Exhibition Text
Self experssion is shown with a diptych, the use of modern day whichcraft is shown through essential oils and healing a broken foot is compared to witchcraft in past times. By using John William Waterhouse’s oil painting called “The Magic Circle” and recreating it on illstrauion board and having it next to the use of essential oils at a dance studio can show this representation of self expression. John William Waterhouse used layer different colors which can be shown throughout both pieces.
Self experssion is shown with a diptych, the use of modern day whichcraft is shown through essential oils and healing a broken foot is compared to witchcraft in past times. By using John William Waterhouse’s oil painting called “The Magic Circle” and recreating it on illstrauion board and having it next to the use of essential oils at a dance studio can show this representation of self expression. John William Waterhouse used layer different colors which can be shown throughout both pieces.
The Magic Circle by John William Waterhouse 1886
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Inspiration
I was inspired by John William Waterhouse’s oil painting called The Magic Circle. John William Waterhouse was an English painter in the Victorian era known for his large-scale paintings of Classical mythological subjects. Waterhouse’s paintings were distinct for their rich, glowing color. He was known for painting very dramatic scenes with damsels in distress, and enchantresses. His passion for a natural setting and his love of strong beautiful female figures made his work truly unique and extremely popular. I was inspired by this painting because of the use of color. The depth that Waterhouse added caught my attention. I also really liked the meaning behind the painting and knew I could relate my illustration to this painting. Waterhouse used a natural setting and added dramatic scenes to his pieces, giving me new ideas on what I could create with my piece. |
Planning
For my illustration I knew I wanted to use the theme self expression, the problem was I had no idea what I wanted to do. When I came across the painting called “The Magic Circle” I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. The different colors and movement got my mind thinking on how I could do something similar to this. I found out that The Magic Circle was supposed to represent witchcraft. I would tie in self expression with my injury for dance. About a year ago I got diagnosed with sesamoiditis which turned into a stress fracture in the ball of my foot. Nothing was working and we tried everything, including physical therapy and not dancing. We also tried essential oils, other healing waters, and acupuncture. These few items relate to “The Magic Circle” because they are considered modern day witchcraft. My goal was to recreate the “The Magic Circle” to show how witchcraft was used years ago, and then have me at my dance studio using essential oil on my foot to represent modern day witchcraft.
For my illustration I knew I wanted to use the theme self expression, the problem was I had no idea what I wanted to do. When I came across the painting called “The Magic Circle” I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. The different colors and movement got my mind thinking on how I could do something similar to this. I found out that The Magic Circle was supposed to represent witchcraft. I would tie in self expression with my injury for dance. About a year ago I got diagnosed with sesamoiditis which turned into a stress fracture in the ball of my foot. Nothing was working and we tried everything, including physical therapy and not dancing. We also tried essential oils, other healing waters, and acupuncture. These few items relate to “The Magic Circle” because they are considered modern day witchcraft. My goal was to recreate the “The Magic Circle” to show how witchcraft was used years ago, and then have me at my dance studio using essential oil on my foot to represent modern day witchcraft.
Process
My first step was to take pictures of me at the dance studio with the essential oils. I wanted to get the sign in the background that has my dance school’s name on it. I also wanted to be sitting on the dance floor since that is such a main focus of my piece. The next thing I did was sketch out a grid on my illustration boards so I could start with sketching out the main focuses of my two drawings. I knew that I wanted to use the grid method because I felt the most comfortable with it. I then used the grid making app to set up my grid and add a grid to the pictures. I started with the illustration with me at the dance studio, I started by sketching out where everything needed to be and making sure everything was in the correct grid box. After this I started to color in the red wall with the Kinsella logo on it. Using different shades of red I tried to make it look like the painted wood as best as I could. I then added in the details of the gold lettering and other gold details that have been painted on the wood. After adding the gold letters, I realized that it wasn’t bright enough so I took a gold marker to write over the letters, which made it look at lot better. |
Once I finished with the red wall I started on the stage floor. I thought this part was going to be the one of the easiest it I then realized it was a challenge to get all the shoe marks on the floor along with the way the light hits the floor. For the floor I was taking a dark grey and adding a light grey on-top to make the shoe marks and then added different grays to get the correct lighting for the floor. Once I got to a point where I needed to add the other sketches like myself or the benches I decided to work on the the grayish wall with the Irish Dance lettering. I used a really dark grey which was almost black for the wall and then used the same gold marker that I used for the Kinsella logo. I then added the concrete wall which different light blues and grays between the windows in the wall. I lightly shaded this to give it a wall like feel so it didn’t look smooth. I then added the little details there were on-top of the wall, for example the curtain or the hanging sign off the red wall. I used the same brand of markers but in white for the hanging sign, which was just a K and the Kinsella logo.
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After this I started with the tiled ceilings, I used light grays and yellows with the top left side because of the way the light hit it and on the right side I used darker grays and added some light blue into it. The next thing I did was myself, I started the sketch out where I wanted my body and the exact shape. I then used a light peach-skin tone color and used it all over my body, I then used the same red from the walls to draw my shirt. I used black to add on my shorts and create depth around the floor. I then took a blonde color for my hair, and added light browns to create depth and show the highlights in my hair. I felt like the hardest part was my face just because I was so small. Once I finished that I did the rest of the stage and then added the little details I missed.
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For my second illustration I started with the sky first. I used a light grey and added different colors. I wanted to make it very similar to the “The Magic Circle”, which used oil paints which really brought out different shades of the colors. I used different shades of blue and added purple and light greens. I then went over it with light grays to really blend them all together. I then moved down and started with the mountains. I used different oranges and browns to rally get the details of the mountains. I then decided to add the smoke coming from the fire that goes I used lots of light gray and white to get the cloud colors then added the orange and blue where “The Magic Circle” had those colors. I then started on the dirt floor. I used the same tan I used for my body from the other piece for the dirt ground. I then added different browns and oranges and just the tan again to blend them out.
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I then started on the young woman's body. I started to sketch out the body or her and her clothes and then the distance from her to the fire pit. I then drew little shape to represent where I wanted the black birds to go so I didn’t color over them. I started by adding all the details in the ground around the girl just to make sure I didn’t miss any of the white board while coloring the girl. Once I started on the girl I layered different colors to get the movement in her dress and all of her different jewelry. At this time I also did her hair and face which was a pretty simple part. I next did the fire which was the hardest part just because the shape was hard to get along with all of the different colors. Once I was finished with all of the main parts I went back to add the little details like the birds or ricks in the ground. This is when I also added the different details in the cliffs that I might of missed. I finished it off with add the smoke right above the fire and added it with the smoke I already drew.
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Reflection
Compare and Contrast
Similarities
Compare and Contrast
Similarities
- I felt like the use of color was similar in both illustrations compared to both of the inspirations. In the first picture there were bright reds and different shades of gray and in my picture I just different shade of red to bring the depth and to make it look at realistic as possible. In my other picture I wanted it to look like the oil painting so I used lots of different colors to blend everything together and not make it look so colored pencil.
- I felt like in both of my pieces that I got every detail. I tried to get every shadow I could see or little things that you can't really see from far way. I really tried to use the way Waterhouse used oils paints and blended all the colors to show the highlights and contrast but with colored pencil.
- There was a difference in my second illustration with the way it looked overall. In mine it looked more colored pencil compared to how I wanted it to look more oil like. I think I wanted it to be more smooth and all blended together. This could also do with the movement I could just have less movement compared to John William Waterhouse’s oil painting “The Magic Circle”.
- I think another big difference was in my second illustration the mountains don’t look that similar to John William Waterhouse’s oil painting “The Magic Circle”. I think mine has less of the lines that he added with the oil paints. This was a challenge for to achieve because of the different mediums and I understand why he used oil paints.
Critique
Overall I am really happy with how the first illustration with me at my dance studio turned out. I first when I was working on it I wasn’t the biggest fan and I didn’t really like it but after really working on it I finally got it to a spot where I felt proud. I felt like the easiest part was the red wall and added the gold letters. I part that surprised me was drawing myself, I thought it was going to be a hard part but it was surprisingly easy. I think the hardest part was actually the stage which surprises me because it was going to be the easiest. Overall I think that there are similar outcome with this piece compared to John William Waterhouse’s oil painting “The Magic Circle”. I think if I were change anything be the way I did the floor, or change my angle while taking pictures at dance. I also felt like the colored pencils made it harder to work with. I really wanted all the details you get with oil paints but it was a change because it was hard to layer the colors without seeing the white board underneath them.
I really liked how the smoke from the fire turned out, I thought it was going to be hard making the colors pop against the darker colors especially since it was colored pencils but blending them to look like smoke was surprisingly easy and I think one of my favorite pieces of this piece. I was actually surprised on a few thing while working on this piece. I thought that the sky was going to be a hard part just with all the colors and movement I needed to add but really the hard part was the mountains. Just getting the right amount of depth and layers and making them look realistic was hard. I also thought that the dirt part was going to hard but it turned out to be simple like the sky. Overall I really think both of my pieces together show the theme I was going for and how magic or witchcraft had been modernized overtime.
Overall I am really happy with how the first illustration with me at my dance studio turned out. I first when I was working on it I wasn’t the biggest fan and I didn’t really like it but after really working on it I finally got it to a spot where I felt proud. I felt like the easiest part was the red wall and added the gold letters. I part that surprised me was drawing myself, I thought it was going to be a hard part but it was surprisingly easy. I think the hardest part was actually the stage which surprises me because it was going to be the easiest. Overall I think that there are similar outcome with this piece compared to John William Waterhouse’s oil painting “The Magic Circle”. I think if I were change anything be the way I did the floor, or change my angle while taking pictures at dance. I also felt like the colored pencils made it harder to work with. I really wanted all the details you get with oil paints but it was a change because it was hard to layer the colors without seeing the white board underneath them.
I really liked how the smoke from the fire turned out, I thought it was going to be hard making the colors pop against the darker colors especially since it was colored pencils but blending them to look like smoke was surprisingly easy and I think one of my favorite pieces of this piece. I was actually surprised on a few thing while working on this piece. I thought that the sky was going to be a hard part just with all the colors and movement I needed to add but really the hard part was the mountains. Just getting the right amount of depth and layers and making them look realistic was hard. I also thought that the dirt part was going to hard but it turned out to be simple like the sky. Overall I really think both of my pieces together show the theme I was going for and how magic or witchcraft had been modernized overtime.
ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
The cause and effect relationship shows how I recreated my inspiration and used it to inspire my other piece of the diptych. I also used the style of art in my piece to make them all blend together.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
In the remake of “The Magic Circle” the use of witchcraft was shown which inspired me to show the use of modern day witchcraft.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
While finding out more about modern day witchcraft I found out about how much people hated it in past times. Today essential oils is considered magic, which is what I used for my foot.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
My main theme was self expression showing how my injury has affected me by using natural remedies which in past time would be known as witchcraft.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While doing the research I learned that John William Waterhouse mostly used mysterious creatures in his paintings ut at the same time they had meaning and a theme behind them.
Bibliography
John William Waterhouse | English artist. (2022). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-William-Waterhouse
Waterhouse - The Complete Works - johnwilliamwaterhouse.net. (2017). Waterhouse. https://www.johnwilliamwaterhouse.net/
Tate. (2022). John William Waterhouse 1849–1917. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-william-waterhouse-583
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
The cause and effect relationship shows how I recreated my inspiration and used it to inspire my other piece of the diptych. I also used the style of art in my piece to make them all blend together.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
In the remake of “The Magic Circle” the use of witchcraft was shown which inspired me to show the use of modern day witchcraft.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
While finding out more about modern day witchcraft I found out about how much people hated it in past times. Today essential oils is considered magic, which is what I used for my foot.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
My main theme was self expression showing how my injury has affected me by using natural remedies which in past time would be known as witchcraft.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While doing the research I learned that John William Waterhouse mostly used mysterious creatures in his paintings ut at the same time they had meaning and a theme behind them.
Bibliography
John William Waterhouse | English artist. (2022). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-William-Waterhouse
Waterhouse - The Complete Works - johnwilliamwaterhouse.net. (2017). Waterhouse. https://www.johnwilliamwaterhouse.net/
Tate. (2022). John William Waterhouse 1849–1917. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-william-waterhouse-583