Title: Lamentation
Size: 30.5 cm by 40.5 cm
Medium: Acrylics on canvas
Date: November 2018
Lamentation is a self portrait inspired in part Kehinde Wiley's own Lamentation and in another part by Francisco de Zurbaran's Agnus Dei. Lamentation uses the connotation that accompanies lambs to convey a sense of fleeting innocence and youth. The hand with rein in Lamentation then is able to symbolize either restraint and oppression or guidance. Lamentation was created as the most legible portrait of my grief in moving from one stage of my life on to the next, unsure of whats next.
Inspiration
For this work I wanted to create a self portrait that would be more expressive in a different sense than my previous works. In this work I played with the association and connotations of given to animals specifically lambs. The art of portraiture has always been something I aspired to master. The nature of the discipline demands not only that one captures the essence of the sitter but rely the importance of the sitters identity. While in previous work I had focused on my ability to render a reference image and implement meaning through symbolism in other ways for this work I wanted to in a way reverse this for this portrait.
When I first looked at Francisco de Zurbaran's Agnus Dei I was drawn to the emotion he was able to convey despite the subject not being a human. Further examining the piece I come to the conclusion that it was not just the manner in which Zurbaran depicted his subject but the atmosphere he created around that subject which add to the overall tone and emotion of his lamb. My hopes was that in my own work I would be able to through both composition and dreary color palette be able to implement the same tone that Zurbaran does in his work.
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Wiley's work has always been a big inspiration in my own work and this time while looking through his various works along side Zurbaran's I couldn't help but notice how Wiley had conveyed the same emotion in a different manner. Although like in Zurbaran's work Wiley utilizes composition to communicate possible despair and melancholy Wiley does not like Zurbaran stray away from color. Wiley and Zurbarans work may share a tone but this tone in Wiley's case was still able to be conveyed through the depiction flowers and dimmed rosy tones. these aspects and extra colors in the work don't necessarily take away from the piece rather they add to the experience and context of the work. When looking at the vibrancy despite the intent of the depiction I was instantly inspired to expand my previous ambitions and manners of communication with the viewer. Through Wiley's work I was able to see how color can compliment a work's mood and not solely take away from the seriousness of a message in the work.
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Planning
In this first sketch I wanted to convey as many direct aspects from both works as I would. I played with coming up with a composition somewhere between Wiley's and Zurbaran's. The composition I created in this piece I felt could be successful as it communicates the accurate amount of discomfort and anguish. The problem in this sketch appeared when I began to get closer to focus on the face. In an attempt to simulate Wiley's work and creating a dynamic tone I played with possibly just rendering my face in a manner that contrasts my body language.In mimicking almost what Wiley was doing and also having a contrasting expression I thought having similar colors as Zurbaran would clear up any confusion in my work. the Although I enjoyed this idea I felt uncomfortable with the strength it carried in its message and tone, these seemed to be lost the more I tried to grasp at them. Overall I moved on from this sketch because it was very one dimensional in terms of both depiction and reference to the works which inspired me.
In the second sketch I began utilizing the very same imagery that inspired me in Zurbaran's work to convey the discontent of moving on. There are several things in this sketch which solidified how I wanted to covey this specific sense of disgruntlement. First, although using my face would be a clear reference to my won struggle I felt I was incapable of conveying that emotion of my face. Knowing this and the connotations of lambs I was able to bypass my inability to depict emotion on my own face by relying on these implications of lambs. Second, although I was in love with all of the aspects in Wiley's work I came to the conclusion that in my work less is more. Through excess in the presence of both flowers and colors Wiley was able to create a scene of sorrow and serenity contrastingly when I added flowers and candles attempting to imitate Wiley I found that it did not have the affect I was looking for. While this conveyed a message similar to Wiley's I didn't want that to be the sole message. Lastly, I found that I wanted to create a piece that not solely conveyed the loss of innocence but I wanted to celebrate and even comment on it not merely mourn it.
In this last sketch I believed I was able to take what inspired me from both Wiley's Zurbaran's work and make it my own. No longer was I just grasping at one thing from each of the work but rather I had made my own work based upon their contributions. In this work I continue with the idea of implementing a lamb in place of myself to represent innocence. The lamb is notably beheaded and being held in some manner by a hand. This conveys both the ending of a time but the utilization of this time and ability to move on in some way. This is the final sketch that moved on as it truly felt like my work and message had been relied not only references to Wiley and Zurbaran's work.
process
To begin the work I first needed to construct the canvas. To construct the canvas I first connected the stretchers at 90 degree angles in a long rectangle. Once I made sure this rectangle was not skewed in any manner I used a staple gun to hold the stretchers together at the 90 degree sections where they meet. I then measured out the piece of canvas fabric I needed cut and fastened it once again using the stapler gun to the canvas stretchers. After the fabric was secure to the stretchers I was able to begin prepping the canvas with gesso. To prep the canvas I used a simple brush and Utrecht gesso to cover the whole canvas. When covering the canvas I made sure my application was even so as to not create any unwanted textures. After the canvas was all covered I let the gesso dry before moving on to sketching.
Once my canvas was constructed and prepped I began to sketch my last sketch onto the canvas. Doing this proved somewhat difficult as I intended to draw this lamb based off solely my sketch which was laughably inaccurate. Doing my best I freehandedly drew the lamb on the canvas with a simple lead pencil. Noticing the inaccuracies I did take to google to reference simple anatomy of a lamb as well as Zurbaran's work. After I was satisfied with the sketch I was prepared to start painting.
I began the work by solely working on the lamb. Using a large flat brush to lay down washes of color I began to map out where contours and highlights on the lamb's face were. These washes of color were repeated over and over again once they dried in order to build layers and depth. Once the canvas and lead pencil were covered by these large washes of color I used a small filbert brush to go into areas that needed more attention. While the large flat-brush distributed color faster it wasn't as competent at blending therefor in areas where blending was needed I would use the smaller filbert brush to carefully seamlessly blend. Adding the fur to the lamb was the last part in painting it. Painting the fur consisted of using both the small filbert brush and even smaller rounder brush to add lighter spots around areas where thicker fur forms and dashes where finer hair is present. The round tiny brush was then continuously used to add highlights tp patches of fur and to areas such as the eyes and nose. When all these things were completed the background was painted black with large sweeps of the flat brush in order to gauge how well the colors in the piece worked together or if the values in the piece were too close to each other. Concluding that the values were indeed a bit too close to each other made me want to push them so they are more vibrant such as in Wiley's but then looking at Zurbaran's work once again I felt that this helped the work merge with the somber tone. Due to the vast amounts of colors in the lambs fur I felt that it was able to bring a hint of the vibrancy present in Wiley's work but still be subtle and washed out enough to present itself as a melancholy being not one relishing in spring.
Finally, after the head was complete I was able to finish by working on the hand and gold accents. The hand was painted exactly as the head of the lamb with the only exception being the size of brushes. As the hand was a bit smaller than the lamb I was able to utilize the filbert brush instead of the bigger flat brush for washes and detailing. Using this brush allowed me to not only blend better but be able to add larger amounts of undertones. Once the had was completed I used the smallest round brush to trace over lead a lead pencil harness I had drawn on in the spur of the moment. I was ultimately forced to do this as I couldn't think of a way for the hand as it was, completed to be grabbing onto the lamb. Despite having to improvise a rein to connect lamb and hand I believe it added to the overall message and called back to the vast excessiveness in Wiley's work with his flowers. Gold accents seemed to really complete and tie the piece together so after they were added the piece simply needed to dry.
Experimentation
In this work I experimented with a number of painting techniques in order to paint the fur on the lamb. Fur was the once thing I was concerned when I began this project but in the end it turned out to be a fun experience. To paint clusters of fur I simply used the filbert brush and moved my hand around in small "S" formations. Doing this over and over in various colors and values resulted in the picture above. While it may look like a mess from up close I found that from afar it did replicate the look of thicker matted fur. Painting thinner fur was far easier as all that was really need was fine swoops with a small round brush to make it look appealing.
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I also heavily experimented with improving in this work. Above is my planning for a harness or rein for the lamb to be attached to the hand. I was as stated before forced to come up with this contraption when the position of the hand did not fit the composition of the head. Despite this problem the improvisation of the reign taught me that I did not need to sacrifice the message or tone in order to make sense of my work, with ingenuity I could have both message and appeal.
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Reflection
Overall Im content with the work despite its many many flaws. Although I hate many things about it such as the fur and awkwardness of the reign it does stand a testament to my branching out beyond just simple self portraits. I believe my agreement with the outcome of the peace also has to do with the pieces ability to despite my lack of skill approximate the feeling of Zurbaran's own lamb using more vibrant colors like those in Wiley's work. I believe my work is able to reconcile both Zurbaran's and Wiley's manner of depicting some semblance of the same emotion through various contrasting ways.
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-effect in my inspiration led me to venture into different art styles. As a Result of wanting to experiment but still have something recognizably mine at the end I was able to take small aspects from other artists and incorporate them into my own work.
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2) What is the overall approach(point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall research I conducted had a lot to do with how to create the effects I wanted with the materials I had at hand at thus the overall approach was unbiased and informative.
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 while color may attribute to the mood and tone of a piece repetition can also contribute to those same aspects of a work.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The Central Idea for my research was vibrance and extravagance. I wanted to find other ways to rely drama in my work and looking at various relationships between these two in works really opened my eyes to the various ways they can be conveyed.
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 there are many ways which one can achieve the same feeling in different mediums.
The cause-effect in my inspiration led me to venture into different art styles. As a Result of wanting to experiment but still have something recognizably mine at the end I was able to take small aspects from other artists and incorporate them into my own work.
.
2) What is the overall approach(point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall research I conducted had a lot to do with how to create the effects I wanted with the materials I had at hand at thus the overall approach was unbiased and informative.
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 while color may attribute to the mood and tone of a piece repetition can also contribute to those same aspects of a work.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The Central Idea for my research was vibrance and extravagance. I wanted to find other ways to rely drama in my work and looking at various relationships between these two in works really opened my eyes to the various ways they can be conveyed.
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 there are many ways which one can achieve the same feeling in different mediums.
Citations
Morgan, Jason. “A Singular Creation Art Tips, Tutorials and Articles.” A Singular Creation - Art Showdown - Free Art Contests, 19 Dec. 2009, www.asingularcreation.com/articles/how-to-paint-animal-fur.htm.
Wiley, Kehinde. “Lamentation .” Kehinde Wiley, 2016, kehindewiley.com/works/lamentation/.
Zurbaran, Francisco de. “Agnus Dei.” Museo Del Prado, 1664, Museo Nacional Del Prado, www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/agnus-dei/795b841a-ec81-4d10-bd8b-0c7a870e327b.
Wiley, Kehinde. “Lamentation .” Kehinde Wiley, 2016, kehindewiley.com/works/lamentation/.
Zurbaran, Francisco de. “Agnus Dei.” Museo Del Prado, 1664, Museo Nacional Del Prado, www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/agnus-dei/795b841a-ec81-4d10-bd8b-0c7a870e327b.