Whilst studying the topic of still life, I began to look at Vanitas and the different depictions of skulls. Below is an artist copy I made of Kayser's Vanitas. I used ink and water to create tone and shading, and used sea salt to create an interesting effect where the salt soaks up the ink:
Looking at skulls brought me to the Mexican Day of the dead. However, instead of grieving the dead, they celebrate - as they believe you are reborn after death. The day of the dead originated from the Aztecs, and so I started looking at Aztec art - which is where I got the inspiration for the colourful designs on the piece I made of the face (top). I wanted to juxtapose the concepts of vanity in life, and happiness after death by using darker tones when painting the face, but brighter tones when painting the aztec skull underneath. I also used a colour palette of black to yellow, as it symbolises a person being happier the less vain they are. To create this piece, I used ink and watercolour.
No comments:
Post a Comment