Dry Point
"The Distance of Heart and Soul"Dry Point
6in x 8in October 2019 Exhibition text"The Distance of Heart and Soul" was inspired by the artist Jacques Callot's Franca Trippa and Fritellino, and Andien De Clermont's reprint of it. Along with my journey of opening up, letting people hear my sorrow, and how I felt, no matter how hard it is. This piece is meant to convey this emotional disconnect, with the heart and soul of a person, feelings and experiences, never truly making sense of each other. This piece is about self expression, and coping mechanisms.
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Planning/Concepts
Inspiration
My inspiration with my Drypoint piece was from two different artist from two very different periods of art history, These two are Jacques Callot, who was a lesser known print maker in the middle of the Baroque period, while also being a part of the Romanticism period. All of his pieces have a very intriguing style, with very vibrant and dancing characters in weird and wacky poses. These pieces consist of funny looking grotesque characters dancing and singing and acting in a theater. He started his art campaign after the Franco Spanish War, in which he described what people in a broken society and economy, they hide behind masks in his art, but bring out their true selves, who and what they want to be, with no one to tell them no. I found this usage of masks and the way the characters vibrantly express their emotions very compelling and a great way to introduce my ideals and message into my art, as my theme as a whole is self expression, finding one's true emotion and their place amongst their own self. I myself have covered up my true self a lot in the past, suppressed emotions, and put on a fake personality to hide my emotions from other people, because I was taught to never be a burden on other people, especially with my emotions. The art movement and Jacquese's work really helped me convey this, with using the techniques of compelling character design, to express the emotion. The second artist is from the Rococo Period, which started in the 1800's, this man is Andien De Clermont the interesting thing about this artist, was that for the purposes I am studying him are because he "copied" Jacques's work, 200 years after him. Andien De Clermont copied the style and flow of the prints that Jacques Callot used, and painted over it with bright vibrant colors, making more theatrical and elegant, putting flowers and lights all over the borders. Which was the art period at the time, rococo was a very elegant art movement. Along with this, I aim to create the in between of both art movements with my work, having both the elegant flowers and plants making a theatrical performance, and mixing it with the stark, harsh figures of the characters in the middle.
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Planning Sketches
The first sketch was heavily inspired by Jacques, and his style, rather than his meaning. I felt that this version was far too basic, and really didn't capture the meaning I had behind this piece. Along with that, I felt that I didn't capture any of the majestic and flowery material in Andien's work, which as a direct inspiration was unacceptable. While I did think this looked fine, I knew I could definitely do better.
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This second attempt, was I felt a much better representation of both art styles put together, yet the sad part is it felt too rough, to be made into a final. The other major problem was not conveying any sort of message I was trying my hardest to convey, such as emotional distraught and pain and hiding of ones emotions. So this sketch hit the wall but didn't stick with me, as there was too many technical errors.
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This third sketch was my least favorite of the four that I made, but one thing it did well was convey an emotion, while not being the correct message or emotion, It still conveyed it well. This emotion was self confidence, or lack there of, as the character is thinking about what they could be, and how to express them self, while not being able to achieve it. But I didn't like this one while making it, so I decided to scrap it.
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The Final sketch, this one was obviously my favorite as I made it my base. This sketch, I felt captured all that I wanted to, I wanted to bring the theatrical expression, and the hidden emotional meaning to light, My message was being expressed correctly and efficiently. Along with this, I found the character design was close to Jacquese but also had my own personal spin on it, which made this piece stand out to me the most. The figures looked clean and crisp, and the message was hidden, but also right in front of the viewer.
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Process
Experimentation
Four different prints were made in the end for this project. This project specifically had many hiccups, as the process was very lengthy and could easily be messed up, with the ink being oil based, and not water based. The first one seemed very light and also blurred and smudgy, as it was a first attempt, to test it. I changed my process, to experiment with how I could utilize my materials, and more importantly my time, the next print was washed more thoroughly on the base, and I made sure that the only thing with ink in it was the places I cut into, which I was slightly unsuccessful, as there still was smudging and blurred lines. The third and fourth attempt were my best, as I had learned from my past failures and I knew how to handle the equipment, I made sure to wash it thoroughly and to dry the paper enough so that it wouldn't smear, but would also take the ink. The third had flaws, but with the way I experimented, the fourth and final attempt was very well done, and I am mostly happy with its outcome.
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Process
The first part of the making of "The Distance of Heart and Soul" was taking my final sketch, and inking it, to be sure no smudging occurred during the transfer. I lined up my plastic sheet on top of my sketch notebook after taking this plastic film off of the sheet. I then grabbed my carving tool, and started to press into the lines of my background drawing, carving slowly and firmly to ensure no mistakes were made, because any and all mistakes are permanent. keeping the carving tool at a point to ensure that my hand would be steady and no sharp edges would be created, (which sadly I had many sharp edges as this project was a slight struggle to me) I then after all of the carving of the lines, went back and did some crosshatching onto the areas that I wanted to create shadow, or to fill in with black, such as the shadow man in the middle, and the circles at the bottom. after all of this was done, I took the tape off of the sheet of plastic, ready to make my prints.
To start the print making process I had to take a sheet of water color paper, and soak it in warm water for about 8 minutes, while doing that I took a scraper and a couple spoonfuls of oil based black ink and dabbled it onto my plastic sheet. from there I took a thin plastic scraper and pushed the ink across the entire plastic sheet, making sure that the whole thing is covered in ink, and that all the crevices of detail have ink inside. from there, I take some crumpled newsprint and wash off the excess ink that wasn't inside the edges and crevices so only the marks on the sheet would be black on the paper. By then the water color paper, had been soaking for roughly 8 minutes, so I took it out and carefully patted it dry so it didn't wrinkle inside the towel I set it in. afterwards, with my now clean plastic sheet, I lifted up the many layers of the printing press set it in the press and carefully placed my watercolor paper on top of the print, then taking all the layers and placing them down. With that done, I spun the wheel of the printing press slowly, making sure to not move the paper and create smudges. after I passed over the project once, I went over one more time backwards, lifted up the layers and slowly lifted the paper up to reveal my print, which I then quickly placed on the drying rack and repeated it again 3 more times to get the best print I could.
To start the print making process I had to take a sheet of water color paper, and soak it in warm water for about 8 minutes, while doing that I took a scraper and a couple spoonfuls of oil based black ink and dabbled it onto my plastic sheet. from there I took a thin plastic scraper and pushed the ink across the entire plastic sheet, making sure that the whole thing is covered in ink, and that all the crevices of detail have ink inside. from there, I take some crumpled newsprint and wash off the excess ink that wasn't inside the edges and crevices so only the marks on the sheet would be black on the paper. By then the water color paper, had been soaking for roughly 8 minutes, so I took it out and carefully patted it dry so it didn't wrinkle inside the towel I set it in. afterwards, with my now clean plastic sheet, I lifted up the many layers of the printing press set it in the press and carefully placed my watercolor paper on top of the print, then taking all the layers and placing them down. With that done, I spun the wheel of the printing press slowly, making sure to not move the paper and create smudges. after I passed over the project once, I went over one more time backwards, lifted up the layers and slowly lifted the paper up to reveal my print, which I then quickly placed on the drying rack and repeated it again 3 more times to get the best print I could.
Compare/contrast
Similarities
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Reflection
With the final product I am fairly happy with how it turned out, as the piece it self as all that I wanted to convey, It holds the emotional weight that I wanted it to hold, and also to show, and the message I am trying to deliver is maybe not clearly represented, but does make sense with the context of my life, the art movement, and the history of the art style too. The part where I feel that I started to fail at was the actual carving of the lines, they are a little sloppy to my liking and they also are a little too jagged, as I didn't fully understand the best way to go about carving into the material. When it comes to critiquing my work to the inspirations I have explained and showed, I feel that I did a very good job at keeping the art style of both of them preserved, and also emulating the art period as well, while also putting my own spin on the piece as a whole. I captured Jacques's character design, and the wacky and weird theatrical poses, while keeping the flowery and fancy style of Andien's works with Jacques's characters and inspirations. Along with the art movement I chose (which was mid Baroque and Romanticism/Rococo) the black and white printing of my piece emulates the type of work that Jacques did with his post war Baroque Prints, which is very pleasing to me.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
The relationship between my inspiration and my actual work is quite apparent as the figures in my piece are in almost the same style, which played into Jacques Callot's character design. Along with the theatrical background which plays into the flowery theatrics of Andien De Clermont's work.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The movements of Baroque, Romanticism and Rococo, are all very different, but Jacques had a subsection of the baroque period, which was printing, hence how his pieces are in black and white, while Andien was a very rich and pompous man, which explained his take on Jacques's work being more theatrical and fancy.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Even when being so specific, and tied to a very specific period and event, art can be reused and reaplied throughout any time, which is shown how even after 200 years, Andien De Clermont was able to effectively use the characters from Jacques Callot's work in the Rococo period.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The inspiration research came from me wanting to convey human struggles and emotions, especially self defiance and personalities. and I wanted to tackle self expression, which I saw Jacques Callot's work, which was theatrical and almost silly, with a dark under tone to it.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The maker of the first few pieces, Jacques was a war veteran, or had experienced war in someway, and art was an escape from his mental issues as a result, hence why his arts meaning is about hiding your face, and creating art.
The relationship between my inspiration and my actual work is quite apparent as the figures in my piece are in almost the same style, which played into Jacques Callot's character design. Along with the theatrical background which plays into the flowery theatrics of Andien De Clermont's work.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The movements of Baroque, Romanticism and Rococo, are all very different, but Jacques had a subsection of the baroque period, which was printing, hence how his pieces are in black and white, while Andien was a very rich and pompous man, which explained his take on Jacques's work being more theatrical and fancy.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Even when being so specific, and tied to a very specific period and event, art can be reused and reaplied throughout any time, which is shown how even after 200 years, Andien De Clermont was able to effectively use the characters from Jacques Callot's work in the Rococo period.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The inspiration research came from me wanting to convey human struggles and emotions, especially self defiance and personalities. and I wanted to tackle self expression, which I saw Jacques Callot's work, which was theatrical and almost silly, with a dark under tone to it.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The maker of the first few pieces, Jacques was a war veteran, or had experienced war in someway, and art was an escape from his mental issues as a result, hence why his arts meaning is about hiding your face, and creating art.
Bibliography
“Jacques Callot.” Masterworks Fine Art Gallery, https://www.masterworksfineart.com/artists/jacques-callot.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Jacques Callot.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jacques-Callot-French-artist.
“Mestolino: Clermont, Andien De.” V&A Search the Collections, https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O78678/mestolino-oil-painting-clermont-andien-de/.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Jacques Callot.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jacques-Callot-French-artist.
“Mestolino: Clermont, Andien De.” V&A Search the Collections, https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O78678/mestolino-oil-painting-clermont-andien-de/.