Special Edition Blog

The following photographs are of artworks found in the Art Institute.

 The three photos below are pieces of artwork that inspire me for different reasons.

Artist: Piero di Cosimo

Title: Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist, Saint Cecilia, and Angels

Media: Oil on poplar panel

I like this particular artwork because it is a religious oil painting that incorporates a virgin and child with the Young Saint John the Baptist.  I like the dark color scheme and that the focus of the painting, the woman and child, are in color while the background is muted tones.  This allows the viewer to focus on the woman and the child and then move to observe the background.  I also like the detail of the oil painting and the composition of the artwork.

Artist: Gustave Caillebotte

Title: Paris Street; Rainy Day

Media: Oil on canvas

This oil painting is intriguing because although the entire painting uses muted colors, the first thing the viewer focuses in on is the couple in the front.  I like that the color scheme is dark and gloomy, it gives the painting a "gloomy, rainy" feeling.  I think that the artist portrayed a rainy day perfectly without putting actual rain drops in the painting.

Artist: Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida

Title: Two Sisters

Media: Oil on canvas

I like that this painting has a great deal of detail and portrays a sunny day on the beach.  I find that this artist used to perfect coloring in order to give the water a nice texture and give the girls happy character.  The artist was able to use color and texture in order to make the girls look happy and give the beach a fun feel.

Artist: Francis Picabia

Title: Untitled

Media: Oil on canvas with wooden matchsticks,

 hairpins, coins, leather hear rollers, and string

The reason this this artwork inspires me is because this artist used everyday, household items to create a masterpiece.  This piece of art is unlike any other piece of art made because of the fact that random objects were used.  It just proves that art can be made out of anything and that there are no limitations.

Week 10

By using the pen tool, paint brush, and photoshop effect in Adobe Illustrator, I was able to illustrate a photo of my boyfriend in front of a piece of art in Millennium Park.  The concept that I choose to illustrate was an actual happening, that I wanted to portray in an illustration.  I feel that it not only is a person illustration that includes the silhouette of my boyfriend, but gives the viewer a realistic illustration of the building and artwork within a portion of Millennium Park.

My primary purpose was to portray this photo as realistically as possible, which is why I used the photoshop effects that I did.  For example, the blueish purple piece of art in the center of the illustration is an artwork that uses water and light to give it a glowing effect; therefore, I found that by using the three different effects that I chose, I was able to give a water fall effect to the piece of art.  In addition, I choose to give the buildings a "brick-like" effect in each of my three illustrations, as to make them as legitimate as possible.   I used the same concept of realism while creating the trees and their texture, so that the trees look at "leafy" as possible.  I felt that the use of the photoshop effects that I used added a crucial component to my illustration.

The color scheme within the three variations of my illustration are constant with each other as well as with the original photograph because of the purpose of realism.  I choose to be consistent with the composition within my three variations, as well as consistent with the actual composition of my boyfriend in millennium park because I wanted people to be able to locate this piece of artwork in Millennium Park.

Within my three variations of this illustration I choose to change the composition in each so that one can have multiple angles on this illustration.  In addition, I found that by taking my boyfriend out of the third variation of this set of illustrations I feel that it allows the viewer of the illustration to see the bare city and art, without the distraction of a human in front of the art.

Another portion of composition that I choose to alter within the variations was the stretch of the illustration, for example the primary illustration, which includes the entire skyline behind the piece of artwork, as well as my boyfriend in the foreground, has realistic portions in regards to the building, artwork, and my boyfriend.  However, the two other variations either stretch, or "squish" the portions of the entire illustration.  The third illustration, without my boyfriend in the foreground, minimizes the size of the buildings, while stretching the size of the artwork, so that the artwork is the main focus of the illustration.