Choice piece
Washington
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Title: Washington
Size: 25.5 cm x 38 cm Medium: Acrylic paint on illustration board Date of Completion: 3/13/24 Washington is a painting created with strictly white and black acrylic paints. It is a portrayal of the 2021 January 6th insurrection in Washington D.C. This piece was inspired by Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica. It also uses imagery from photos taken of the event. My piece aims to simplify a politically motivated event into my own perspective. Which is why I chose to experiment with cubism. Though reality has been simplified, the contrast between black and white helps emphasize my perspective on the event.
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Inspiration- Pablo Picasso
Guernica (1937)
My piece is heavily inspired by the painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso. I really wanted to experiment with cubism and Guernica seemed like the perfect place to start.
Despite lacking color, Picasso still manages to convey a lot of emotion in Guernica. In fact, his strict use of black and white in this piece works to its benefit. The subjects in the piece are painted mostly white with tones of gray. This contrasts with the background which is mostly all black and gray. The use of contrasts helps emphasize the subjects.
The space is chaotic. None of it is left unused. This chaos connects back to the context of the piece. Guernica represents the bombing of the Spanish town Guernica by Nazi forces. Many civilians were killed and the bombing left the town in ruins and fire. It is hard to tell what exactly is going on the painting which I imagine is to capture the feeling of being inside the town that day.
The perspective of the painting is straight on. Almost as if it’s in the perspective of someone witnessing the events first hand. This painting gives off a sense of movement. The moment appears frozen in time. As if the painting is a black and white photograph capturing the misery and anguish around it.
Since Guernica portrays a real life event within Picasso’s home country, I chose to do that as well. The imagery of my piece is supposed to portray the January 6th, 2021 Insurrection at the U.S capitol building in Washington D.C.
This insurrection attempted to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. Rioters falsely believed that the election had been stolen from Republican candidate Donald Trump. They protested outside the capitol building before clashing with the police and storming the building.
I used several photos as references for my piece. Two of them I drew heavy references from. One of these photos being of a constructed noose outside the capital with people rallying around it. Another being of the most infamous rioter in his bizarre apparel. I included this man as an homage to the bull in Guernica.
Despite lacking color, Picasso still manages to convey a lot of emotion in Guernica. In fact, his strict use of black and white in this piece works to its benefit. The subjects in the piece are painted mostly white with tones of gray. This contrasts with the background which is mostly all black and gray. The use of contrasts helps emphasize the subjects.
The space is chaotic. None of it is left unused. This chaos connects back to the context of the piece. Guernica represents the bombing of the Spanish town Guernica by Nazi forces. Many civilians were killed and the bombing left the town in ruins and fire. It is hard to tell what exactly is going on the painting which I imagine is to capture the feeling of being inside the town that day.
The perspective of the painting is straight on. Almost as if it’s in the perspective of someone witnessing the events first hand. This painting gives off a sense of movement. The moment appears frozen in time. As if the painting is a black and white photograph capturing the misery and anguish around it.
Since Guernica portrays a real life event within Picasso’s home country, I chose to do that as well. The imagery of my piece is supposed to portray the January 6th, 2021 Insurrection at the U.S capitol building in Washington D.C.
This insurrection attempted to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. Rioters falsely believed that the election had been stolen from Republican candidate Donald Trump. They protested outside the capitol building before clashing with the police and storming the building.
I used several photos as references for my piece. Two of them I drew heavy references from. One of these photos being of a constructed noose outside the capital with people rallying around it. Another being of the most infamous rioter in his bizarre apparel. I included this man as an homage to the bull in Guernica.
Planning:
This drawing was my attempt at actually drawing Guernica. Before I actually started drawing my own piece, I wanted to experiment drawing a Cubist painting. This was so I could get a feel for Cubism so I could then branch off and create something in my own style. Drawing Guernica was actually very difficult just because of how chaotic the painting is. I could hardly make out what I was seeing. My difficulty emulating the complexity of Guernica is likely what influenced me to create my much simpler piece.
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This was the first sketch I made for my piece. Not much changed from this design. Everything was largely kept in the same space and so did the proportions aside from a few adjustments in the final drawing.
The imagery contained in the design I came up with was selected carefully. The long stretched out head in the top left is supposed to be the face of Donald Trump who the rioters on Jan. 6th were in support of. His look in this sketch was actually taken from how I drew him in my Illustration piece, Leaders of the Modern World. I ended up simplifying his design more in the final design because this one didn’t fit with the rest of the painting.
As explained in the inspiration section, the bull man was an infamous rioter during the insurrection. His bizarre apparel was connected back to the bull within Guernica so I included him as an homage to my inspiration piece.
The man holding up the Christian Bible was included to represent how the rioters worship Trump as some sort of God. So much so that they are willing to try and overthrow a democratic election that he lost.
The noose and the capitol building were of course taken directly from the photo taken by Shay Horse.
The woman on the bottom right was another homage to Guernica. She was drawn to appear in awe of the flag above her.
The imagery contained in the design I came up with was selected carefully. The long stretched out head in the top left is supposed to be the face of Donald Trump who the rioters on Jan. 6th were in support of. His look in this sketch was actually taken from how I drew him in my Illustration piece, Leaders of the Modern World. I ended up simplifying his design more in the final design because this one didn’t fit with the rest of the painting.
As explained in the inspiration section, the bull man was an infamous rioter during the insurrection. His bizarre apparel was connected back to the bull within Guernica so I included him as an homage to my inspiration piece.
The man holding up the Christian Bible was included to represent how the rioters worship Trump as some sort of God. So much so that they are willing to try and overthrow a democratic election that he lost.
The noose and the capitol building were of course taken directly from the photo taken by Shay Horse.
The woman on the bottom right was another homage to Guernica. She was drawn to appear in awe of the flag above her.
I was conflicted on the inclusion of the Confederate flag. This was because I wasn’t sure whether to use that flag or the Gadsden flag. Both were flags flown by the rioters, but I only wanted to include one flag. I ended up combining the two by having a snake, the one visible on the Gadsden flag wrapped around the pole of the Confederate flag.
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Process
Stage 1- Final Sketch
To begin, I had to create my final sketch so that it could be transferred onto the illustration board. The changes from the initial sketch to the final one weren’t very major. They were mostly just touch ups that changed some of the proportions and shape of the subjects and how they were included in the space.
For example, the bull man was made bigger than he was before. Donald Trump’s outstretched head was simplified and he was turned into a kind of worm/snake hanging off the horns of the bull man. |
Stage 2- Transferring
Once the final sketch was done, I could move on to transferring the image. I cut the paper I drew on to match the size of the illustration board. After that, I covered the back of it with graphite. Once that was done, I placed the backside on top of the board and taped it down so it wouldn’t move. Finally, I drew over the sketch which transferred the image. Now that that was done, I could move on to painting.
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Stage 3- The background
The background was the first to be painted. It was painted in black, mostly with vertical brush strokes. Painting it was the easiest part of the process as there is hardly anything in the background space aside from the capitol building.
Stage 4- The Subjects
After the background, came painting the actual subjects. This would prove to be a lot more challenging than the background. One of the reasons why is because of my use of White. I used white to create a contrast between the subjects and background. The contrast would in turn emphasize them. However, once I started to fill everything in, it became very hard to tell whether or not I was looking at the white board peeking through or the white paint.
Another challenge was using acrylic paints. For this painting I used the acrylic paints of mars black and titanium white. They dried very quickly. I had to be quick when I poured it out. I had to be even quicker whenever I mixed them to create the tones of gray I needed. If it dried out before I could finish the section I was working on, then I would have to hope that I could recreate the same exact tone of gray I was just using. That or I would have to settle for a new one and repaint the entire section.
Another challenge was using acrylic paints. For this painting I used the acrylic paints of mars black and titanium white. They dried very quickly. I had to be quick when I poured it out. I had to be even quicker whenever I mixed them to create the tones of gray I needed. If it dried out before I could finish the section I was working on, then I would have to hope that I could recreate the same exact tone of gray I was just using. That or I would have to settle for a new one and repaint the entire section.
Experimentation
This piece was my first time experimenting with Cubism. I’ve simplified realistic drawings before, but this painting was to a much greater extent. I wasn’t simplifying something right in front of me, but I was creating a simplified version of reality from scratch.
This first attempt was a bit too simplified. I wanted to emulate the feeling of chaos in Guernica, but I failed to do this because I was focused on simplicity while forgetting about complexity. There are several areas that would have benefitted from being more complex. Though some areas aren’t simplified enough. The background is mostly bare aside from the top portion of the capitol building. Everything appears as if it's in the void. It is just black paint painted with vertical brushstrokes. The capitol building still looks very similar to what it looks like in real life. For the most part at least. I wanted viewers to be able to recognize the building, but in doing so, it now doesn’t fit in a cubist painting. The noose itself has the same problems as the capital building. It still appears largely normal and unsimplified. The gallow from which it hangs is a rectangular prism which does fit with Cubism, but it looks like that normally and isn’t the result of me simplifying it. |
I am proud of how the people in the painting look even if I think they could have been more complex. It is a style that I enjoyed experimenting with. The woman staring up at the flag was the first person I drew. She is heavily based on the anguished woman in Guernica holding her dead child. I even drew her hair in the same way.
The two other people in the painting are something I’m really proud of. The woman was based off a woman from another painting, but the others are unique. I enjoyed drawing them as weirdly as I did. Cubism allowed me to get very creative with what I was doing.
The two other people in the painting are something I’m really proud of. The woman was based off a woman from another painting, but the others are unique. I enjoyed drawing them as weirdly as I did. Cubism allowed me to get very creative with what I was doing.
Critique-
Comparing
The biggest similarity between Washington and Guernica is the use of contrast, color, and emphasis. All three of these components are used to communicate their messages. Both pieces lack color and instead rely on the values of black and white. This strict use of black and white helps create contrast within the pieces. The backgrounds are dark while the subjects use white and light tones of gray. The white subjects stand out within the piece which emphasizes their importance to the audience. This emphasis makes it impossible for the audience to ignore the subjects.
Another similarity between the pieces is their cultural context. Picasso painted Guernica to bring attention to a horrible event in his home country. I painted Washington as a reminder of a horrible event in my own country.
Another similarity between the pieces is their cultural context. Picasso painted Guernica to bring attention to a horrible event in his home country. I painted Washington as a reminder of a horrible event in my own country.
Contrasting
Guernica is a much more chaotic painting than mine. Washington contains a significant amount of negative space while Guernica is the opposite. Picasso left almost no space unused. Much of it is filled with organic shapes that add much complexity to his piece.
Guernica also contains a lot more gray. Whereas my piece has a pure black background. Picasso uses a variety of tones of gray in Guernica’s background as well as black
Guernica also contains a lot more gray. Whereas my piece has a pure black background. Picasso uses a variety of tones of gray in Guernica’s background as well as black
Reflection
I really enjoyed creating this painting. This was my first time experimenting with cubism and I enjoyed challenging myself to break reality down and simplify it. I definitely think I could have done better. My inspiration, Guernica, was able to simplify reality while keeping its complexity. I believe I failed in this regard as my background remains empty. Some things like the building and noose weren’t simplified enough in my opinion. Despite it all, I still enjoyed drawing the people in that style. So simple yet so expressive. I want to continue exploring this style and develop my own. While I believe my painting could definitely be improved upon, I still see it as a successful venture into cubism. That is something that I believe people will be able to see in my piece.
Check list
ACT
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
- Guernica's style was my direct inspiration for my piece.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
- The author attempts to educate readers on Guernica.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- Artists always draw from the world around them.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
- Artists responding to world events.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
- I believed that Guernica was solely inspired by the Bombing of Guernica and nothing else in Picasso's life.
ACT
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
- Guernica's style was my direct inspiration for my piece.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
- The author attempts to educate readers on Guernica.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- Artists always draw from the world around them.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
- Artists responding to world events.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
- I believed that Guernica was solely inspired by the Bombing of Guernica and nothing else in Picasso's life.
Bibliography-
“Photos: The January 6 Capitol Riot.” CNN, www.cnn.com/2022/01/03/politics/gallery/january-6-capitol-insurrection/index.html.
Robinson, Lynn. “Guernica by Pablo Picasso (Article).” Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/cubism-early-abstraction/cubism/a/picasso-guernica#:~:text=In%201937%2C%20Picasso%20expressed%20his.
Robinson, Lynn. “Guernica by Pablo Picasso (Article).” Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/cubism-early-abstraction/cubism/a/picasso-guernica#:~:text=In%201937%2C%20Picasso%20expressed%20his.