Illustration
Sitting Idle
38cm x 25cm
gouache on paint board
January 2020
gouache on paint board
January 2020
Exhibition Text
Sitting Idle is a diptych gouache painting depicting the values of everything and nothing, and how you are most fulfilled when you are left to your own devices, instead of relying on material items and preconceived expectations. My piece is inspired by the life of Marie Antoinette, as well as the dramatic styles of the Rococo art movement. I wanted both pieces of my diptych to be full of color and to have a connection, while still highlighting the differences in emotion. On the left, you have a woman alone in a simple tub, while the woman on the right of the piece is being pulled in different directions by detached hands while dressed in upper class attire. This shows that when you are surrounded by nothing but material items, you feel unfulfilled and pushed to an unhealthily high standard. When you are left to your own devices, you find comfort within yourself.
Planning
Inspiration
My first inspiration for my diptych illustration was the 2006 film Marie Antoinette, directed by Sofia Coppola. Sofia Coppola was born in 1971 and is the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola (director of the Godfather films). Her work in Marie Antoinette was nominated for an Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design, and Kirsten Dunst's acting as the title character was well received with critics. The film follows the rise and fall of Marie Antoinette, who was queen of France at just nineteen years old. Marie Antoinette was the last queen of France before the French Revolution, and undoubtedly one of the more interesting royals of Europe during this time. She was married to Louis XVI when she was fifteen years old, and crowned queen of France just four years later. Throughout her reign as queen, there was a lot of disconnect between her duties, and how the people saw her. In her many letters home, she would complain about her life as a royal; she once said "I put on my rouge and wash my hands in front of the whole world." The young queen was also seen as the poster girl for the bourgeoisie lifestyle, which had fallen out of positive light during the time of the French Revolution. She was executed at the age of 37, on October 16th, 1793.
My second inspiration for my diptych illustration was the rococo art movement, which started in 1707 and ended in 1780. It was concentrated on embellishments and decorative detailing, where the sole purpose was to give off the impression of luxury and higher class living. This is called aristocratic idealism. The development of this style was mostly in France, and formed a connection between fine art and decorative art. The specific piece that I am drawing inspiration from for this piece is Girl Playing with a Dog, by Jean Honore Fragonard. Fragonard was born in 1732 and died in 1806, who developed many different artistic skills throughout his lifetime. He was a painter, printmaker, and draftsman, mostly known for his playful take on the Rococo style and his many portaits of women (often showing their breasts or with their dog). He lived in Italy for a few years to study at the French Academy in Rome, and moved back to Paris in 1761. He had success in the earlier parts of his career, but by the time of his death, his work had lost its popularity with the changing of styles and techniques. |
Planning SketchesWhen I first started to brainstorm for this piece, I watched the film Marie Antoinette (2006) and sketched images I found of Kirsten Dunst in scenes, and from other promotional photos as well. I really enjoyed the costume and set design of the movie, and also conducted my own research of the real Marie Antoinette to learn about what her life was like and how it affected the public opinion. This started with the first version of the piece, which was done in color pencils.
When I first started out with the gouache version of this piece, I sketched a rough outline of the changes that I was going to be making and how it would only strengthen the symbolism that I am using, as well as the connection between the two physical paint boards. The most noticeable one is the way that the floor lines up with both of the pieces and how the two women now face each other. I wanted them to face each other because it visually made the composition flow more smoothly and also showed a connection between the women, which are two versions of themselves. After I made the plans for changes, I sketched the final pieces onto the paint boards. For some of it, like the floor and bottom of the window, I used a straightedge (something else that I hadn't done in the first version of the piece). I tried to keep most of the board less detailed, besides the face, because I wanted to make sure I didn't box myself in when I began painting. |
Process
Experimentation
The main point of experimentation was the development of technique. This was the first time that I had ever painted using gouache painting and it took some time for me to get used to it. I quickly realized that the level of water on your brush/being combined with the paint greatly affected the opacity and how far I could stretch the paint. For the floor tiles, I used a mostly dry brush in order to make the color opaque and not require too many layers, while I watered the paint used for the background down a lot in order to cover large portions in a shorter amount of time. One thing I also learned about the paint was that if you wanted to fix the blending of a certain area, you could simply wet it again and mix new paint with what was there before.
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Process
The first step that needed to be done was putting the sketch onto each paint board. I used a straightedge to create the tiles on the floor, because I remember in the color-pencil version of this piece I attempted to freehand and it didn't quite work. Composition was something I tried to focus more on this time around (i.e the girl in either side of the piece are facing each other, which shows a connection between the two).
After I finished sketching on the boards, I needed to lightly erase the pencil in areas where I would be painting, because it made it easier to cover those guidelines with paint while still helping me see where everything should go. Once that was done, I just needed to mix my paints and put it onto the board. In order to get a flat color onto the board, I painted multiple layers of whatever was being done during my different times painting. One part that took many layers before I was satisfied was the face of the girl in the first panel; I went over it time and time again because I wasn't easily satisfied with her expression. |
Compare and Contrast
Compare:
-both have women dressed in typical upper-class attire from the 1700s, as well as 1700s eque interior designs
-Windows are seen in both pieces, the one in mine symbolizing a peek inside the inner emotions of the figures in my piece, and the one in the original shedding day light on a content looking woman (which can symbolize the lighthearted emotion she has from receiving such a gift).
Contrast:
-My piece is showing contrasting emotions and the tensions they may/may not bring, while the Fragonard piece simply exudes emotions of budding love/happiness.
-The technique and medium used are different. Fragonard's piece is done in oil paints and he began with brown to shape out the composition before using white and color, and mine is gouache on a paint board and I used water and different colors to stretch the paints over sections of the board.
-both have women dressed in typical upper-class attire from the 1700s, as well as 1700s eque interior designs
-Windows are seen in both pieces, the one in mine symbolizing a peek inside the inner emotions of the figures in my piece, and the one in the original shedding day light on a content looking woman (which can symbolize the lighthearted emotion she has from receiving such a gift).
Contrast:
-My piece is showing contrasting emotions and the tensions they may/may not bring, while the Fragonard piece simply exudes emotions of budding love/happiness.
-The technique and medium used are different. Fragonard's piece is done in oil paints and he began with brown to shape out the composition before using white and color, and mine is gouache on a paint board and I used water and different colors to stretch the paints over sections of the board.
Reflection
This second version of my diptych piece from first semester allowed me to further develop my ideas of everything versus nothing, while experimenting with a different medium. In the beginning I had based most of my meaning off of the life of Marie Antoinette, but for this piece I wanted to focus more on the broad meaning of what I was trying to show. I myself have experienced the feeling of being overwhelmed and lost in the abundance of material items that I have or wanted to have. When you want something really badly, and its all you focus on, then other things don't feel as important. Once you surround yourself in physical items, you are only satisfied for a short amount of time before being unfulfilled once more. This was shown in the right side of the diptych piece, where the woman dressed in expensive clothing and surrounded by signs of privilege is being pulled by detached hands and has a distressed expression. She has gotten herself into the lavish lifestyle, but now feels the pressures of the standards that follow and feels regretful. On the left side of the piece, the woman in the tub sits peacefully with a calm expression, because she has realized the value within herself and no longer desires the upscale things that consumerism and societal standards push upon people. I think I did a good job at executing this meaning because I spent a lot of time developing the expressions of each figure and the way their body language spoke of their emotions. Working in gouache was something I found difficult at first, but now enjoy doing because of its versatility.
ACT Responses
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon you art work:
Both my inspiration (Rococo piece) feature a woman, as well as extravagant and dramatic detailing.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Jean Honore Fragonard liked the Rococo art style because he was able to express the joy of simple but upper class living, which is seen in my piece through my design of Marie Antoinette's bedroom.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
After conducting my research on the Rococo art movement and the Marie Antoinette movie, my inspirations have both stemmed from the exaggeration of self expression and the idea that you need grand material items in order to feel fulfilled.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The main idea of my piece was to show people that even when you have everything you want in a material sense, you never feel completely fulfilled until you learn to accept yourself and your flaws. I used what I learned in my research to display this in my piece through stylistic choices such as color palette and detail.
5. What references did you make while reading your research?
I could infer from my research that the approach Rococo artists took on their pieces was focused more on the embellishments and look of the subject matter in the moment, with dramatic composition (such as the girl in the Jean Fragonard piece, laying in a bed full of different blankets and draped clothing).
Both my inspiration (Rococo piece) feature a woman, as well as extravagant and dramatic detailing.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Jean Honore Fragonard liked the Rococo art style because he was able to express the joy of simple but upper class living, which is seen in my piece through my design of Marie Antoinette's bedroom.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
After conducting my research on the Rococo art movement and the Marie Antoinette movie, my inspirations have both stemmed from the exaggeration of self expression and the idea that you need grand material items in order to feel fulfilled.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The main idea of my piece was to show people that even when you have everything you want in a material sense, you never feel completely fulfilled until you learn to accept yourself and your flaws. I used what I learned in my research to display this in my piece through stylistic choices such as color palette and detail.
5. What references did you make while reading your research?
I could infer from my research that the approach Rococo artists took on their pieces was focused more on the embellishments and look of the subject matter in the moment, with dramatic composition (such as the girl in the Jean Fragonard piece, laying in a bed full of different blankets and draped clothing).
Bibliography
-“Marie Antoinette.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 10 Sept. 2019, https://www.biography.com/royalty/marie-antoinette.
- “Sofia Coppola.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 17 Apr. 2019, https://www.biography.com/filmmaker/sofia-coppola.
- “The Love Letter, Jean Honore Fragonard.” Metmuseum.org, The Met, https://www.metmuseum.org/en/art/collection/search/436322.
-IMDb. “Marie Antoinette.” IMDb, IMDb.com, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0422720/mediaindex?ref_=tt_pv_mi_sm.
- “Rococo Movement Overview.” The Art Story, The Art Story Foundation, https://www.theartstory.org/movement/rococo/.
- “Sofia Coppola.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 17 Apr. 2019, https://www.biography.com/filmmaker/sofia-coppola.
- “The Love Letter, Jean Honore Fragonard.” Metmuseum.org, The Met, https://www.metmuseum.org/en/art/collection/search/436322.
-IMDb. “Marie Antoinette.” IMDb, IMDb.com, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0422720/mediaindex?ref_=tt_pv_mi_sm.
- “Rococo Movement Overview.” The Art Story, The Art Story Foundation, https://www.theartstory.org/movement/rococo/.