The Two Danielas
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Planning
Inspiration
“The Two Fridas” was my main inspiration for this illustration, it is a portrait featuring two different personalities of Frida Kahlo one with a traditional Tehuana dress and the other with a more independent, modernly dressed version of Kahlo. The heart of the traditional Frida has had it’s main artery cut by Kahlo herself with the scissors seen in her right hand, and the heart of the more modern Kahlo is safe and connected to the other one. In the background a stormy sky with agitated clouds is seen to reflect the inner turmoil inside of Kahlo.
The last inspiration I had for this piece was a traditional Tabasco Dress, which is a delicate and feminine dress originating from Mexico with floral embroidering, bright ribbons and hair accessories as well as flowers.
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Another inspiration I had for this piece was traditional 1950’s American fashion. Which consisted of dresses that were inspired by the Victorian era but were made shorter and sexier while trying to stay modest. A traditional dress was made up of a full skirt that was tea length with a snug fitting top and a narrow waistline.
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Planning Sketches
These were my first planning sketches where I did basic outlines of both the Mexican dress and the American dress. I had also drawn the heart and the way it extends out to better imitate the Frida Kahlo inspiration piece.
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These were the second planning sketches I had done where I wanted to take a more fashion designer approach and instead of doing human figures I would just do the dresses by themselves. I had decided against it because of I would have done this for my final sketch there would be little to no correlation back to the original piece by Kahlo.
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Lastly these were my final sketches where I just elaborated more on the first ones and went into more detail. I decided to conjoin the lines coming out from the heart and make them connect as seen in Kahlos piece, as well as have the heart visibly seen on the outside of their chest. Then for the pull or the Mexican side I had decided to give the female scissors in her right hand and a bleeding dress as it is also see in Kahlos piece.
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Process
1.) Firstly I started off by transferring my final sketches into each individual paper.
2.) To start practicing with the colored pencils I started by doing the floor/ foreground of the drawing which is a clack to brown gradient. I did this by layering two different browns and black, and then going in with the lighter brown and blending it together. 3.)Then I went on to do each individual drawing and started off by doing the background for both of my illustrations in order to get the most tedious part of the whole project over with. I layered black and white colored pencils on top of each other and used mostly white to blend them. 4.) I proceeded to start doing the garments of clothing for both of the illustrations. I had the same process that I used for the background which was just layering colors and using one main one to blend them out. (So for the push or American side I layered two reds, some orange and a tiny bit of yellow while then going back in with the red to blend and then going in with black to add some more details). 5.) After having drawn the garments and clothing I went on to do the heart, face and body of the figures. I went with the same process of layering colored pencils onto each other and then blending. 6.) Having everything drawn in I went and looked at each individual pieces and added the final touches and blending anything that had harsh lines. |
Experimentation
For this project I used prismacolor colored pencils, which I had worked with in the past but that was over a year ago and didn't really remember how to use them properly. So for my experimentation I tried to out different methods with the prismacolors. On the top right is the first experimentation I did while doing the foreground where I was figuring out how to blend the brown and black. On the far right I also did an experimentation as to how to blend the background with just black and white. And lastly on the middle right is where I was doing swatches and deciding which colors I was going to use for the garments. With this I also used different amounts of pressure in order to determine what was the best way to blend out the colors. On the bottom right is the blending I had done with the dress and I added lots of pressure as well as highlights of black in order to show a cloth like material. Then with the far bottom right is the background of the Mexican push and how I layered the black and white in order to blend and show depth.
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Reflection
Critique
Overall I enjoyed this project a lot, I liked learning more about how to use prismacolors and different techniques as to how to blend them. From my pieces I really liked how the garments and both of the dresses came out, I think I did a good job blending the american one and I'm happy with the amount of detail that I added to the Mexican dress. What I wish I could have done between was the hands on both of the female figures. Both of the hands in both of the illustrations came out weird in one way or another and wish I had practiced how to do those in order to have them look better. I wish that my background also resembled Kahlos "The Two Fridas" better because in her pieces the background is stormy and cloudy and I tried to imitate that and it came out very obscure and abstract. I feel as if you look at it could not even be able to tell that they are clouds. I am very content with the overall finished products but there are still many elements I wish I could change or would have done better.
Compare and Contrast
Compare
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Contrast
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ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
Frida Kahlo's "The Two Fridas" was about her being torn between two identities and personalities, this caused me to take a deep look into my life and see the two cultures that are constantly fighting each other inside my head.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Kahlo was trying to convey a sense of sorrowful and dread, this is seen in the way in which one of the Fridas in the piece are holding scissors and bleeding from their heart. As well as the background and the overall dreary color palette that Kahlo utilises.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered that 1950's american fashion was modeled after Victorian era fashion and voluptuous dresses but in a more modern twist.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my piece is identity and the conflict that happens inside of me where I want to stay true to my roots while also trying to assimilate and become more Americanized.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While researching I inferred that the fashion in the 1950s fashion that I used as inspiration was only worn among the wealthy as it does look like a very prestigious and expensive dress style.
Frida Kahlo's "The Two Fridas" was about her being torn between two identities and personalities, this caused me to take a deep look into my life and see the two cultures that are constantly fighting each other inside my head.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Kahlo was trying to convey a sense of sorrowful and dread, this is seen in the way in which one of the Fridas in the piece are holding scissors and bleeding from their heart. As well as the background and the overall dreary color palette that Kahlo utilises.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered that 1950's american fashion was modeled after Victorian era fashion and voluptuous dresses but in a more modern twist.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my piece is identity and the conflict that happens inside of me where I want to stay true to my roots while also trying to assimilate and become more Americanized.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While researching I inferred that the fashion in the 1950s fashion that I used as inspiration was only worn among the wealthy as it does look like a very prestigious and expensive dress style.
Bibliography
“Home.” Nationalclothing.org, http://nationalclothing.org/america/21-mexico/18-traditional-mexican-costume-typical-pieces-of-clothing-in-mexico.html.
“Mexican Tabasco Dress.” Mexican Clothing Co, https://www.mexican-clothing-co.com/tabasco-dress.html.
The Two Fridas, 1939 by Frida Kahlo, https://www.fridakahlo.org/the-two-fridas.jsp.
“What Did Women Wear in the 1950s? 1950s Fashion Guide.” Vintage Dancer, https://vintagedancer.com/1950s/1950s-fashion-women-get-look/.
“Mexican Tabasco Dress.” Mexican Clothing Co, https://www.mexican-clothing-co.com/tabasco-dress.html.
The Two Fridas, 1939 by Frida Kahlo, https://www.fridakahlo.org/the-two-fridas.jsp.
“What Did Women Wear in the 1950s? 1950s Fashion Guide.” Vintage Dancer, https://vintagedancer.com/1950s/1950s-fashion-women-get-look/.