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. |
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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Now these were my final sketches before doing the colored pencil sketch, I just added more detail than the first ones. 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 seen in Kahlos piece.
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Now this was my finals sketch that was done with colored pencil. This helped me decide what colors I would be doing everything and gave me a clear understanding as to how my painting was going to look.
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Process
1.) For my painting I started off by tracing some of the general figures from my colored pencil illustration onto my board. I traced the women in both boards, the detail in their dresses and general large details in the illustration.
2.) I then started to paint the foreground on both boards which is a black to brown gradient. I did a light wash at first and then went in and added a few layers. 3.) Then I went on to do the background of both boards, the background was just stormy clouds that consist of black, white and gray. And after i put the first layer down I went in a few more times to make it more opaque. 4.) I then went on to start doing the board with the female with the 1950's era dress, I did her dress first and then went on to do her face, skin and heart. 5.) After I finished the first board I did the second one with the traditional Mexican, again starting with the dress and then doing the rest of the details of her body. 6.) Lastly I finished up by adding any extra layers and fixing any big imperfections. |
Experimentation
For my experimentation I decided to play around with the gouache paint set that I had been given. This was my first time using gouache so I wanted to try to practice using it before I started on my board. I decided to try and do some clouds because in the original Frida Kahlo piece the background was a cloudy storm which I had tried to imitate in my colored pencil sketch but had failed due to the fact that I did not really know how to make clouds with pencils. So instead I did abstract ligaments behind both of the female figures which gave off the same vibes but was inevitably not the same thing. After having a hand at doing the clouds with paint it seemed much easier than the colored pencils so I decided to just do clouds again. I also tried to do some of the ligaments in my experimentation to see how they would look and I ultimately did not like them.
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Reflection
Critique
Overall I am not very happy with how my paintings turned out and I faced a lot of challenges while using the gouache paints. An example of a challenge I was faced with was the fore ground which is a black to brown gradient, I added maybe 8 or so layers and each layer just seemed to lift up the last which then left me with a very streaky fore ground and a very bad gradient. Another aspect that was challenging about the paint was the fact that some of my browns had come out clumpy, and the actual paint had separated from the oil so it was oozing our minerals with the actual color being clumpy hard. In an attempts to save them because I needed I added water to them, one of the colors that had mostly done that was the yellow ochre which I had to use for the skin tones and for the gold accents on the traditional Mexican dress. Thus leading to the skin on both of the females to be clumpy when looked upon very closely and also the gold accents being very chunky and big. Something that I did like about both of my pieces was the background, which was very hard to build up but I think that it adds gloom and a melancholy mood to the pieces and helps propel my theme.
If I were to do this piece again I think that I would probably get better quality paints because the ones that were given to us were very thin and in order to build an opaque hue I had to add about 5 to 8 layers. I would also practice more with the gouache paints because I feel as if, if I had a bit more practice with the paint it would have turned out better.
If I were to do this piece again I think that I would probably get better quality paints because the ones that were given to us were very thin and in order to build an opaque hue I had to add about 5 to 8 layers. I would also practice more with the gouache paints because I feel as if, if I had a bit more practice with the paint it would have turned out better.
Compare and Contrast
Contrast
Compare
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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/.