Hannya
Acrylic Paint on Canvas
2ft x 3ft
August 2017
Exhibition Text
Masks alone are objects that can relay a symbolic beauty dependent on their shape, color or purpose. Masks are used to conceal a person's exterior but can also be used convey or emphasize an emotion or idea. The specific emotion that this piece is meant to focus on is envy. The particular mask that I chose to paint, the hannya mask, is a traditional Japanese mask that is representative of an envious female spirit. In this piece I combine elements such as color, symbolism, position and space to embody a nasty emotion such as envy in a disturbing and grotesque yet idly beautiful manner.
Meaning Behind the Piece
Some obvious themes that are connected to the concept of my piece are promiscuity, identity, and vulnerability. The mask is meant to conceal one's identity, motifs and inner beauty by disguising them as a grotesque monster. Although the face is concealed, their body and hair is a physical aspect that remains exposed.
Artistic Inspiration
Edgar Degas
Degas is best known for his nude paintings, depicting young women's naked bodies in a both beautiful and mundane manner. These specific pieces of his art show off his extraordinary focus on the detail of color when painting flesh and skin tones.
Degas is best known for his nude paintings, depicting young women's naked bodies in a both beautiful and mundane manner. These specific pieces of his art show off his extraordinary focus on the detail of color when painting flesh and skin tones.
Journal
Research and Planning
For research, what I did was read into human figure drawing and life drawing. I studied drawing specific limbs such as arms and legs. The books I read and studied from were very useful in providing reference and technical advice. Drawing hands and feet are definitely the weakest aspects of my art due to how anatomically incorrect it may look. Other research that I conducted included the investigation on Japanese Masks. This helped me decide which type of mask I wanted to feature as part of my piece. I enjoyed this aspect of my research because I have a profound admiration for Japanese culture and their traditions. Learning about the various masks was both fun and vital., vital because the significance of the mask was a very big part of my piece. I got to learn about the different uses and meanings behind each distinct mask. But in the end, I chose the Hannya mask as it best fit my theme and subject matter.
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Hannya Mask
The Hannya Mask is a traditional Japanese mask that represents a jealous spirit specifically of a woman. The mask was typically used in Noh theater as well as in Shinto ritual kagura dances. The mask bares the iconic appearance of a devil, consisting of two horns, and large, protruding fangs with a wicked smile. Masks are typically red but can sometimes also be gold, white, black and even green.
Planning Sketches
My intention for creating these sketches was to experiment with different body positions and concepts. I personally really enjoy drawing womanly figures because of how flowy I can make the linework look. I'm very pleased with how well I was able to draw each figure as they turned out very nicely and served as great practice for creating interesting and intricate positions.
Process
The process of creating an acrylic painting consists of painting in separate layers. The first layer I created was the green to black gradient background. This was done by blending both green and black paint towards the center of the canvas. This was easily achieved through the utilization of paint retarder, which helped by making the paint more soluble and spreadable.
After allowing the paint to dry I then started creating the basic outline of the human figure in my painting. This was done by using very pale skin tone colors and using darker shades to create value. In order to create pink undertones like those displayed in Degas' nude paintings, I added very subtle and sheer layers of red and orange paint that I blended into the skin tone colors using paint retarder. The next layer was used to paint the hair. To me, this was the easiest and funnest part to do, as painting hair comes easily. The stylistic choice that I made to paint very long, white hair was an interesting and fun choice that I am pleased with. The long, white, wispy locks were done elegantly and intricately. For these results, I utilized white and black paint. |
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Experimentation
For experimentation, what I did was practice painting value. For this, I studied the contrast in light and dark shades on sphere focusing on how light affected hues and tones.
This was useful to practice as it is very similar to painting flesh tones and would benefit me by allowing me to practice acrylic painting techniques.
This was useful to practice as it is very similar to painting flesh tones and would benefit me by allowing me to practice acrylic painting techniques.
Reflection
Aspects of my art piece that could have been improved are the composition and the quality of the piece. I'm not too proud of the outcome because I know that if I had spent more time working on it, it could have ended up looking much better than it currently does. The gradient in the background of the painting does not look as smooth as I wish it did. This was due to lack of paint retarder and because I used a rough brush.
Another aspect of my painting that goes unnoticed but still bothers me very much is the anatomically incorrect hands that I painted. The hand was not painted correctly and I'd really like to re-do the way I painted it. If I were to touch up on certain parts of the painting I would go in and add more detail to the hands, skin tone, hair, and I would also smooth out the gradient.
The one aspect of my painting that I am truly proud of is the manner in which I painted the mask. It is uncommon for me to pain these kinds of objects, but I believe I pulled this off very nicely. The gold accents that I painted onto the mask really improved the quality and brought the piece together very well.
Overall, I perceive the piece as something outstanding yet poorly executed. The idea presented is definitely unique in the sense that it is so bizarre and evokes an eerie feeling.
Another aspect of my painting that goes unnoticed but still bothers me very much is the anatomically incorrect hands that I painted. The hand was not painted correctly and I'd really like to re-do the way I painted it. If I were to touch up on certain parts of the painting I would go in and add more detail to the hands, skin tone, hair, and I would also smooth out the gradient.
The one aspect of my painting that I am truly proud of is the manner in which I painted the mask. It is uncommon for me to pain these kinds of objects, but I believe I pulled this off very nicely. The gold accents that I painted onto the mask really improved the quality and brought the piece together very well.
Overall, I perceive the piece as something outstanding yet poorly executed. The idea presented is definitely unique in the sense that it is so bizarre and evokes an eerie feeling.
Connecting to the ACT
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork
2.What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from 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 inspirational research?
5.What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
2.What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from 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 inspirational research?
5.What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?