I am like her
Mixed Media on Illustration board 38.1 cm x 25.4 cm February 2020 Exhibition Text I am like her was inspired by American painter Norman Rockwell who was known for depicting American lifestyle post war and artist Bridget Riley who was known for her optical illusions. I am like her is a self portrait of my mother and a portion of her poem, clear as the sky. I am like her depicts the similarities between a mother and her daughter and how parents ultimately impact their child's life as well as how they cope with emotions. |
Planning
Inspiration For this project I was inspired by Norman Rockwell, an American Painter who was known for portraying the American lifestyle post war. He often depicted realistic situations like a family sitting for thanksgiving dinner, called Freedom From Want. However for this artwork I was inspired by Mine America's, completed in 1943. Mine America's was a portrait of was coal miner who is shown smiling with his headlamp on. As well as being inspired by Norman Rockwell, I was inspired by Bridget Riley. Bridget Riley was a well known for optical illusions. The main inspiration I used was Nataraja and Movement in Square. I planned on showing these inspirations through a portrait of my mother surrounded by parabolic curves not as an optical illusion but represent lights up above similar to the headlamp above the miner in Mine America's, as well as a portion of a poem written by my mother surrounding her to further showcase the meaning behind the piece. |
This first pose or idea was inspired by Freedom of Speech by Norman Rockwell and shows my mother in the same pose. I felt this wouldn't work well with the light like shapes I wanted to be above her and didn't make sense with the topic I chose of how parents impact their children both positively and negatively. It seemed too forced and I wanted the pose to feel natural as most of Norman Rockwell's artworks depict mostly everyday and simple American life.
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The second pose was inspired by We, Too, Have a Job to Do by Norman Rockwell which depicts a male scout with the American Flag behind him. I also felt like this pose was forced and didn't really depict the topic I chose for the choice piece. With this piece I wanted to show my appreciation for my mother and all that she does for me and ultimately how similar we are when it comes to expressing our emotions during hard times. Children often learn how to cope with heavy emotions by looking at their parent. The way I deal with emotions will never be exactly the same but is very similar to my mothers coping mechanisms. With this in mind I felt that those pose didn't fit that idea well enough.
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The last pose I chose for my mother to recreate was inspired by Mine America's. Mine America's was a miner shown slightly smiling while working with his headlamp still on. I felt this worked the best with the idea of how children learn how to cope with emotion from their parents and how similar I am to my mother in many aspects because its a simple yet meaningful pose where she is simply looking towards me smiling. With this I wanted to add a parabolic curve above her head not as an optical illusion but to make it look like lights hanging above her head. I also had intentions of pasting part of one he poems around her that fit this concept well. The poem is shown to the left, click to enlarge, it was written in 2012 by my mother Melissa M. Sheppard.
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Process
Experimentation A lot of the experimentation revolved around the parabolic curve and colors I wanted to use for it. I experimented a lot with which kind of shapes I wanted to use and how I wanted to layer them without making the piece seem cluttered and making it seem well organized. I also experimented with how I wanted to lay out the poem around the drawing of my mother and whether or not I should have cut it in an oval shape of the rip the edges to make the paper look more warn. |
Process
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Reflection
Critique Overall I am fairly pleased with how it turned out, I really liked the use of colors and the line work was relatively well done. I was also very pleased with the texture that was created due to the ripping of the edges of the paper before it was pasted down. However there are always thing that can be improved on such as the pasting of the poem. While I was pasting it down some of them ripped or were crooked. I also realized later I should have made the image of my mother bigger than it is currently because it seems too small in relation to everything else on the illustration board. |
Compare and Contrast
Similarities:
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ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you were able to identify the cause and effect relationship between your inspiration and its effects on your artwork?
Norman Rockwell's work often depicted American Lifestyle and everyday life. I used this as inspiration to depict how I see my mother everyday
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach was to shed more light on the background of the inspiration pieces used for this project and when they were created.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, ect. while you researched your inspiration.
A generalization I discovered while researching inspiration is the American lifestyle was very romanticized because a lot of his paintings depicted a nice lifestyle post war.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my inspirational research is to depict how a parents lifestyle or coping mechanisms can deeply affect heir children and how they develop.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Some inferences I made were about the Mine America's and if the miners head light was still on making it seem as tho the portrait was done while the miner was working.
Clearly explain how you were able to identify the cause and effect relationship between your inspiration and its effects on your artwork?
Norman Rockwell's work often depicted American Lifestyle and everyday life. I used this as inspiration to depict how I see my mother everyday
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach was to shed more light on the background of the inspiration pieces used for this project and when they were created.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, ect. while you researched your inspiration.
A generalization I discovered while researching inspiration is the American lifestyle was very romanticized because a lot of his paintings depicted a nice lifestyle post war.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my inspirational research is to depict how a parents lifestyle or coping mechanisms can deeply affect heir children and how they develop.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Some inferences I made were about the Mine America's and if the miners head light was still on making it seem as tho the portrait was done while the miner was working.
Bibliography
“Movement in Squares.” Movement in Squares | Art UK, artuk.org/discover/artworks/movement-in-squares-64038#.
Rockwell, Norman. “Mine America`s, 1943 - Norman Rockwell.” Www.wikiart.org, 11 July 2013, www.wikiart.org/en/norman-rockwell/mine-america-s-1943.
Tate. “'Nataraja', Bridget Riley, 1993.” Tate, 1 Jan. 1993, www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/riley-nataraja-t06859.
“Movement in Squares.” Movement in Squares | Art UK, artuk.org/discover/artworks/movement-in-squares-64038#.
Rockwell, Norman. “Mine America`s, 1943 - Norman Rockwell.” Www.wikiart.org, 11 July 2013, www.wikiart.org/en/norman-rockwell/mine-america-s-1943.
Tate. “'Nataraja', Bridget Riley, 1993.” Tate, 1 Jan. 1993, www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/riley-nataraja-t06859.