Concept for project #2

For this second project, I came up with a couple of ideas.  My first idea was to use the category “important physical attributes.”  My idea using this category was to take three pictures of me and parts of my body I like; for example, hair, eyes, and legs.  Each of these pictures would be black and white and have lighting and cropping like that of a model in a magazine.  This piece would be about me, because they are parts of my body that I personally like, but the piece would also be about how we judge people based on looks.

My second idea was to use the category “events in my life.”  Using this category I would think of three events that have shaped my personality or really had an impact on my life.  I would think about how these events made me feel and decide if they impacted me in a positive or negative way.  Based on how it made me feel and the way it impacted me would be how I changed the piece.  For example, if it had a negative impact the lighting could be really dark and I could be angry in my picture.

The third idea I had for this piece, and the one I am 50/50 with right now, is using the category “aspects of my personality.”  I would take 3 characteristics I feel represent my personality the most and play them up.  The design of each picture, color, lighting, etc, would be based on the trait I chose to use.  There will be three pictures designed differently, but they will all be cohesive.  The final piece would be about me because each picture displays traits I feel stand out the most amongst the others.

The last idea I had, the other 50/50, is combining three of these categories.  I would combine an event, with how it made me feel, and what I strive for after.  Each part of the triptych would be separated in that order.  Also, the way I portray each picture would be how I make it one cohesive piece.

I have many ideas for this project so it is hard for me to come up with one complete concept.  I feel there are many different ways I can do this piece and think that I just need to start with pictures and these beginning ideas/concepts and see where it leads me.

Pictures for artist comparison

Cui Xiuwen

Cindy Sherman

Frida Kahlo

Artist Comparison

Cui Xiuwen, Cindy Sherman, and Frida Khalo are all female portrait artsits.  Each one has their own style; however, there is a similarity in the context/concept of their pieces and what they wanted to convey.  

Cui Xiuwen does portraits of an Asian girl that is pregnant.  She puts her model in different poses that we might see a pregnant lady in; scared poses, mood swing poses, etc..  To me, this series, Angel, is of a subject that Xiuwen probably feels strongly about.  Teen pregnancy is probably a growing issue in China and we can only question how that makes them feel.  Xiuwen tries to show us how these girls may feel in her pieces.  They are scared, indecisive, and feel alone.  I find this concept really intriguing about her work.  Even in the pieces that contain the model many times, she is still portrayed as lonely.  Lastly, I found it interesting how in every piece the the model is wearing white, the color of purity.

Unlike Cui Xiuwen, Cindy Sherman does portraits that are morbid and have dark lighting.  Also, where Xiuwen used a model for her portraits, Sherman used either herself or mannequin and prosthetic parts.  Cindy Sherman started her career by putting herself in feminist "cliche" poses.  Once she ran out of cliches to use, she moved over to using more grotesque imagery.  She likes to explore what we may view as disgusting and find beauty in it.

Lastly, Frida Khalo used her portraiture to challenge boundaries.  She used shocking images to reflect her unstable life.  Her pieces are said to question nations, the role of women, and religion.  Her early paintings are done in oil and are are naive in the sense that she used bright colors to paint flat forms.

 Each artist had a different style and portrayed diverse images.  However, regardless of the diversity in each artist, I found one common theme within all of them.  This theme is finding the beauty in the ugly, or an ugly situation.  Teen pregnancy is a difficult situation to be in and Xiuwen shows this in her pieces by making the model look sad and alone.  However, looking at the piece the viewer feels sorry for the person in the picture and realizes that she needs to be loved to get through this rough time.  Even though the situation is a bad one, the subject is still beautiful and needs the love that we all do.  Cindy Sherman wanted her viewer to find the beauty in her morbid imagery.  She picks disturbing images and uses a dark scene to make the viewer really look into the piece and find what is so special about it.  To me, she does everything she can to make the image look really harsh and gross at first glance; to make the viewer almost want to look away real fast.  However, I believe that if the viewer looks long enough, they will begin to see tiny aspects of the image that make it stand out in a beautiful way.  It may be the bone structure in the face of a dead body, or a dress a strange figure is wearing, but I believe it is there if we choose to find it.  Frida Khalo used images to shock her viewer as well; however, these images are meant to portray the beauty in overcoming hard struggles throughout her life. 

I found these artists really interesting in their own way, but I enjoyed finding the a common thread that linked each one together as well.

Pictures of Project #1

the original

the photshop image
I took out to trashbag by cloning over it, played with filters, saturation, and lighting effects. I also added snow and more bottles to the piece.

the illustrator image
I used live trace, added extra layers and text, and tried different effects and filters to see what they did. I came up with this.