Entonces y Otra Vez - Acrylic Painting
Title: Entonces y Otra Vez
Size: 60.96cm by 60.96cm
Medium: Acrylic Paint and Canvas
Date of Completion: October 2023
Exhibition Text:
My piece entitled "Entonces y Otra Vez" is inspired by Diego Rivera, and displays a theme surrounding the spiritual connection many have to the earth. I specifically referenced his piece "La Ofrenda" to create representation of the way in which Mexican Culture has evolved over the years and specifically the practice of honoring and remembering the dead. The alter in my piece displays El Dia de los Muertos and how it is celebrated today. Additionally, I depicted myself as the individual on the right in order to express my personal connection to my Mexican culture. I chose to paint both individuals entirely in black and white to display how the spirit of our ancestors lives on through each new generation and their efforts to uphold tradition.
Size: 60.96cm by 60.96cm
Medium: Acrylic Paint and Canvas
Date of Completion: October 2023
Exhibition Text:
My piece entitled "Entonces y Otra Vez" is inspired by Diego Rivera, and displays a theme surrounding the spiritual connection many have to the earth. I specifically referenced his piece "La Ofrenda" to create representation of the way in which Mexican Culture has evolved over the years and specifically the practice of honoring and remembering the dead. The alter in my piece displays El Dia de los Muertos and how it is celebrated today. Additionally, I depicted myself as the individual on the right in order to express my personal connection to my Mexican culture. I chose to paint both individuals entirely in black and white to display how the spirit of our ancestors lives on through each new generation and their efforts to uphold tradition.
Inspiration
I was inspired by the piece entitled "La Ofrenda" by Diego Rivera. This painting exemplifies Diego's Mexican Muralist style and features stylized elements that pay homage to his Mexican culture. These elements include the alter and flowers that reference Dia De Los Muertos and the tradition of honoring the dead. I chose to recreate this work while altering certain features and elements in order to create a new theme. His use of light and shadow is unique and allows elements of the piece such as the two sitting figures to appear one dimensional. Additionally the facial features are simplistic and rely heavily on shape.
La Ofrenda by Diego Rivera
Planning
During the beginning of my planning process I contemplated the themes I was attempting to display in this piece and began creating sketches to help me brainstorm how to best represent them, I knew initially that I wanted to somehow incorporate the idea of how the tradition of honoring the dead has evolved overtime, however I was unsure of how I could display this in my piece. I wanted to keep a similar composition to Rivera's but during this planning process realized that I wanted to concentrate my piece to focus more heavily on the two individuals seated on the forest floor. I felt that through this new composition I could emphasis the theme to be more centered around this spiritual connection between individuals and nature. Furthermore I began thinking more specifically about how the tradition of honoring the dead in Mexican culture has evolved over the years, I then decided that I wanted to change the alter in Rivera's piece to represent the way in which this tradition is celebrated today through Dia de los Muertos.
Process
I began constructing my canvas by first creating the wood frame with four pieces of 2ft wood pieces. Next I stretched the canvas over the frame and stapled the fabric into place. Once my canvas was built I began priming it with two layers of white acrylic paint. I did this to ensure each color I used would be opaque and easily glide onto the canvas. This white base prevents me from having to use as much paint and also makes the colors appear more vibrant.
The background of my reference piece has an extremely crowded composition of many overlapping leaves and foliage. In order to achieve this effect I began with the largest leaf on the far top right corner of the piece. This singular leaf covered a large portion of the canvas and took a while for me to finish. I started by creating a rough outline with green paint before filling it in with one solid tone. Next I began the tedious process of painting in each vein of the leaf with a yellow-white color before finally shading on top of the originally base color with both yellow and blue tinted hues inside some of the vein sections. Next, I started on the cactus on the lower right corner of the piece and used a similar process that began with outlining each section before filling them in and adding highlights and shadows. I also used a small rountip brush to paint in small white designs representing the cactus spines.
To begin painting in the two individuals in the piece I utilized a similar process to that of the foliage by first outlining and filling in the silhouettes with a grey midtone. I then outline the hair in a jet black and decided that I wanted to build my own hairstyle off of the hairstyle on the individual in Rivera's piece so as to not stray far from the original individuals appearance. I used a plain white base to create the shirts on both of them before adding grey shadows with a large flat brush. I then began adding shading to both faces to define different features before adding the brighter tones of the eyeballs and highlights on the noses and cheeks. Finally to finish up the faces I used a small fine point brush to paint in the outlines on each facial feature.
After painting in all the features on the faces of both individuals I decided to add a overshirt to the individual representing me as this si an outfit I wear regularly and to further emphasize the personal connections I am making through the theme of this piece. Next I moved on to the final background details first with the white outline that would later become the alter and then finishing up the details of large leaves on the far left that slightly overlapped the individual and the alter. I did so by adding bright blue toned highlights to many of the leaves as well as defining the outlines and shadows with darker shades. It is at this point that I finally painted in the brown color of the forest floor and filled in the remaining blank spaces of the black background peeking through some of the leaves. To finish up the piece I added the final details of the strand of flowers that I chose to paint black and white instead of orange and finally added the details of the alter. These details included a colorful papel picado which today are commonly used to decorate ofrendas as well as various items often placed to signify the passed loved one and for their journey to the land of the living. I made these choice in order to further display and reference my theme of the spiritual aspects of this tradition and the evolution of the practice over the years.
Experimentation
In the process of creating my piece "Entonces y Otra Vez" I observed myself using experimentation several times. Initially was very unfamiliar with the Mexican Muralist style in Diego Rivera's piece that I was attempting to replicate. in the past I was used to painting in a style more closely aligned to realism. When I began painting the foliage in the background I was unsure of whether to add shading and different hues within the section I was trying to paint. However when I tried this with the cactus in the bottom right corner I found that this method did not create the correct effect and each shade did not stand out as much as in Rivera's piece but rather blended out too much into one another. I then decided to paint in each section with a base coat and allowing that to dry before going in with the darker shadows. Finally I added in the bright highlights after the other colors had dried. This process that began with color blocking ended up being more effective and produced my desired results.
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Critique
Similarities:
- Background composition
- Placement of the two individuals
- Style inspired by Mexican Muralism
DIfferences:
- Rivera's piece is warmer toned while mine is cooler
- Alters have different elements and features
- Skin tone in Riveras piece vs black and white in my own
- Composition of my piece is more concentrated while Riveras piece is larger and has more elements
- Background composition
- Placement of the two individuals
- Style inspired by Mexican Muralism
DIfferences:
- Rivera's piece is warmer toned while mine is cooler
- Alters have different elements and features
- Skin tone in Riveras piece vs black and white in my own
- Composition of my piece is more concentrated while Riveras piece is larger and has more elements
Reflection
This piece had a complicated composition and took a very long time for me to complete. My original planning sketches and ideas changes a lot throughout the actual process of painting this piece which produced a final piece that I feel is well developed and accurately displays the themes I originally wished to portray. I enjoyed the experience of attempting to reference my inspiration piece which simultaneously altering and adding elements to fit my own theme. However there were certain features that felt extremely tedious to create such as the many large overlapping leaves that each had a unique shape and required specific highlights and shading. This piece was an opportunity for me to display numerous techniques and effects that I was previously not extremely confident about. For example I have never created a piece in which I painted in the background as a dark solid color and only added it in as one of the last steps. One thing I would change about my process is instead of painting in the background as a final step, I would start by simply painting the whole canvas the solid background color. This would eliminate the tedious process of trying to paint around every lead and detail. Additionally I would create a sketch and map out the entire piece on the actual canvas so that some of the placement of different elements in my piece were more precise and true to the composition of Rivera's piece.
ACT Questions
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My inspiration piece entitled "La Ofrenda" by Diego Rivera strongly influenced the composition as well as the theme of my piece centered around spirituality associated with Mexican Culture.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author discusses the way in which the tradition of honoring and remembering the dead has evolved over the years and its origins that date back to the Aztecs.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have been able to conclude that the many changes that have occured in various traditions across different culture have resulted in a disconnect for many from their culture. For some there is a lack of reverence around practices that used to be associated with spirituality or religion in part due to commercialization and Hallmark.
4) What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my research is that there has been a significant shift in how remebering the dead is practiced in Mexican culture.
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I was able to infer that everyone's personal connection and understanding of their culture looks different as a result of various factors .
My inspiration piece entitled "La Ofrenda" by Diego Rivera strongly influenced the composition as well as the theme of my piece centered around spirituality associated with Mexican Culture.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author discusses the way in which the tradition of honoring and remembering the dead has evolved over the years and its origins that date back to the Aztecs.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have been able to conclude that the many changes that have occured in various traditions across different culture have resulted in a disconnect for many from their culture. For some there is a lack of reverence around practices that used to be associated with spirituality or religion in part due to commercialization and Hallmark.
4) What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my research is that there has been a significant shift in how remebering the dead is practiced in Mexican culture.
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I was able to infer that everyone's personal connection and understanding of their culture looks different as a result of various factors .
APA Citations
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2023, November 21). Diego Rivera. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Diego-Rivera
Understanding the history and traditions of Día de los Muertos. University of Arizona News. (2023, October 30). https://news.arizona.edu/story/understanding-history-and-traditions-d%C3%ADa-de-los-muertos
Understanding the history and traditions of Día de los Muertos. University of Arizona News. (2023, October 30). https://news.arizona.edu/story/understanding-history-and-traditions-d%C3%ADa-de-los-muertos