I started this project by thinking about various things that I could
make that would then be interesting to draw. I thought of drawing the food I
made, the piles of laundry that seemed to always form in my room, but none of those
felt right. Eventually I thought of the only origami I know how to make- a
paper crane. This seemed interesting to draw to me because of the crisp folds and
lines. So the first thing I did was research drawings and paintings of origami to see what
they turned out like. This is the result of that research.
After this research I had determined that a still life
composition would be fun to use. So once I made the paper crane, I crumpled up
two other pieces of paper to fill out the page and add some interest to the
narrative. This required that I researched both still life compositions, as
well as paintings of crumpled paper, which I found out was a very complicated
subject matter. I really liked the paintings I found of the paper that were
more impressionistic, rather than realistic. I figured that since I was
planning on using gouache I could achieve a similar effect, and not spend too
many hours trying to recreate a photorealistic image. As for the composition, I found that many still-lifes used a triangle composition, or a two-and-one combination. I took this tip and used it in my own composition.
For the actual work of my project I first folded a paper crane and
crumpled two pieces of paper, then photographed them against a black background
to use as a reference photo. I used a 16x24 piece of watercolor paper, and started by sketching the basic shapes of the paper crane and the crumpled
paper, then filled them in with gouache. I wanted the painting to be more
colorful and saturated, so I added greens and blues to the lighter shadows on
the paper, and used green, grey and black for the foreground. For the
background I figured darker warm colors would be a good contrast to the
foreground, and I think it brings out the shadows and dimension of the paper. I
didn’t focus too much on being very realistic. I wanted brush strokes and
little imperfections to show so that it would look like an artists’ work rather
than a photograph.
I did still-lifes quite often when I was younger; they were
a good way to practice and I felt very comfortable portraying still objects
realistically. It was fun to return to this practice and relearn some of the
basics, as I haven’t done one in a long time. I am also enjoying learning to paint with gouache- I have never used it before this class and it is a very fun medium to work with and experiment with. Overall I am happy with how my project turned out, and I enjoyed the process of creating it.
Here are some links I also used as inspiration:
This is the story of Sadako and one thousand paper cranes. I learned this story when I first learned about origami in an art class in middle school, and it is a story that has stuck with me through the years. Though it didn't directly inspire this piece, it was on my mind while I was making it.
Here's a brief watercolor painting of a paper crane, and a second video on a gouache real crane, but helped me with the gouache style and process of the piece. Like I've said before, I find it extremely helpful and motivating to watch videos like these before or during a painting. It helps me focus and keeps me optimistic.
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