Exhibition text
In the piece 'David and Goliath' depicts a bible story from the prophet Samuel . Samuel prophesies the end of the reign of the ruthless and power-hungry King Saul of Israel and appoints shepherd's son David the chosen successor. Wishing to destroy the kindhearted and wise young man, Abner cousin of the King, sends David to make peace with Israel's enemy, the Philistines. Philistine leader King Asrod says his people will lay down their arms if David can slay the powerful fighter Goliath ,which he succeeds, and defeats the giant with a sling and rocks.
Inspiration
One of my inspirations is a bible story by the prophet Samuel. Samuel prophesies the end of the reign of the ruthless King Saul of Israel and appoints shepherd's son David the chosen successor. Wishing to destroy David the King tells his army's commander to send David to make peace with Israel's enemy, the Philistines. Philistine leader King Asrod says his people will lay down their arms if David can slay the powerful fighter Goliath ,which he succeeds, with only rocks and a sling and then cuts off Goliaths head.
My greatest inspiration for my piece is Caravaggio's piece 'David victorious over Goliath' which depicts David Picking up the head of the beheaded Goliath. Like Caravaggio's piece , and other Baroque artist at the time, I wanted to capture scenes from bible and illustrate them in my work. I chose to do a bible story because of my religious back ground and because I remember enjoying the story of David and Goliath when my dad read me the bible epic when I was a child. Caravaggio is best known for his bold, realistic style and the dramatic expression of his striking compositions. He utilized deep shadows and values to emphasize the figures in his artwork causing great contrast between the background and foreground. The people of his time did not like his religious art work due to the fact that it depicted holy figures as regular people. He along with many other artist were part of the Baroque movement. In Baroque style painting are generally exaggerated in emotion in very detailed facial expression to produce drama and tension. Some pieces of the Baroque movement illustrated key elements of the catholic church either in direct biblical works or indirectly in mythological or allegorical compositions. |
David victorious over Goliath, 1600
Museo del Prado, Madrid The Entombment of Christ, (1602–1603), Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome
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Sketches
Process
When I have my final sketch done and sized up with the printing plate I taped the plate to my sketch so that I would be able to make a semi-perfect copy of my sketch on my plate.
Using a carving tool ( in my case an exacto knife) I carved out the outlines of the forms of my sketch and then later adding detail like the hair clothes and muscles of the body. Then ending the carving portion by adding shadows like Caravaggio would in his own work. I created the shadows by using the crosshatching technique; increasing the amount of the crosshatching to have a darker value when it would print. When I was done carving out my image to my plate it was time to prep for a print. I started by soaking a 10in x 8in (25.4cm X 20.32cm) printing paper in water for 8 min. This way the ink could bleed out of the scratches in the plate more easily. While the paper was soaking it was time to prep the plate with ink. First I ripped out pieces of newspaper and had a whole one under the print to minimize unwanted accidents on the table. When everything was set I used a spoon to scoop up a glob of ink. Then placing it and spreading it out near an edge of my plate so i can later use a wedge to, 45 degree angle, pressed down on the plate and dragged it down to the opposite side of the edge where I initially placed the ink. This way the ink will be pressed down into the crevices of the plate. Now I needed to clean my plate of the excess ink. Using the ripped pieces of newspaper I wiped the plate in a circular motion primarily around the scratches on the plate. If I wiped too much on the scratches then there wouldn't be enough ink on the print and Id have to go over it again with the wedge and more ink. Also if the non scratched portion of the plate was not fully clean, it could leave unwanted marks on the final print. Depending on how long it took me to make the print the paper should have been done soaking during the prep for the plate. Carefully without leaving marks on the paper I took it out and place it between a folded rag so it could dry for a bit. When it was time to actually print with the roller. First I lifted up the layers of fabric of the roller then I placed newspaper under the plate with the inked side facing up. Then placing the print paper centered on top of the plate and then place another newspaper on top of that and then laying down the layers of fabric over everything else. Then to use the roller I had to run the wheel which dragged the print under the roller pressing down on the paper to the plate making the print. If the print wasn't what I wanted then I had to do the process all over. To clean I any ink on the table and the ink my materials, I used a clean rag and mineral spirits |
Experimentation
When I did my first print It was too light and the details were too blurry to identify. So with my next print I added more ink to my plate and then cleaned it a little less in the scratches. but this resulted in , where there was high concentration of scratches, ink to bleed too much which caused the details to be less visible. So to stop guessing on how much ink I should put or how much to clean I just put plenty in and then made multiple prints so that each time there would be less ink.
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Compare and contrast
Reflection
What I wanted from my piece was to have a very detailed rendition of the bible story just like Caravaggio but during the carving process of my piece it was difficult to carve out the very finite details of my sketch. One thing I regret doing in my piece was the lack of dark values in the background. If I truly wanted to emulate Caravaggio's piece I should have embraced the darker tone and the shadowing technique of Caravaggio utilizing a dark background to contrast with the highlights of the foreground. Instead I had a light back ground contrasting with the dark values of the foreground figures. In the end I feel like I could have done a better job with this piece.
ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My inspiration effected my art work by having me try to use Caravaggio shadowing technique to emphasize specific parts of my piece like the two main figures in my work, David and Goliath.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Caravaggio approach to the bible story of David and Goliath was to emphasize the brutality when it came to David cutting off Goliath's head.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
During the Baroque art movement the catholic religion was a big deal to the people and its artist of the time.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
To accurately depict the bible story of David and Goliath.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The people of the time did not like Caravaggio's work due to the fact he took liberties with his depictions of biblical scenes
My inspiration effected my art work by having me try to use Caravaggio shadowing technique to emphasize specific parts of my piece like the two main figures in my work, David and Goliath.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Caravaggio approach to the bible story of David and Goliath was to emphasize the brutality when it came to David cutting off Goliath's head.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
During the Baroque art movement the catholic religion was a big deal to the people and its artist of the time.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
To accurately depict the bible story of David and Goliath.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The people of the time did not like Caravaggio's work due to the fact he took liberties with his depictions of biblical scenes
Bibliography
“Baroque Art (C.1600-1700).” American Gothic, Grant Wood: Analysis,
www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/baroque.htm.
LeBourdais, George Philip. “The Baroque Period.” 11 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy, Artsy, 6 Jan. 2016, www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-these-masters-of-the-baroque-painted-dramatic-scenes-of-spiritual-revelation.
www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/baroque.htm.
LeBourdais, George Philip. “The Baroque Period.” 11 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy, Artsy, 6 Jan. 2016, www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-these-masters-of-the-baroque-painted-dramatic-scenes-of-spiritual-revelation.