Negative Illustration
Title: Coalboro
Size: 38cm x 25.5cm Medium: Colored Pencils & Graphite Completion: November 2017 Exhibition Text: Coalboro is an illustration inspired by the Impressionistic artwork Starry Night over the Rhone by Vincent van Gogh and other images of smoggy cities that depict current world problems. I aimed at portraying a polluted, depressing, smoggy city as the effects of all the tons and tons of CO2 put into the air on a daily basis. The color scheme of grays and black impose a rather unsure feeling which is why I used those colors primarily. |
Critical Investigation & Inspiration
Staff, RFA. “Cities 'Failing to Curb Air Pollution' as Winter Smog Engulfs Northern China.” Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Asia, 4 Nov. 2016, www.rfa.org/english/news/china/engulfs-11042016121359.html.
“Starry Night Over the Rhone - Small.” Hmazing, www.hmazing.com/shop/artist/van-gogh/starry-night-rhone/.
Kahn, Carrie. “In Mexico City, The Return Of Terrible Smog.” NPR, NPR, 13 Apr. 2016, www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/04/13/474098405/in-mexico-city-the-return-of-terrible-smog.
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My inspirations were -
I also used the Starry Night on the Rhone outline for this negative version of the illustration. Smog and pollution images inspired me to draw a lot of industrial buildings that are a source of all the pollution in the air, and smoke stacks, with a muted gray gloomy background. With these inspirations i plan to combine them into an illustration with the characteristics of a very polluted city with smoke stacks and a gloomy color scheme, but onto the outline of Starry Night on the Rhone. Polluted cities have an abundance of unhealthy CO2 levels in the air and other dangerous gases that can be very toxic to humans. Because of this abundance, air pollution has become a major problem in cities across the globe. Vincent van Gogh was a 19th century Impressionist painter who received posthumous fame after committing suicide for his impressionism artworks like Starry Night and his self-portraits. Impressionism was also started in the 19th century during van Gogh's times and its primary focus was blended small brushstrokes and color gradients. Impressionism stresses color and light change to create a vivid painting. Polluted Cities can cause -
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Planning
My plan is to draw a smoggy city with smoke stacks in the air and reflecting off the water. On what is the land mass in the foreground, is now a wreck of boats, debris, and trash. I want to keep muted colors for the background to emphasize that air pollution is a negative thing and also because smog is muted gray. I also plan to include lots of industrial and manufacturing buildings with smoke stacks. The water is going to be a gray-brown mix which is supposed to depict pollution in the water
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Process/Technique/Experimentation
TechniqueFor the smoke stacks rub your finger on the graphite to spread it into a smoke look. Also color in only one motion whether it be left to right, up and down, or diagonal to keep things looking neat.
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Process
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Reflection
I took in consideration the components from each of my inspirations. The outline used came from the van Gogh inspiration, whereas the components came from the smoggy cities and their color scheme. I used muted depressing colors to emphasize the negative impact air pollution has on the population. The smoke stacks are meant to be the main cause of the smog and air pollution, as well as giving off an unattractive look to the city in this illustration. The blue, brown, and gray of the water depict the pollution and impurity of the water as a result of the polluted city. If i could go back to improve the drawing i would add objects that relate to a polluted city like more trash in the water to show how much impact cities have on the environment. I also would've reduced the space the body of water taps up to vertically expand the buildings in the drawing to add details. I would've experimented with colored pencils more to use them like acrylic, One thing that was challenging was completely coloring the edges on the body of water because the pencil tip would fall off the side. A success was the gloomy background and body of water because the finished product of both came out to fit the characteristics of a polluted city. Overall the colored pencils were hard to manipulate but still worked for some instances like blending warm colors together and cold colors together.
ACT Questions
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspiration research?
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspiration research?
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?