have her have tears on both sides and have her expression gives the meaning of the painting.

I will probably keep the blossom as I like how the hair seems to be flowing from it.

Image and Basic Information

(image credit:  pablopicasso.org)
Title: The Weeping Woman
Artist: Pablo Picasso
Period: Cubism
Created: 1937
Dimensions: 2′ 0″ x 1′ 7″
Media: Oil paint on canvas



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credits:

The Weeping Woman, 1937 by Pablo Picasso. (2009). Retrieved January 10, 2016, from   http://www.pablopicasso.org/the-weeping-woman.jsp#prettyPhoto