Studio 1
Trapped Hummingbird
August 2015 Ink on paper 22 cm X 28 cm My intentions for this piece were to replicate Ernesto Yerena Montejano's Dignity Colibri but through the use of ink on paper. The colibir/ hummingbird represents the hispanic population, the rose symbolizes opportunity and the hand represents oppression. Demonstrating that the hispanic population is being held back from obtaining opportunities or what they desire. |
Process for Studio 1
For my first project I wanted to create a propaganda poster with my artist inspiration being Shepard Fairey but as I was researching his work I came a cross a collaboration that he did with a Hispanic propaganda artist who mainly focuses on immigration reforms. His name is Ernesto Yerena Montejano he was born in California a place where there is a lot of debate about immigration reforms and heavy discrimination against the Hispanic community that lives in the bordering states between the US and Mexico. The sketch on the left is my drawing based on his propaganda poster called Dignity Colibri and Prayer of the ancestors. The main focus on Yerena's works are to demonstrate the beauty of Hispanic culture and how the current immigration policies are dehumanizing Hispanic immigrants. I like his work because we share similar views on immigration. One of my ideas was to create a propaganda poster that would try to visually represent the oppression or maltreatment of the Hispanic community.
In the sketch to the right is my planning sketch, the hand holding the humming bird would represent oppression of the Hispanic people. The humming bird is a very common bird in Mexico and I have seen many in my experience of living in Mexico. The hand grasping onto the the hummingbird represents how a greater force such as discrimination is limiting the bird from flying free or succeeding in life. The roses on the background represent are meant to represent the colors of the united states. However this was not going to be in the final product since it would be to specific since immigration issues occur all over the world. Another I idea that I had was to make an american flag out of the prints that I would make using different colored ink. I made a couple of prints using black,blue, and red ink but the texture was very lumpy and uneven so what I tried was to add more ink and I also tried to thin out more the ink so that it would make a lighter but even tone. The color prints did not come out so well as the black prints. So despite the inks not operating I decided to color one of my black ink prints using watercolor. I painted one using blue water color but the water made the black in dissolve and smudge and the watercolor dried very fats leaving in even tones through out the print.
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Another idea that I had was to create a very controversial poster of Donald Trump in the still of Shepard Fairey's Hope. Donald Trump is one of the presidential candidates for the 2016 presidential election. He is well outspoken with his ideas about immigration his most famous idea is that he will build a wall separating Mexico and the US and make mexico pay for it. This blank statement has spurred out many immigration protests against the ideas that Trump proposes. In the eyes of the majority of the Hispanic community trump is a bad candidate but with all politics there are people who support his ideas. As a Hispanic person people are surprised when ever I propose this idea because there is this bias but I admit that there was some bias when I thought of this idea. But I was able to set that aside and look at through a neutral position. There is some hope in what he says but most of his ideas or proposals are very ironic and have no solid ground to stand on.
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Studio 2
No Regrets
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Process for Studio 2
For this project I wanted to replicate a Roy Lichtenstein piece because I recently viewed one of his pieces in the Chicago Art Institution. It was a great experience seeing one of his artworks that it inspired me to create this painting. First I had my sister model for me and she posed like the girl in M-Maybe. The pose wasn't exactly like the one in the painting but it was very similar. Then I formatted(I used Photoshop to layer the two images together) the picture into the original picture. This was only to give me a guide line or starting point for my actual painting. On the sketch to the right I compared my drawing style (of facial features) with that of Roy Lichtenstein. The style of painting that Roy Lichtenstein used was very cartoon-like since all of his facial features and faces looked as if they were printed of a computer. The eyebrows were a solid patch of color rather than individual hairs. The lips also
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were different since Roy Lichtenstein painted his lips and faces using small red dots. When I looked closer I saw that the lips were composed of a small dark red dots and the face had small light red dots. I observed that the hair was very simple it was a layer of solid color that was later painted on using black. I decided to use a grid to help me draw and get my proportions in order , it helped me a lot because I was able to see when everything should relatively go.One of the struggles that I had with the hair was that I had painted the black lines first and then I tried to carefully paint around them with blue paint. This proved to be very difficult since it did not allow me to paint smooth sections of blue. I wanted my painting to be a combination of realism and a Roy Lichtenstein by showing gradation in the hair since it starts to fade away at the root and is typically darker at the ends. However after Mr. Chad reviewed my painting he suggested that I made the whole hair color a solid color and to change the lettering on my painting. For my painting I decided to use a color triad and many cool colors because I noticed that Roy Lichtenstein's paintings used a color triad of red, yellow and blue. |
Studio 3
Milwaukee Flag Design
October 2015 22 cm X 28 cm Digital manipulation My intention for this piece was to create simpler flag design for the city of Milwaukee. My design incorporates some elements from Robert Indiana's works such as Four Star Love. The light blue symbolizes Lake Michigan, one of the biggest landmarks of Wisconsin. The star represents the different communities in Milwaukee and the green symbolizes the Milwaukee Bucks and their proposed idea of new stadium which will have an impact on the future of Milwaukee. |
Process for Studio 3
For this third project I wanted to explore the field of branding, and industrial design. This month I wanted to design a new flag for the city of Milwaukee as its old flag is not very ascetically pleasing . The Milwaukee flag does not follow the 5 categories or characteristics that make a good flag . The five categories or characteristics that make a flag a good flag is are: no lettering since some letters are look different front and back since this flag will be hanged and people will be able to see the front and back. The flag must utilize 2-3 colors, most commonly red, yellow, blue (primary colors). Third characteristics is there should be meaningful symbolism within the flag , something that visually represents the city/state. The fourth characteristic is that the flag should be distinctive , or unique. |
Finally but most importantly it should be simple, so simple that a child could draw it from memory So in this page I selected some of the flags that were great examples of what a flag should have and then I have the Milwaukee flag which is not so great. The Milwaukee flag has none of the characteristics of a good flag; it has more than two-three colors , has so many symbols that it makes them have no meaning, there are many letters that are unsymmetrical, it is not simple, but it is distinctive but in a bad way. The first two flags have symbolism that are simple enough to remember. However the last flags have simple shapes and symbols that are easy recognizable and draw -able.
I was researching which artist I was going to use and came across Robert Indiana and Walter Landor. They are both artists in the fine arts who design logos, brands and other marketing aspects. I was thinking of adding a letter M to show that this was Milwaukee but the branding of the flag was not a good idea because after I did a sketched it out the logo of an M looked unpleasing to the eye. The page to the left shows my planning sketches for the flags. I started by making 1 in by 1 1/2 in squares of a couple of ideas. Then I increased that size so that I could scan the image and make it look professional on Photoshop. I edited on Photoshop using many layers and zooming in to erase the imperfections of the drawing and also smooth out the shade of the colors. |
Studio 4
Child's play
November 2015 75 cm X 50 cm Acrylic on Paper My intentions for this piece was to recreate Andy Warhol's Marilyn Prints using acrylic on paper. This piece represents my obsession with the past and childhood. This impedes me from growing up and becoming an adult. My childhood was an uneasy time since I had to grow up in a different country and my only friends were my siblings. It really didn't feel like a childhood and that is why I am unable to forget the past and move forward. |
Process for Studio 4
For this project my inspiration was Andy Warhol's Marilyn Prints, I wanted to recreate the prints using my brother as inspiration since one of my themes that have developed through out my work is the importance of my family specifically my younger siblings. At first I wanted to make a sculpture or painting that represented the emotions that I was going through at that time because I was very depressed and feeling very negative. I wanted to portray those emotions of being isolated by drawing the person with their head down as a sign of sadness. The person would have beautiful wings to represent their personality and the things that others see in that person such as their intelligence or positive attitude. The feathers would be brightly colored in order to distract the viewer from the depressed figure and the problems that they would be facing. Another idea that I had was to create a painting of a female tengu with red hair. Tengus are part of the Japanese culture as being dark and mysterious creatures who would have to hide in the shadows for fear of being condemned by normal humans. |
But it would be a contrast when it came to this piece since the girl would have bright red hair which would make people notice hear even though she was meant to blend in. Another idea was that i would create a mixed media or found object using a bird nest that I had acquired at the store and it included two eggs. I was thinking of making a bird out of a clay and then placing it on top of the eggs but the bird would be brightly colored in order for it to stand out from the rest of the birds. This in nature is very bad since mother birds are usually brown to blend in to the environment. However the bird would represent me and how I have to protect my younger siblings but it is difficult since I feel that I stand out to much due to my grades and my position as being the oldest.
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Studio 5
Warped World
November 2015 30 cm X 45 cm Acrylic on Paper The intentions for this piece were to replicate Diane Bolinger’s “Fauvism Trees” which was painted in 2010. The painting is based of a photograph that I took by the Milwaukee River, WI.The black splatters represent the mounds of garbage and algae that was originally present in Milwaukee River prior to the 2008 clean up. Prior to that year the Milwaukee government did not regulated where companies disposed of their waste. This lead to the accumulation of garbage, chemicals and algae in the river. |
Process for Studio 5
For this artwork I wanted to create a landscape because I had not made one before also this is an artwork that I will use for my comparative study. The landscape is modeled after Diane Bolinger's Fauvism Trees . I tried to replicate the color scheme as well as the layout of the piece but at a much larger scale. The colors that I used for this were orange, purple , gray green,yellow, blue and black. The only color that was similar was the orange and blues. The piece that I was imitating was originally painted in 2010 when the oil spill by bp occurred so I wanted to exemplify my feeling towards the spill by painting a beautiful landscape and then have it tainted by the black oil. These two picture were what I used to compare my color scheme to two works created by Diane Bolinger. Both use brightly colored hues but in my painting I decided to use less brightly colored paints. Some struggles that I faced when creating this piece was that I should have laid a base coat of paint then paint over it with bright colors. Since I first drew the outline then I began to paint so it took me along time to fill in each line to the brim as to not make smudge the lines. Another struggle that occured while painting this piece was when I decide to paint the sky gray as it did not look like the sky that I was hoping for, it looks more like leaves of the trees were gray.
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I made two planning sketches to see what elements I was going to use when I created the original the far left sketch I made was to represent my younger siblings but as seen as growing trees with a future however my tree had a root that was drinking from a black stream this was meant to represent the darkness of the world and how I am more aware of my surroundings and future than they are. The other sketch that I made was meant to replicate one of Andre Derain's landscapes but using color field instead of the impressionism painting still.
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