Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust - Pen & Ink Illustration
Title: Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust
Size: 22.86 x 30.48 cm
Medium: BallPoint Pen
Date of Completion: August 2023
Exhibition Text
My piece titled "Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust" is a pen & ink illustration inspired by three portraits illustrated by Pablo Picasso. I created this illustration using a red ballpoint pen, a graphite pencil, and drawing paper. The title signifies the meaning of the piece in that all people no matter their differences are interwoven. We are united through our origin of entering the world in the same way and through our end of returning to the earth when we die. I intended for this piece to encourage a feeling of connectedness both to one another as humans with shared experiences as well as to our earth.
Size: 22.86 x 30.48 cm
Medium: BallPoint Pen
Date of Completion: August 2023
Exhibition Text
My piece titled "Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust" is a pen & ink illustration inspired by three portraits illustrated by Pablo Picasso. I created this illustration using a red ballpoint pen, a graphite pencil, and drawing paper. The title signifies the meaning of the piece in that all people no matter their differences are interwoven. We are united through our origin of entering the world in the same way and through our end of returning to the earth when we die. I intended for this piece to encourage a feeling of connectedness both to one another as humans with shared experiences as well as to our earth.
Inspiration
When searching for inspiration for my illustration I discovered the many achieved sketches of Pablo Picasso. I am familiar with many of Picasso's works, however I had never before seen these sketches. While each of the three is completely unique, I felt I might be able to draw inspiration from different elements of each. The Portrait of Francoise made by Pablo Picasso in 1946 features the art movement Cubism and varies significantly from the one he created in 1947. Seeing the variety in styles and techniques used by Picasso in each of the three sketches I selected was inspiring for me and made me feel compelled to integrate different features of the three portraits such as the sharp lines and bold skewed features of his cubist Portrait of Francoise, as well as the hatching used in his Portrait de Jaqueline. I observed the way in which Picasso blended features together with his use of curved line in Portrait of Francoise and Bird and Women and chose to display a similar method throughout my own illustration. The varying amounts of overlapping line in each portion of the face creates shadows and highlights making the piece feel organic instead of using hash straight lines to show facial features and light as seen in the cubist portrait.
Planning
The first thing I did when beginning the planning process was create two thumbnail sketches. I knew that I wanted to create a piece that features three faces and my original idea was a symmetrical image of one face in the middle and two on each side. However after sketching this out I realized there was no movement to that layout and I did not feel it properly displayed a theme of connectedness and unity. Next I sketched out my second idea where the heads were more interwoven and faces different directions. I preferred this much more and decided it was a more dynamic composition that better displayed my theme.
I created a planning page in my sketchbook before beginning the final version of this piece in order to layout all my ideas and brainstorm. After creating the two thumbnail sketches I moved on to writing out the different words and phrases that I wanted to be represented through this piece and started to develop a specific theme. Next I moved on to sketching out two faces in pencil that conceded with the thumbnail sketches I had chosen for the composition. I did not have a specific style in mind at this time for the faces so through this step of the process I began to experiment with technique and use of line. After completing the two faces in pencil I decided to draw out the third face in pen. Continuing t6 experiment I referenced my inspiration pieces by Pablo Picasso and created a face that varied slightly from the other two. However I wasn't fully satisfied with the straight line hatching technique and decided to try and create some different textures off to the side that were more organic. I thought this new use of line better aligned with my theme and decided I would utilize t6hat technique in my final piece. |
Critique
Similarities:
- All four pieces feature a human face.
- There are key stylized elements to my piece as well as my inspiration pieces.
- Use of line is significant to each pieces composition.
- All four pieces show a use of light that creates definition in the faces.
Differences:
- My pieces features three faces instead of one.
- My piece is in red ink while my inspiration pieces are black and white.
- All four pieces feature a human face.
- There are key stylized elements to my piece as well as my inspiration pieces.
- Use of line is significant to each pieces composition.
- All four pieces show a use of light that creates definition in the faces.
Differences:
- My pieces features three faces instead of one.
- My piece is in red ink while my inspiration pieces are black and white.
Reflection
This project compared to many that I have completed in the past was much less time consuming and overall the process was streamlined. This is many due to the fact that I am comfortable with pen and ink illustration and that I spent more time on my planning sketches. I did thorough planning sketches that helped me to feel confident in my composition and style. I made sure to contimplate how I wanted to represent my theme of nature to human relationships in this piece and decided I wanted to attempt to do so in a way that is much less literal than some of my previous pieces. Rather than depicting flora and fauna I wanted the style itself and the organic shapes and lines to represent the natural elements. Typically when I have created planning sketches in the past, I still diverge significantly from my original designs while working on my final project. However with this project I was intentional about making sure I was completely satisfied with the design before starting the final piece. However I worked so quickly on this project that I forgot to take many process photos. This has been a reoccurring issue for me when I create illustration pieces because I often quickly finish them while being so immersed in the process that I forget to pause and take photos. I also feel that I could have spread out the process across more days so that I could have given myself more time to contemplate the piece and come back with a new perspective each day. However, overall I am happy with the end result and am pleased that I was able to create a piece that captured my theme of nature to human relationships in a more abstract manor.
APA Citations
Pablo Picasso. Sothebys.com. (n.d.). https://www.sothebys.com/en/artists/pablo-picasso
Portrait of françoise, 1946. Pablo Picasso. (1970, January 1). https://www.pablo-ruiz-picasso.net/work-210.php
Portrait of françoise, 1946. Pablo Picasso. (1970, January 1). https://www.pablo-ruiz-picasso.net/work-210.php
Connection to ACT
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My inspiration allowed me to identify how many individuals feel isolated from the rest of society for numerous reasons and inturpret this topic into the composition and style of my piece. I learned that one cause of this increasingly common feeling of loneliness and isolation is due to the disconnect our modern society has from nature and to one another.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author believes that spending more time outdoors, and engaging with other people rather than spending time on a screen will encourage feelings of connectedness and could have a positive impact on an individual´s mental health.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I was able to conclude from my research that our technology based society has caused a large portion of society to feel completely disconnected from the earth and from the rest of society.
4) What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research is that all humans are united through our origin of entering the world in the same way and through our end of returning to the earth when we die.
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
My bond with my peers strengthens most when we spend time outdoors together without our phones. Based on my research I can infer that technology is the source of much of my negative perspective of self and the world around me.
My inspiration allowed me to identify how many individuals feel isolated from the rest of society for numerous reasons and inturpret this topic into the composition and style of my piece. I learned that one cause of this increasingly common feeling of loneliness and isolation is due to the disconnect our modern society has from nature and to one another.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author believes that spending more time outdoors, and engaging with other people rather than spending time on a screen will encourage feelings of connectedness and could have a positive impact on an individual´s mental health.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I was able to conclude from my research that our technology based society has caused a large portion of society to feel completely disconnected from the earth and from the rest of society.
4) What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research is that all humans are united through our origin of entering the world in the same way and through our end of returning to the earth when we die.
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
My bond with my peers strengthens most when we spend time outdoors together without our phones. Based on my research I can infer that technology is the source of much of my negative perspective of self and the world around me.