Title:Bacchus
Size: 30.5 cm by 40.5 cm
Medium: Colored pencils and acrylic on illustration board
Date: November 2017
Bacchus is a piece heavily inspired by Caravaggio's Bacchus. My own Bacchus is meant to represent indulgence In this piece I am looking to depict the unchanging way in which overindulgence and overconsumption are glamorized and paraded through everyday media. As it relates to identity Bacchus represents the positive stimulation indulgence can have on one's identity.
Inspiration
This illustration was inspired by the glamorization of overconsumption prevalent in not only today's society but that of older days. In this illistration I aim to depict overconsumption as it relates to identity.
Caravaggio
The 17th-century Italian Baroque artists Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was one of the most prolific and controversial artists of his time. Caravaggio explored the raw and volatile nature of humans in his work, transgressing the unrelatable depiction of the perfect righteous. The nature and technique in Caravaggio's depictions bring a tangible association to the common masses who knew nothing of glamour and prestige but all about the unsavory factors of life.
Caravaggio. Bacchus. 1595, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy.
Bacchus is the Roman interpretation for the Geek god Dionysus. Known as the god of wine he often appears in scenes of ecstasy and debauchery. In Caravaggio's version the god of wine appears to be drunk adolescent offering up a taste of both wine and his spoiled bounty of fruit.
I knew I wanted to depict a scene of both revelry and a sense of sobriety. Throughout Caravaggio's work, both are found but it is the depiction of a god drunk on his own supply that really sparked my interest. Caravaggio's depiction is the very essence of overindulgence. In my illustration, I wanted to mirror the whole scene substituting only the necessary aspects in order to keep the connotation the original piece gives off. I also wanted to keep the style in depiction the same because I think the dramatic lighting of the Baroque period adds to the central theme. One thing I anticipated being a problem is the aspect of keeping the positive mood in the piece.
Planning
I knew I wanted to depict myself as Bacchus because it was speculated that Caravaggio used himself as a model for the painting. It was due to this that instead of planning sketches I merely tried to recreate the scene.
In order to replace the fruit basket in the piece I experimented with lilies. The lilies were essentially just a way to bring my Mexican culture to the piece. In the end I chose to continue brainstorming because I couldn't find a good way to incorporate them into the piece and I wanted to experiment further.
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In the end I switched out the fruit for pan dulce in order to not only bring culture into the piece but because it allowed me to mirror the original work much more than the lilies would have allowed me to. I also decided to bring in pan dulce because much like Bacchus' rotting cornucopia I wanted to incorporate something that might seem lavish but is not.
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Sketch
In this sketch, I tried to heavy reference Caravaggio's Bacchus in order to glamorize an overconsumption. I chose to depict myself as Bacchus just as it was speculated that Caravaggio depicted himself as Bacchus. I also tried to keep the composition and space as consistent with the original as possible. In Caravaggio's Bacchus, a plentiful basket of various decaying fruits is displayed in order to imply a deceiving nature. In my sketch, I replace the fruit with stale Conchas, a Mexican pastry. Bacchus is a god with no need for the fruit to live so it spoils, similarly in my sketch I have no need for the giant sweet pastries. I believe in this sketch I captured the essence of overindulgence just as Caravaggio did in his depiction of Bacchus.
Process
After I had chosen the right sketch for the illustration I halted progress on the project until I was able to get the chosen sketch critiqued. After the critique, I noted the aspects of the sketch that needed to be altered. Instead of redoing the sketch with and then transferring it the illustration board I merely drew onto the illustration board with the adjustments in mind. Among the aspects that needed to be revised or polished were the foreshortening of the left arm, the basket, and the wine bottle. When the illustration was all draw up on the board I began to color in the piece with both Prismas and Polychromos.
coloring
For this piece, I wanted not only the composition of the subject to reference Caravaggio's Bacchus but the colors as well. I kept this in mind when beginning to color and kept a copy of his painting for reference. In order to color this piece, I colored as if I were painting. Essentially I layered colors until I achieved the color and value I desired. I started with the subject since that is the emphasis of the piece and should be the most detailed. In order to achieve Caravaggesque grandeur, I used a very light color for the base of the subject. This was meant to bring out the radiant look in the flesh that is displayed on his work. After the base was laid down I began gradually incorporate different values to create form.
After I was satisfied with the figure I moved on the garments and then the food. I colored the garments and food in a similar fashion as I colored the subject, in layers in order to build value and form. As I began to work on the garments I looked to my reference I noted that despite the cloth being white it itself was not white except for the highlights. Keeping this in mind I re-examined my work and attempted to create a similar style. The coloring of the food and basket was by far the hardest feat. When looking at Caravaggio's work it was apparent upon closer inspection that the fruit in his piece was rotten but from afar it looked delectable. I pondered over how to achieve this effect in my work and concluded that I would add off greens and blues to the normally vibrant and warm pan dulce. I completed the coloring of the pan dulce before I colored the basket and in retrospect, this was a bad decision. In order to make the basket have some resemblance towards Caravaggio's painting, I needed to make the basket a weaved one. I did this by simplifying the weave pattern on the one in the painting replicating individual strands with different colors. After the basket was done I began painting before coloring the wine bottle. After the painting for the table was done it was only a matter of redrawing the bottle and coloring it like I had the other aspects of the work. |
Painting
In order to create a background that resembled the one in Bacchus, I chose to use acrylic paint. I painted a gradient of black to deep almost black raw umber. After painting the background I and being pleased with the outcome and decided to paint the table and the other garment covering the furniture Bacchus is reclining on. Other than the background the acrylics were used as a base for future layering and details with the color pencil.
Experimentation
There was experimentation implemented throughout the conduction of this piece. After the critique, I was anxious to begin but couldn't decide what medium to work with. This lead to me trying out different mediums before settling on just color pencils and acrylics. I had originally planned on only working with acrylics but had a hard time adjusting to their quick drying nature. This, in turn, lead me to try oil painting, something I was very familiar with. Despite the work coming along well when using oil paints, there were certain areas that would absorb the color in a strange way. Other than this I chose to abandon oil as a possible medium due to the drying time despite adding quick drying medium. The last medium I experiment with and settled were colored pencils. I was originally hesitant to work with them especially Prismas due to the waxy build-up that eventually prevents additional layering or blending. It was this reason that drove me to experiment with Faber-Castell Polychromes. Faber-Castell Polychromes are oil based color pencils. Using a mixture of these colored pencils and Prismas allowed me to bypass the waxy problem I had previously run into and create the smooth blending prevalent in Caravaggio's work.
Reflection
Overall I am content with the outcome of the work. I believe it is successful in capturing the likeliness of Caravaggio's Bacchus through not only the coloration but the composition. Despite the meaning behind Caravaggio's Bacchus being disputed from time to time, I do believe that both my piece and his have an exuding aura of overindulgence. Despite my content with the outcome, I do believe there are various areas that could be improved in the piece. One of these areas would be the face which seems off in a way I can't quite describe. I believe this quirk is due to either the coloration or drafting which are also the causes of a lot of the other quirky areas. In conclusion, I am content with the work but as always there is room for improvement.
ACT Responses
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your work?
The cause of my inspiration was my fascination with the way Baroque art especially Caravaggio's is able to convey mood and story so well.
2) What is the overall approach(point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors who wrote the work I conducted research for my work with used objective language in their works. They presented factual historical evidence in a professional tone that led me to produce my own conclusions.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
From my research I can generalize that throughout time art has been an essential tool used in story telling.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The Central Idea for my research was the glamorization of overindulgence and perceptions.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
While conducting research I came to the conclusion that throughout time little has changed about the way we overindulge but a lot has changed on the way we perceive overindulgence.
The cause of my inspiration was my fascination with the way Baroque art especially Caravaggio's is able to convey mood and story so well.
2) What is the overall approach(point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors who wrote the work I conducted research for my work with used objective language in their works. They presented factual historical evidence in a professional tone that led me to produce my own conclusions.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
From my research I can generalize that throughout time art has been an essential tool used in story telling.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The Central Idea for my research was the glamorization of overindulgence and perceptions.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
While conducting research I came to the conclusion that throughout time little has changed about the way we overindulge but a lot has changed on the way we perceive overindulgence.
Bibliography
“Bacchus.” Artble, 19 July 2017, www.artble.com/artists/caravaggio/paintings/bacchus.
“Caravaggio and his paintings.” Caravaggio: Biography and 100 Famous Paintings, www.caravaggio.org/.
Caravaggio. Boy with a Basket of Fruit. 1593, Borghese Gallery, Rome, Itlay.
Caravaggio. Bacchus. 1595, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy.
“Caravaggio and his paintings.” Caravaggio: Biography and 100 Famous Paintings, www.caravaggio.org/.
Caravaggio. Boy with a Basket of Fruit. 1593, Borghese Gallery, Rome, Itlay.
Caravaggio. Bacchus. 1595, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy.