Title - Small Steps
Size - 60 cm x 91 cm Medium - Digital manipulation Completion - November 2021 Exhibition TextThis digital collage focuses on the feelings of uncertainty and the choice of freedom. Inspired by the Romanticism movement and artist Caspar David Friedrich, the piece focuses on expressing emotion and the contemplation of self. The pressure of social norms is represented behind me, sitting on a cliff, deciding what actions I should take: to be stuck staying with the safety and security of what's expected of me, or to take that uncertain fall, not knowing what may come but being happier overall.
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Inspiration
Caspar David Friedrich
Friedrich was a famous German painter who participated in the Romanticism movement. He was known for his focus on landscapes and subtle colors. The subjects in his paintings are turned away from the viewer, looking at the landscape before them instead. His use of softer tones and the contemplation of his subjects was something I wanted to use in my piece. There's little else but the landscape and the person. Most of Friedrich's pieces invoked the feeling of the sublime, the vastness of nature. I considered that for my composition, I would try to balance both me, the subject, and the sky to have that feeling of vastness of the world around me. In Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, there's a deeper and subtle meaning to one part of the piece. The clothing the man wears was, at the time in 1818, outlawed by Germany's government. Friedrich made this choice to rebel against the government, even if it was subtle enough to miss. That fact was an interesting part to me, because of the similarity in that sense of rebellion against what you're expected to do. This piece of rebellion is also shown in Two Men Contemplating the Moon, making it a recurring theme in his paintings. The painter refused to follow the dress codes the German government set for men, and would consistently do this in his paintings until he passed away. |
Planning
I started with an idea that I knew I wanted to do and didn't stray too much from: me, sitting on a cliff, looking somewhere and thinking. The cliff is a symbol of the uncertainty of falling, doing what I want. There's no telling to what will happen when I do. The sky and the birds are a clear representation of freedom, open and not burdened by expectations. Birds don't have those expectations, and they're able to be what they want to be. For my piece, I wanted to have soft tones for a gentler feeling and vibe. The clothes and papers were the social norms or expectations that I'm conflicted with, and my idea was to make them gray, since gray is often seen as a dull and lifeless color. The pose I decided on was simply just having a hand on my face to further give that contemplative look.
I had another idea with the pose to look away from the camera. My thoughts were that looking away gave a distracted look and more thoughtfulness to the self. It also fit with Friedrich's work, with the subjects focusing towards the scenery instead of having any sort of attention to the viewer. My ideas for other backgrounds were a forest, and a lake. The forest background was more similar to Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, and the forest has this depth with how large it spans. The lake showed more of a symbolism with reflecting, the water showing your face and what you see. I drew a front facing image to see if it would work and while it didn't do much for me, it was another way of seeing things. The expectations were more pronounced in the back. In the end, I decided for my final sketch I would use a sky, with the expectations in the back and me sitting on the edge of the cliff, looking away. The birds would be on the right of the collage. |
Process & Experimentation
I started with placing an image I took of the sunrise and placed it onto the canvas, resizing it until it fit. I cropped part of it, adding more negative space so that I could effectively communicate that sense of the sublime more. Then I used the selection tool to take parts of my images, and pasted them onto the canvas. I made copies of the rock and sort of merged them together to make the cliff. This required the spot healing brush, and it worked effectively. I was able to get the rocks to blend together, and achieve the cliff I wanted.
Afterwards, I placed the images of the dress and a notebook and tweaked the sizes. I used the black and white filter on them and adjusted the layer order so they would be in the order I wanted. |
Because I didn't have any pictures of birds that would fit with the idea I had for my collage, I decided to draw them instead. I used one of the circle brushes to draw the bird in black, and then I replicated it and adjusted the sizes to add some variety. I put them on the top right corner, where I was looking to give a more specific thing to look at. The birds being on the right also furthers that divide between norms and liberty.
Lastly, I used a gradient map and played with the opacity to make the colors of my piece a softer look. I put blue to orange for the colors to fit with the background, and adjusted the opacity to 35%. The reason for the gradient map was also so I could bring unity to the colors and make things more complete and uniform. |
I took different versions of the sky: a sunrise, blue sky and clouds, and just plain sky. I eventually decided on the sunrise because it was more fitting to my symbolism and in my opinion, looked prettier. The sunrise represented to me change, a new day dawning. It sort of fit into how I was also changing, finding something new within myself. When the day rises, there's another chance to do things and work on something. The other two skies I took were satisfactory, but not much in terms of the symbolism I wanted.
Critique
Similarities
In my piece and Friedrich's Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, we both have softer colors and plenty of negative space to balance and convey the feeling of awe in nature. The subject is also facing away from the viewer and looking at the scene before them instead. There's an emphasis on the contemplation of the subjects and the self as they take in nature. Another similarity is the piece of rebellion, whether it be in the clothing in Friedrich's works or the meaning of my collage.
Differences
The difference is that unlike in Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, I include another living being in my piece. His work only includes the man and the mountains, while mines has birds flying by. There's also no unnatural elements in his, when my work has dresses and notebooks to symbolize the social norms. Friedrich's symbolism is much more subtle in that aspect.
In my piece and Friedrich's Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, we both have softer colors and plenty of negative space to balance and convey the feeling of awe in nature. The subject is also facing away from the viewer and looking at the scene before them instead. There's an emphasis on the contemplation of the subjects and the self as they take in nature. Another similarity is the piece of rebellion, whether it be in the clothing in Friedrich's works or the meaning of my collage.
Differences
The difference is that unlike in Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, I include another living being in my piece. His work only includes the man and the mountains, while mines has birds flying by. There's also no unnatural elements in his, when my work has dresses and notebooks to symbolize the social norms. Friedrich's symbolism is much more subtle in that aspect.
Reflection
Overall, I was satisfied with the way my piece turned out. While I didn't use Photoshop, I had a sort of familiarity since I often worked with another art program, Clip Studio Paint, so I was able to figure out some of the options. I had no trouble with the layers and manipulating them since I often did so in CSP. Learning to work with the selection tool was hard, since I had to often erase and add parts, and sometimes I couldn't get things exactly how I wanted them to. But it was a good experience to just learn the tools and develop skill with them, and get the basics down for any future projects involving Photoshop. I liked doing the gradient map most, since it put everything together and added unity to the colors. The soft look I was going for was achieved with it, and I would use it again for future projects. There's a lot of connection with me and Friedrich's works, and you can see the similarities with how the subject is presented and the focus on the landscape is vital to the piece. Our themes were also similar to each other, and I wasn't expecting that piece of rebellion in Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog and Two Men Contemplating the Moon.
ACT
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My and Friedrich's work have the same focus on that feeling of the sublime when it comes to nature, and contemplation is a large part of the piece.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
There's a lot of conflict between doing what is true to yourself, and what is asked of you by others and the world.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Everyone has that choice to rebel, and some do in many different ways whether it's subtle or not.
4. What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
It's not selfish to want things for yourself, and to decide on your own rather than letting everyone else do it for you. It's difficult, though, since it's breaking away from the comfort and acceptance to an uncertain future.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The landscape is just as important as the other parts of a piece. It can convey quite a lot of emotion and meaning, and add to the work.
My and Friedrich's work have the same focus on that feeling of the sublime when it comes to nature, and contemplation is a large part of the piece.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
There's a lot of conflict between doing what is true to yourself, and what is asked of you by others and the world.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Everyone has that choice to rebel, and some do in many different ways whether it's subtle or not.
4. What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
It's not selfish to want things for yourself, and to decide on your own rather than letting everyone else do it for you. It's difficult, though, since it's breaking away from the comfort and acceptance to an uncertain future.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The landscape is just as important as the other parts of a piece. It can convey quite a lot of emotion and meaning, and add to the work.
Citations
The Art Story Contributors. “Friedrich Paintings, Bio, Ideas.” Edited by Sarah Archino, The Art Story, 14 July 2017, https://www.theartstory.org/artist/friedrich-caspar-david/.
“Two Men Contemplating the Moon.” Metmuseum.org, The Met, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438417.
“Two Men Contemplating the Moon.” Metmuseum.org, The Met, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438417.