Title: A warm meal
Size: 14 x 14 inches Medium: Acrylic on canvas Completion date: December 2023 Exhibition Text: This piece was made to showcase how support can help one take care of themselves. In addition to that, it also shows how support for one's body can help to support one's mind. The artist that this work is inspired by is Lily-Rose Burgess, who uses bright and colorful paint to bring mundane scenes to life. It was my goal to use these bright colors to highlight just how important self care can be. Something as simple as making a meal for yourself can be difficult if you're not in the right head space, so allowing someone to bring food for you can be a big deal. For people who may not have gone through difficult times in a similar way, it may be difficult to understand how beautiful that support is without someone adding a little vibrancy to help articulate it. |
Inspiration
Lily-Rose Burgess
This was one of the very few pieces where I had chosen the inspiration before I had an idea for the piece. Recently, I've been looking at a lot of different artists on Instagram and watching how they paint or do digital art, and that's how I found Lily-Rose Burgess. I was immediately drawn to her style for her unique color choices and how she always manages to make the most simple of scenes into something absolutely beautiful. Her art is nearly all nostalgic still life compositions full of her own personal experiences and memories, she even claims that her art gives a sense of home, which is very similar to what I've done with this project. I decided to use a photo of a bowl of potato soup made by my friend, which she later brought to me so we could eat together for breakfast. This, for me, is a personal experience that helped me a lot, and I wanted to commemorate it and bring it to life with my art and Burgess's style.
Burgess uses oil paints and bold brush strokes to make semi-realistic paintings. With this, she brings in one of the biggest appeals of her art, the contrast she uses in her colors. This can be done by replacing the colors that are used as a base, instead of using the classic red, yellow and blue, using magenta, cyan, and yellow instead, much like a printer would. While this improves the contrast, it also prevents that colors from becoming muddy while painting. Many of her paintings go in a circle, leading the eye in a spiral to look at every aspect of the work, however, she emphasizes the focal points of her work by making them the lightest or most contrasting color.
Burgess's paintings are often of food, but when they're not, they tend to be plants and beverages. They often have a line less art style and a smoother texture, making the pieces seem more realistic. On top of that, the colors tend to be cooler toned, which is actually part of the appeal of the piece, and when makes the contrasting colors stand out more, as they are oftentimes warm toned.
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Potato Fries by Lily-Rose Burgess
Salmon Ceviche by Lily-Rose Burgess
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Planning & Experimentation
As stated earlier, one of the most important parts of this piece is the colors that are chosen and where they're placed. I wanted make sure this piece is vibrant and not muddy, but I also want it to be clear what's being painted. While Burgess has a style that has clear brush strokes, the painting still looks realistic, and that's an additional goal that I have for this piece besides the coloring. This is why while planning and experimenting for this painting, a lot of it is just playing around with the colors and having little swatches, even if the swatches are with colored pencils, it would give me a general idea of what I wanted. While the colors are extremely important, that doesn't take away from the importance of what the painting is actually of. I plenty of ideas for the painting before I saw the picture of the potato soup. At this point, I didn't really have any ideas on what I wanted the theme to be, I had just decided that I wanted Burgess as my inspiration. I knew it was going to be a still life, as that's what she always did, but there wasn't a single idea of how I wanted to add meaning to it. I had been in a really difficult place for a few months, and one of the only things that would bring me joy for a while was a warm meal and pets, but one related much more to my inspiration than the other. I would dread any form of work, waking up, going to school, being around people, etc. Very few things could help me get through the day, but my friends supporting me and getting me to eat helped me a lot.
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My initial idea was about work and losing interest in activities you used to enjoy when you're depressed, so I thought about paint brushes and a canvas, but I wanted my painting to be more positive, I've been string to make my works about things that could be uplifting for those going through difficult times in their lives. I moved on from that idea to look at something related to tea and needed energy/caffeine to get through the day, and while that may be relatable for many people viewing the piece, I can't actually handle caffeine that well, and don't drink tea very often. Again, another idea was scrapped. Then, I thought that maybe I could make it about losing yourself in a book and about finding a safe space in reading, but I wasn't sure about how well it would translate into Burgess's style. On top of that, not everyone enjoys a good book, and many people who don't feel looked down on or unsupported when people boast about reading and their comfort in it. Many people haven't found their safe space, so there are times when hearing about one can hurt even more.
A while later, I was going on a field trip with my art class to a college about two and a half hours away from the school. We left early and got back late, so I needed someone to come and pick me up to get to school. This was my friend Alex, who also brought me some potato soup and shown me pictures of it from the night before, when it was freshly made. While it may seem like a small gesture, it was something that I really appreciated, and I know that when others experience something similar, they feel the same way. Small gestures have a big impact, and I wanted to show that. With that, I immediately saved the picture Alex had shown me of the soup and started to get the painting ready.
Process
As always, this is a process that I've been through before and talked about, so there are some details that I'll go slightly less in depth for to avoid repetition as much as possible. I started the most important part of the planning on a bus ride on my way to Steven's Point with my art class. I had needed a ride to get to the school early for the trip, so I had asked my friend Alex to take me, it was thanks to this, that Alex had brought me potato soup for breakfast and we ate together on the bus. A little later, she showed me a picture of the soup from when it was fresh, and the idea had just clicked. The moment I saw the picture, I had asked if I could use it for my painting, half joking, and she agreed and sent me the picture. With that, the theme and meaning all just fell into place and I was able to start my project just a couple of days later. I would've started it even sooner, but I had to be somewhere the day after I saw the picture. Before I had the idea, I was basically sketching anything that could work, but nothing really seemed quite right for the project. I was trying to find something that people viewing the art could relate to, as well as something that would translate well into Burgess's style. The issue wasn't even that I didn't like the ideas, it was genuinely just a case where nothing seemed to fit into place, so I wasn't happy with it. In the end, I didn't even sketch out the potato soup, I just jumped right into working on the painting.
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With my sketches done, I moved on to getting my canvas ready for the painting. Luckily, I had a store bought canvas that was gifted to me from a friend, so I didn't need to stretch it or get it gessoed. I just jumped with into putting down a base color of yellow. I had never done that before, but recently I had noticed that there were small white dots around my works, so to prevent that with this work, I took a lighter shade of yellow and a very wet paintbrush and applied an even coat before transferring a photo onto the canvas. I was relatively surprised how fast this dried as well. I had walked away from the canvas for about five minutes to get myself some water, and the canvas was already dry when I came back. Oh, the wonders of acrylic paint. |
I moved on to projecting the photo of the soup onto my canvas as soon as the paint was dry. This was something I needed help with this time, as I wasn't at school and the projector wasn't mine. In the end, I was left with a setup where I had a projector connected to my dad's computer, on which, I had my Google drive pulled up with the picture available. I had everything set on the floor, including the canvas, and I laid down to get a sketch onto the perfect blank space. This took quite a bit of time, since the canvas was balanced on a poll, so whenever I put pressure onto the canvas without bracing it, it would end up turning and I would need to adjust it so the lines matched again. I avoided including the counter top pattern, as I felt it would make the painting too busy and would add too much time to how long it would take to paint it. |
Next, it was time to finally start the painting. I was having quite a bit of trouble matching the vibrancy of the paint colors that Burgess used, but I didn't actually have the colors that she liked to start with (magenta, cyan, and yellow) readily available, so I had to mix colors with the classics (red, blue, and yellow). I also had to add some of the magenta that she often has later, as I had forgotten it while painting it. I started the painting with the background, which I just made a flat but somewhat vibrant blue, shading with purple. From there, I moved on to the actual bowl of soup. I made the bowl white and added a slightly yellow reflection, which may need to be adjusted to make it a little more orange so it fits in a little better. Then, it was time for the food. With all of the different colors, I did my best to add larger clumps of paint to blend a little less to make it a little closer to Burgess's style. First up were the actual potatoes, then the cheese, then bacon, next the sour cream, and finally the green onions. I used a little but of purple whenever the food needed to be shaded, then watched at the green onions brought the food to life. The final touch that needed to be made for the food was the addition of the small bacon crumbs around the food.
With the actual bowl of soup and the background done, all the was left was the small portion of the cutting board and the corner for the notebook. For both of the usually white items, I mixed with white with a little purple to separate them from the bowl a little more. The, all that needed to be done was use my smallest brush for the small lines and added more green onions which I had once again shaded with purple. With that, it was finally done and I could go to bed!
Critique
Original Work
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In this case, there are quite a few similarities between the two pieces, some of the most notable similarities would be the focus of the painting, the color usage, as well as the blending. Both pieces are still life compositions of food, using bright and vibrant colors to direct the eye. The blending is also similar in various places, where the lack of blending is used to separate the different colors and make them seem more bold and intentional. They also have a round composition, guiding the eyes in a circular motion to ensure that every part of the painting gets attention. There are, however, many differences as well. The differences, include the reasoning for the art, the placement of color, as well as the usage of space. When considering what my art was about, I had decided to make it to support others and give them a sense of comfort, in contrast to that, Burgess makes her art for personal enjoyment as well as to sell them.
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Salmon Ceviche by Lily-Rose Burgess
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That's why they all have personal experiences. Burgess has also been painting in this style for a while, so the color placement is very intentional, this is very different from my piece as I wasn't full aware of how or where I wanted to include the colors, so they seem more random. The final main difference is the usage of space. The background that I chose was quite flat, where Burgess never has a space that's fully blank, yet it isn't quite crowded. This also adds to the sense of realism, as there's never just a naturally large blank space in a house. She often uses tiles to fill this space. Overall, the pieces are equally similar as they are different, and I'm somewhat happy with this, as it gives my piece a bit of individuality.
Reflection
Original Work
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Overall, I think I learned a significant amount about adding colors to paintings where they may not have been in the original photo. I thought it was a really interesting and new way for me to do art and I would like to look into it more in the future. Additionally, I tried adding a flat color to the background before painting, and I really like the idea and plan on using it on all of my paintings in the future. I do think I was able to connect to Lily-Rose Burgess through this piece, as it was made a comfort, much like why she makes her art. My biggest challenge was adding new colors that vary from what is in the inspiration photo. It made it difficult to tell what I wanted and where, but this is a new technique that needs more practice to understand. While working on this piece, I really enjoyed the process of finding what I wanted to make. Usually, this is my least favorite part of making a project, but I really enjoyed all of the art I was looking at, maybe because I had initially found the artist through social media. What is didn't enjoy, however, was how much I was rushing myself to finish the project once I started. I had started this late because I had finished an old project late. Overall, I hope others are able to feel comforted by this piece, and recognize that it's okay to take care of yourself and accept support and help.
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ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
- By finding this inspiration early on, I was able to plan on what I wanted to include in the piece. Oftentimes, I choose to make my works of people, but it's because of my inspiration that I chose to make a still life, as well as what colors I wanted to include in the piece.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
- Lily-Rose Burgess makes her art about personal experiences that she finds nostalgic and comforting, this is exactly what my piece is about, so it's something that she can relate to strongly.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- Because this piece was so personal, and the artist makes her work for herself, to portray her own past experiences, there were no instances where generalizations were made.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
- Overall, I didn't really have a theme when looking for my research, as I was going to use my research to help give me the theme.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
- The biggest inferences I had to make were whether or not certain pieces were actually from the artist. There were many times where I would find art that has a similar style to Burgess, but it would be a different artist.
- By finding this inspiration early on, I was able to plan on what I wanted to include in the piece. Oftentimes, I choose to make my works of people, but it's because of my inspiration that I chose to make a still life, as well as what colors I wanted to include in the piece.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
- Lily-Rose Burgess makes her art about personal experiences that she finds nostalgic and comforting, this is exactly what my piece is about, so it's something that she can relate to strongly.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- Because this piece was so personal, and the artist makes her work for herself, to portray her own past experiences, there were no instances where generalizations were made.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
- Overall, I didn't really have a theme when looking for my research, as I was going to use my research to help give me the theme.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
- The biggest inferences I had to make were whether or not certain pieces were actually from the artist. There were many times where I would find art that has a similar style to Burgess, but it would be a different artist.
Citations
- “About the Artist – Lily-Rose Burgess.” Lily-Rose Burgess FINE ART & PRINTS, lilyroseburgess.com/about-the-artist. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.