Block Print
A Piece Of The Soul
Block Print 30cm x 23cm September 2019 Exhibition Text The "A piece of the soul" is inspired for a Mexican heritage tribute to my ethnicity. I was inspired by Frida Kahlo and myself. I used the resemblance of Mexican features from both of us and combined them to show the looks of “Mexican people”(Females in particular). I also used her Mexican style of dresses, used for traditional Mexican dancing and for symbolism. I wanted my first artwork to go with the Identity theme to start with who I am for my base, it'll be the beginning of my art journey. |
Planning Sketches
My first planning sketch, I was inspired by Frida Kahlo, "the girl with the death mask". I wanted something to be child like form. So I sketched the body of the girl to be my base for the project. Then I was going to branch off of that and change up the designs and piece. I noticed the body proportions in the painting is bigger and the body isn't petite. I never was petite as a kid, So I really loved that feature she added to the painting.
The second planning sketch I created was a drawing of Frida Kahlo herself. I did the sketch, so I could see the strong Mexican features she inherits. In the Photograph of her that I sketched, I noticed we both inhabit having round eyes, thick eyebrows, and plump lips. For my project, I knew I could add the eyebrows and round eye like form. Then in the photograph of Frida Kahlo, she has a head piece of roses. Which I really adored because roses are a significant symbol for Latin roots, specifically Mexican.
For my last sketch, I put all my Idea's together and created the final product. All the symbols and features I discussed in my inspiration for my planning are shown in the last sketch/final product. I put together Mexican symbolic items in this piece. Such as the roses, corn, eagle head, cross necklace, and the dress. The dress in the piece is resembled from Frida Kahlo's painting, but I changed it and made it into a more Mexican form. The ruffles on the top of the dress and the wavy striped bottom relates to the traditional dress of Jalisco. A place in Mexico, where women or girls wear these dresses for baile folklorico dances. They are popular for festivals or special events. I took the inspirations of Frida and created a artwork of who I am and what I love. I changed it in a way, where it's not basic and stands out because it has many different meanings and symbols. Frida Kahlo had meanings behind her paintings, but her pieces were so simple in ways where the symbols never were clearly shown, as in mine are shown, but there's deep meaning to them so the main idea wont be obvious.
Process Experimentation On the right side there's my process of inking and putting the slab on paper. I experimented quite a bit. I really disliked the first one. I didn't add enough ink and some of the carvings I did weren't showing up. My first product I created is the second one going down on the right. It has no value or emphasis. The value on it is very light with dark areas, But turned out fuzzy and shows the symbols poorly. The emphasis I wanted for this piece was the background to have a strong rich dark black hue for the background, along with the other parts I wanted black. I improved the first one to create a more shadow with some highlight print. I did this by carving deeper in the white highlighted areas to make it pop and not blend. Then I added more ink and It spread evenly and precise. The second one I did, I loved how the intensity of the black ink came more out. Everything was more rich and popped out, instead of barely seeing them. When I was working for the second one, I carved out things I couldn't see in the first one and it really worked well.
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Process
I first started with a clean slab, I couldn't trace my sketch on the slab because the sketch was too big. So I drew the sketch again on the slab. I began carving with a skinny carving tool for the arms and details on the dress and the flower and cross necklace. I used a medium size carving tool for the legs. To get more in depth and smooth things out for the art, I began to carefully use a bigger carving tool for the tiny areas. It would create a smooth flatter surface, then a rough edgy texture. If I kept the rough edgy texture, the white areas for ink printing would never turn out good. Then for the bottom part of the dress, I used the big carving tool, to save time and because it would create the smooth balanced texture I wanted. To help me carve I created more value for the darker areas by making more shadows with my pencil, so when I carved everything would be precise. Then for the top of the dress and the corn, I used a tiny carving tool and used a stippling like technique for the tiny circles. I then began inking the slab, for the first time the ink went over the white and the final product turned out rough and blurry. So I began to sharpen the white areas, with a big carving tool and smoothed and dug deeper in the white areas the ink went into. Then when I inked again the project improved, by no ink getting into the white areas. Also the print came out more precise and clean. That was the final product I picked overall.
Reflection
This artwork came out how I wanted, but can always be improved. The concept and the way I wanted the piece to turn out, it did. But there is minor errors in art techniques and inking that made the piece not be the best it can be. I felt like I should of outlined little details more, so they can pop more with the artwork. If I were to go back and improve this piece I would of carved deeper for the corn, necklace, and flower. I noticed as much as they are small details for the piece, it is part of the piece and you can tell there's no balance. If I were to carve deeper for the details, the inking process would of went smoother with picking up everything to print. I could of done better for proportion. Some things in the piece are leaning towards a certain direction and not being symmetrical with the other side. So when laying out the idea and drawing it on, I could of looked on a higher up perspective by standing to notice the unproportional elements. Although I would of like to add improvements, I am satisfied with the concluded product. The hues and shadows were exactly what I wanted. I believe the artwork shows my hard craftsmanship and shows my style as well as Frida Kahlos. Frida kahlo isn't know for block prints, But I created one that represents German expressionism. Which I'm very intrigued with. I was happy with the picture frame of the piece, It was clean and the edges of the inked print didn't smear. The artwork fit all the components I wanted for this piece. So in the end it did succeed a level of unity I wanted within the piece.
ACT Responses
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
Frida Kahlo creates symbolic Mexican style artwork. That's why I chose her for an inspiration, because I wanted my first piece to be the root of who I am. So I interpreted her Mexican symbols and style and made it my own. The main thing I used was the Mexican dresses she creates for her artwork. It inspired me to make the Mexican dress the big symbol for my piece.
2) What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Symbolism and expression were conveyed in my inspirations. The symbolism conveys messages through objects, looks, while expressionism can be the same one. These two tie in with Frida Kahlo on who she is as an artist. She wanted to express and represent modern or older issues with deeper meanings, to present the artwork.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I discovered that the Mexican style dress is common for younger Mexican kids. They wear them for dances and celebrations, even holidays. It symbolizes the youth and innocence of cheerful kids. I also discovered that she shows happy symbols, but has dark meanings to her paintings due to her tragic life.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea or theme for this piece was to revolve around Mexican culture. I wanted to show classical traditional symbols, just like how Frida Kahlo does. I wanted this first artwork of mine to show the root of Mexican culture I have.
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that Frida Kahlo was born in Mexico and knew the Mexican traditions. I also inferred that her paintings each describe and symbolize dark moments from her life that she refers to as tragic.
Bibliography
"Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray.” Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray, www.fridakahlo.it/en/scheda-eventi.php?id=19.
"“Girl with Death Mask, 1938 - by Frida Kahlo.” Henri Matisse, www.fridakahlo.org/girl-with-death-mask.jsp.