FINAL PROJECT, Part 1

Digital Painting

FINAL PROJECT, Part 2
Digital Painting

Jasmen Vivar

Final Project Artist Statement

I am an artist that enjoys a multitude of media. I am easily a jack of all trades (master of none) when it comes to pursuing my personal art career. With that in mind, this semester I aimed to push myself using new ideas, methods, or tools that I wouldn’t have thought to use before. My final project went through two different phases. Initially, it was going to become a piece that flirted with the idea of a self destructing canvas. I wanted to paint our three figures on a bowl of fruit, which would decompose as I paint and become a horrific and gruesome figure painting. I hoped, by using this specific canvas, to create a piece that would challenge the idea of traditionally beautiful figure paintings and studies of bowls of fruit.

That didn’t happen. Instead, I created two digital pieces with Photoshop CS6 and a wacom bamboo tablet. Digital painting is not a medium I am new to, but I have always struggled with using it for life drawing. My final project, in its final form, turned into simple medium studies. I became so wrapped up in little details that I could zoom in on—details that would be lost had I made a small traditional painting. I was able to learn more about how to digitally paint from life, which is very different from traditional painting from life. 

FINAL PROJECT

multi-media (See below)

Detail 1

graphite and gouache on paper

    

 
Detail 2 & 3

oil on masonite

Zach Pedroncelli

Artist statement

My purpose is to grow. I want to observe, experiment, collaborate and enjoy painting and creating visual images. Frustrations will always exist but I’m feeling optimistic today so I’ll say they are minimal. I hope to find motivation consistently and continue learning to better myself. I think my personal growth during the course of this class has strengthened my technical ability and overall idea of what it is I strive to make. My goal is to continue to explore mediums, surfaces, and overall my fascination with the human figure. I want to be able to capture not only proportional accuracy well but I want to build personality into my paintings. I want to focus on my subjects and portray them in a light so that people who know them personally can say that is definitely them not just in image. I think this class opened up my mind to exploration and removed my fear of changing style and medium. I also think that the engagement of our peer body and instructor helped the class as a whole grow a lot. I think it was the most informative and one of the most enjoyable class so far in my college experience because of people’s openness and willingness to provide useful feedback. It gave me something I can carry afterwards and really help improve my work. This final piece was difficult because of our open variety with style and materials. I wasn’t sure which way to go and decided to do an experimental undertone one each one to see the effects on the overall weight and dimension  of the figure. I think I taught me a lot and overall doing two weeks of portraits improved my proportion skills and overall shape of faces of such differing variety. I think this project showed me that I am making slight progress technically which is always reassuring. 

FINAL PROJECT

acrylic on canvas

Rabia Friedman

When we were given the assignment to paint three individuals and incorporate them into one or multiple pieces, I was at a loss for what I was going to do. In my head I envisioned a piece that would have all three faces in one painting. It took me a while to figure out how I would further this idea. I began the assignment by simply sketching the model’s faces. At this point I kept thinking about how little I knew about each individual. They were exposed in the most venerable way and yet I have no idea what kind of person they are. In order to connect the three individuals I needed to connect their storylines somehow. Suddenly while sketching on the second day of class I realized that all humans are somehow connected. Regardless of the different lives we lead, we come from the same stuff and our lives intertwined in mysterious ways. It is a difficult task to try and map out our interconnectedness. One way to show this disjoint was to paint a nebula.

One quote that speaks to the idea that humans are part of an unexplainable universe comes from author Eckhart Tolle; “You are the universe expressing itself as a human for a little while.” Many people including myself love the idea that human life is more than surface appearances. Somehow life transcends from its human form. We are bodies and we are souls. Many philosophers have addressed this in what they call dualism and monism addressing the mind and the body as two separate things or as one thing. In my nebula painting I wanted show that the individual is part of the universe. My painting shows the faces of the individuals are representation of their whole self (mind and body) being transcended to space. By painting space I wanted to represent the vastness of the universe. Like the vastness of the universe our human experience is both unexplainable and awe provoking. 

FINAL PROJECT

watercolor and ink on paper

Nick Fleming

This is a figure study that attempts to show how the basic use of contrast can make for an effective composition. Not only that, this painting is also a literal representation of the visceral technique I appreciate in art. The multitude of teeth, gums, bumps, blood, and chaotic brush and pen strokes are all there to show what I mean when I say visceral technique. Monsters are a great way to show an animalistic quality in imagery (I think). Monsters are not the only topic that can show power because anything has the possibility to be rendered to show movement, strength, and subsistence.

The contrast between the angelic woman and grotesque monsters is not used only to create a composition in terms of technique. This collage of paintings/drawings shows a narrative of a blissful woman/spirit in a realm of nirvana, heaven etc about to be invaded by creatures from a realm that is the opposite. What if the notion of heaven, salvation, nirvana, or paradise is not what the religions of the world think it is? Is there a possibility that in heavenly existence there is still a need to confront our (and others) demons? This is simply an idea that I thought would prove to make an interesting image to show what I like my art to look like and to also show a tidbit of narrative (that I see in comic books) in the environment of fine art. 

FINAL PROJECT

watercolor and ink on paper

Detail 1

Detail 2

Lydia Gosling

“8766”

"Personal identity seems like it's just such an American archetype, from Holly Golightly re­inventing herself in 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' to Jay Gatsby in 'The Great Gatsby.' It seems like the sort of archetypal American issue. If you're given the freedom to be anything, or be anyone, what do you do with it?" ~Chuck Palahniuk

Who are you? Why do we wear the faces of others, hiding behind clothes and false identities?Is it to hide our true natures or to become something that everyone else can easily accept? Are you broken down into sub­genres of race, music tastes, clothing brands, cars you drive, cigarette brandsyou smoke, the size of your televisions, and the flavor of water in your refrigerator? In today’s society we can’t seem to shake all of these comparisons of material qualities; constantly being degraded for personal choices such as tattoos, piercings, and the shoes on your feet. This piece shows the true­self, escaping from the workings of an outer­shell, seeming to identify the feeling of knowing that your true self is or has to be kept away from the public, making the viewer feel uneasiness, and reflect this subject onto themselves; being forced to identify that the true self has to live under the skin for all of the 8,766 hours spent in a year. I chose to represent my true self as one that can be commonly seen in today’s culture, showing tattoos that are relevant to nature, death, and spirituality, similar to my own tattoos that are hidden for myself. The left arm illustrates the Virgin Mary as painted with Dia De Los Muertos makeup, contrasting everlasting life with death. On the right hand I chose to use symbols that are very relevant to my life: the index finger shows the Japanese sign for water (significant in meditation, being able to take the shape of anything, and being the essence of life), the Zia symbol on the middle finger showing where I’ve come from, the last two fingers make up one symbol in Sanskrit which means “Namaste” (roughly meaning “I bow to the God within you”), and lastly the semi colon on the side of the hand which is for a collective called The Semicolon Project based on helping people who battle with depression, suicidal thoughts, self­inflicted wounds, or just need help. “Semicolons represent a sentence the author chose not to end. You're the author, the sentence is your life.” This is my true self. 

FINAL PROJECT

watercolor, ink, gouache on paper and board

Detail 1

Detail 2

Detail 3

Detail 4

Detail 5

Detail 6

Lucìa Flores

Artist Statement

My brother convinced me to start painting one year. He said it doesn’t matter if you do not know what you are doing, just start putting paint on the paper and see what happens. I did, and without knowing which paints to buy I painted blobs of color. It was my new fun hobby, which was short lived.

Just a few weeks after I started painting I experienced a loss I would struggle to cope with for several years. My curiosity for painting went from “just for fun” to necessary. Fortunately my husband realized that I needed to paint to cope with my loss, and he motivated me painting. Painting was the only way I kept from crying when I was alone. It became my meditation, my way of blocking out the emotional pain. I lost myself with every brush stroke, with every color, and with my swaying hand. I belonged in another dimension, safe from disappointment.

Mother Nature. She was the one my doctor blamed my miscarriage on. I started painting trees because that is how I imagine Mother Nature. I painted Mother Nature over and over. It was the only way I could face her. I started painting on small sheets of paper. But that wasn’t big enough. I painted a woman with tree branches for hair on a 6x9 foot sheet of plywood. It was as if painting bigger allowed me to show just how much I hurt.

I painted and drew Mother Nature for a year. Then I realized it was time to move forward with my art. I wanted to share my experience with the world, because there are many women and men out there that have experienced miscarriage. I wanted to paint figures, and scenes, but I needed to learn how. I entered the Art Studio program so I could learn technique and how to verbally explain my art.

For this project, I painted what started off as a statement on the ideal image of a woman or man and ended up with a figure study. I wanted to challenge myself by making as many drawings and paintings of our models and mannequins until I could create a painted figure with depth. I am far from mastering my challenge, but I gained a new level of patience for painting and drawing that will hopefully allow me to progress, so that one day I can create the exhibit I set out to have three years ago. My introduction to art was through painting. My curiosity for painting was encouraged by my brother. My need for painting was through my loss. I continue to paint and sculpt because it is all I can see myself doing. 

FINAL PROJECT

tempera, ink, gold & silver leaf on wood

Joe Millard

Where I am as an artist (and where I am going) is a difficult thought to try and capture succinctly. I know that the work that I create now will in a very short time be outdated in my timeline. If I could hindsight my own work as it is happening, would I still make it knowing where I am going? I have only found that my work is inconsistent; I am always trying new forms of art/painting/drawing without regards to my previous talents or skills. However, that being said, I find that my fundamentals are becoming more well rounded (line, composition, frame, color use) while my ability to think creatively continue to grow. The field I wish to work in has a very definite construction as to how art is created and so I am continuing with several projects that are in line with that as my goal. Goals change though, and because of this I cannot help myself when it comes to trying new styles of rendering, different materials, different influences. So, I know where I want to go, and that is in the field of art. This piece was an exploration of deconstruction and iconography. I wanted the materials to remain separate and have their strengths work independent of each other; the leafing being displayed in an as distinctly leafing and the tempera being distinctly tempera. 

FINAL PROJECT, Part 1

oil on canvas

FINAL PROJECT, Part 2

oil on canvas

Jeffrey Bryant

Figure Painting Artist Statement 

The word artist and art have become very vague and hard to define. We tend to make art this thing that is so lost in the idea of what art is supposed to be that we forget what art is really all about.

I am a strong believer that art is something we all do naturally and is happening all around us while we are blindly participating in art movements and shows all day. When I make art I usually want to make it because it makes me feel good and takes me a place where I am the controller, and I make the decisions that are going to be portrayed to my viewer.

Typically I tend to strive for narrative in my pieces and I feel like most art has for centuries told a story. Artists of the past have done art for the very reasons we still do today. We use art to explore “modern” ideas and express our feelings and voice on the subject. The voice is something that I believe all artists including myself are searching for, even though it has more than likely been there all along. It creates a journey and for me that is one of the best parts about making art.

In my final project I divided the figurative models into two separate pieces, which are meant to stand-alone. In one painting I used a style that I feel is very comfortable for me and I played with many ideas of dualism and symbol and meaning of balance between those. From water and fire, the moon and the sun, and the man and the woman. All are opposite but vital for one another creating balance and harmony.

The second piece, which I chose to take a step away from how I would typically approach a figure painting, was focused on energy. I wanted to try to purely capture energy on canvas with the idea of the figure. The paint was applied in a manner where I could feel the color and move the thick oil paint on the canvas. I layered over my first figurative painting I wanted to renovate my style and bring in something fresh. Color for this painting wads important and I wanted to use colors that expressed the flesh the way I felt the energy and less of the

relying of the eye. 

FINAL PROJECT

acrylic on mylar with foam core

Detail 1

                            

Detail 2 & 3

James Schlavin

Artist’s Statement

As an artist I see myself not as a creator but as an observer, analyst, and interpreter. I seek to see the world constantly in a deeper way, as an individual. By looking at the world in this way I see the world more intentionally. I want to analyze the aspects that I find interesting, unique, and amazing so that I can understand what intrigues me more deeply. Finally I interpret the world. By creating works that are unique I interpret the world through my eyes. While this is assuredly not the only interpretation, I strive to make it true for myself as a person, and as an artist.

At the start of this semester we completed a simple figure study. I began this the way I always work by looking at the model, analyzing the proportions and trying to find what was special about that painting, and in the end it turned out to be the colors that I saw as most important in the way they took over the painting in a way that rarely happens in my work.

In my second painting I began using color to block out the figure. I challenged myself to leave distinct blocks of color for as long as possible with that painting until the very end when I sculpted it just enough to bring out the form. By doing this I allowed color to control my work from the very beginning so that I could interpret it the way I wanted to as an artist.

In my self portrait I decided that color itself would define the entire project. I wanted to observe the colors of my subject ­ myself ­ so that I could really look at how they interacted with one another. Throughout the project the concept of interaction became less important while the idea of distillation began to take over. At the end these competing ideas created the tension of identity in my piece that made it a success in my mind.

For this piece I began by simply observing the models. After several sketches, the idea of using colors again began to take over, so I decided to balance a study of figures with a study of color. By creating a collection of thumbnails I was able to complete both an intensive study of facial structures while continuing to look at color distillation in these figure studies.

Throughout this semester I have seen myself grow as an artist technically in how I look at the world through each of these projects, especially in the way that color studies have become an important part of how I work. Beyond that my conceptual creativity has also grown in the ways I have sought to interpret my ongoing analysis of color in painting. Ultimately I hope to continue being an artist ­ an observer, analyst, and interpreter ­ in every aspect of my life. 

 FINAL PROJECT

watercolor and ink on paper with twine

 Detail 1

Detail 2

Detail 3

Detail 4

Detail 5

Diego Villegas

Elementum

“The only constant in life is change” -Heraclitus

Elementum is an attempt to comment on human connection and change. In this piece, I convey people as creatures of change, connected and disconnected. I use symbolism and color to create the space needed to suggest this strange paradox of attached and separate.

I begin this piece by thinking about what is important to me –what I need to express about my life at the given moment. I thought about my relationships with people, the ebb and flow of intimacy with family, friends, lovers, etc. The passage of time became the pivotal factor in my choice in concept. My relationships with the people around me change constantly with time; I have no solid counterparts, because we are all fluctuating within ourselves.

The painting consists of five figures distributed among five major frames and three minor ones. The assembled frames make up the shape of a cocoon, symbolizing the constant metamorphosis that embodies the entire piece. The winged figure to the far left symbolizes someone in the act of escaping. A type of change that feels that it cannot be in one place for too long. This type of change is one that feels change is essential. Like the air, she may be fleeting, and impossible to catch. She flies backward -making sure her exit is unnoticed. The second figure is seated with the mountains. He is the figure that believes he is not changing, but the landscape slowly changes around him. As he sits, his perception changes. He watches the world transform, and in this sense, he is slowing becoming the observer, the wallflower, the Wiseman. Like stone, he doesn’t move, but the elements shape him, smoothing and roughening him; he is changed by his surroundings. The third figure stands in a very dynamic pose. In yoga –this pose is called Standing Bow. It is a pose that can only be held for a limited amount of time. His muscles begin to tire and his balance begins to waver. He is a highly energized form of change. He is a sudden burst –a sprint, if you will, that is very focused, and very strong. But if nothing can replenish him, he loses focus and energy. Like a fire, he has the potential to be very

fickle, but is filled with passion and life. His flames feed on fuel, and must be fed in order to maintain spirit. The fourth figure at the bottom right of the series represents a gradual but durable type of change. This type of change is a sort of development or slow evolution. Like plants, this type of change is slow to grow, taking in energy from the sun, from fertile soil, and from water. It is a change that is weak at first, not knowing if his purpose will remain the consistent, but as he matures, he becomes confident of his purpose, and moves toward it with more confidence than before. In some ways, the purpose of this type of change is to always be growing into something stronger. The fifth and final figure to the top right of the series represents an intangible change. She is misunderstood, and very different from the rest. Looking in the opposite direction of the other figures, she seems to overlook them. In a way she is above them, but is underwater, which is logically impossible in comparison with the rest of the frame. Like water, she has no fixed shape of form. She can be as wild and terrifying as the sea while being as still and as calm as an untouched lake. She is like air in the sense that she is not easily grasped, but still able to be held. She cannot be put in a cage, but yet she can still sit in the palm of your hand. She gives life, but can also take your breath away. This is the type

of change that we cannot fully understand due to the infinite paradoxes that make her so unique. 

FINAL PROJECT

oil and beeswax on canvas

             

Detail 1-3 

Detail 4

Detail 5

Cheyne Bishop

Artist Statement 

Throughout my life I have enquired a certainty for nature and what it beholds. The truth of outside is no different than the truth within a studio. There are sets of rules that allow you to proceed with the way of your will. Now this certainty has shown me the correlation between my paintbrush strokes and the growth of an organism. Every minute I work on a painting it grows and grows until the product is reached. Within nature a plant grows and grows until a product is reached. See there is a symbiosis between nature and me, I need it and it needs me. We take care of each other... so what better way to show this symbiosis other than through a visual projection. I paint to show the connection between you, me and organic truths of nature. 

FINAL PROJECT

oil on canvas

Charity Delaney

FINAL PROJECT

acrylic on foam core and canvas

Detail 1

Detail 2

Detail 3

Amy Wynia

Artist Statement

Have you ever thought about how many people think about you? It’s so bizarre. Imagine someone, out of the blue, thinking of your face. Something happens; they remember you. Your favorite song, how you dress, the way you talk, the look in your eyes when you are happy. They remember that about you, even if you haven’t seen each other in years. Everything in life is a reminder of a person, a place, a moment. You may think you’ve forgotten, but you haven’t.

Besides the thought and theme behind my piece, the goal was to just do a regular figure study. As an artist I’ve seen so much growth in my work with each stroke and taking into account each critique from others. But, the thought of other’s work is always on my mind, and striving to do better and challenge myself with my work. I’ve come to the conclusion that all the frustration I’ve built up with my pieces, I can honestly say there’s a few in which I’m proud of, and it’s all the more worth it. This painting is an example of this. I didn’t do anything really risky and extremely new but, I’m one who is very interested in the mind and how others think and act, and that’s when I came across the above quote. If you do think about it, it is pretty insane in how someone is always thinking of you and you’re thinking of someone else. Memories are moments with people are ones to be cherished. In all reality, it’s the thoughts of others and the things around them that makes our work what it is. 

FINAL PROJECT

gouache and watercolor on paper

Detail 1

Detail 2

Amanda Griegos

Color Study 2.5" x3.5” 

For this assignment, I really wanted to experiment with a miniature canvas. Everything we have done in class has been on a much larger scale than this, so I decided to go for tiny paintings.

I really enjoyed gouache and used that and watercolor in my paintings. Each painting is done on a watercolor paper “artist trading card.” In this class I tried hard to do things that are normally out of my realm. I wanted to focus on complimentary color, but wanted the contrast to be more so subtle so that the paintings would be more pleasing to look at. I’ve toned down some of the colors so they will not stand out so much and solely dominate the painting. The figures are painted in the primary colors; since those colors are the foundations of all colors I wanted those to be the colors of the figures, which are the main components of these paintings.

The paintings are arranged in such a way so the viewer can compare the figure series along with the color studies. The figure series run vertically, and the color studies are horizontal. I wanted to arrange the paintings this way so that the viewer could more easily compare and contrast the individual images. 

FINAL PROJECT

graphite and ink on paper

Alise Roybal

In the last few years I feel like I have really started to get a grip on a style and aesthetics that resonate with me. I of course want to continue to expand on this ideas and aesthetics like any other artist, but I’ve never really stopped to think about where these ideas come from. For this final project I wanted to take a look at and really examine where my influences come from and why. With the previous master copy and study in mind I decided to do another master study. In this case it would be a small series of master studies where I could incorporate their styles and ideas. Since I work primarily in black and white, ink being my main tool, I wanted to focus on artist I love whose work is also in black and white. The masters I choose cover a nice range of work and style the master being, Hendrik Goltzius, Tsutomu Nihei, Lucian Stanculescu, and Simon Prades.

Goltzius was a 16th century printmaker known for his meticulous details and sweeping lines which follow the curve of the body. For my Goltzius master study I wanted to keep the image more traditional and do a simple figure study. I am in love with his line­work and the depth he creates in each piece. Tsutomu Nihei is a comic book artist whose lines consist of more sketchy and gestural line work. This style was a bit harder to incorporate than I thought but the image I created was that of a young woman sitting alone in a surreal and overrun cyberpunk environment. Stanculescu is a surrealist, he plays around with the human form and often twist or distorts it to a point that starts to embody something altogether. Figures become bulbous with overwhelming features or delicate and wispy. Inspired by Stanculescu I wanted to just let go and focus more on shapes than an idea. I found myself drawing sharp almost jagged lines around my figure study which gave me the feel of a mountain. Thus I turned the figures body into a mountain with slight features of a woman. I love Prades silhouette work which often involves the silhouette of a person but inside of the figure are these natural elements. I decided to fill the figures silhouettes with butterflies. 

I feel that all these elements relate to my ever growing artwork, these are elements that have greatly influenced me over the last year or so. The line­work and details of Goltzius, the free form and sketchiness of Nihei, the surreal and beautiful imagination of Stanculescu, and the powerful silhouettes of Prades. 

FINAL PROJECT, Part 1

melted crayon on board

FINAL PROJECT, Part 2

melted crayon and tempera on board

Aarya Engineer

The following 16 posts are for the FINAL PROJECTS. Critiques for these projects are due by 11:59 PM, Friday, December 13th.

Please come by the art building on that same day (12/13/13) from 8 AM- 5 PM to pick up your final projects. Any issues with this you will need to email me asap.

PARAMETERS:

Must incorporate some element of all three models in class. Must have well-­‐articulated artist statement.