Artwork: Dry Point
Introspection
Dry Point (Oil-based ink on watercolor paper) 15 cm x 20 cm October 2019 Exhibition Text Based off of tarot card/major arcana The Hermit (IX), this piece was meant to represent some of my personal experiences with growth and self-reflection after recent struggles with mental illness. The piece also draws inspiration from Tove Jansson's illustrations for a special edition of The Hobbit, incorporating low-fantasy themes. |
Planning
Research/Inspiration
For this work, I drew inspiration from the works of Tove Jansson, a Finnish painter, illustrator, author, novelist, and comic strip author. She is known widely as the creator of the popular children's books about a strange creature named Moomintroll and his friends, which include Snorkmaiden, Sniff, Snufkin, and Little My. While Jansson dedicated a lot of time to her stories about Moomintroll, she did many other things in her lifetime. Notably, she did illustrations for a special edition of The Hobbit, and also did illustrations for Alice in Wonderland. She did made plenty of art that did not involve books, as well.
After doing research on Jansson, I decided I wanted to keep something like a fantasy theme, but make it more of a low-fantasy piece instead of including strange creatures and heroes on epic journeys. I decided a good way to do this would be to look at tarot cards, which I own a deck of. I went through the meanings of each of the major arcana, and decided on The Hermit (card IX). The Hermit symbolizes introspection, inner/self-guidance, and soul-searching. I felt that these ideas would be a good way to express what I wanted to tell the world. I was involved in a slightly traumatizing incident in May 2019, so I wanted to express that I am moving past that experience through everything The Hermit represents. Planning Sketches
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Pictured to the left is the first idea I had. It was meant to challenge the homophobic notion that gay love is not "natural." I was attempting to show this by showing a couple, clearly romantic partners, who are both women, and both trees. I soon abandoned this idea, though, as I had made the sketch before I had even chosen an artist to emulate. This will likely be repurposed for a personal project.
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This was the second sketch I created, but I quickly discarded it. It came from the phrase "it comes in waves," something that popped into my head late at night. It was meant to represent the way my mental health affects me - spells of sadness, irritability, and other negative emotions only come in waves. There are periods where I am okay, but that does not mean I'm not taking Lexapro daily. I felt that this idea really had no substance behind it, though, and I gave up on it.
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This was the final sketch I created, and the idea I used for my final piece. I felt this was the best choice because it took in several sources of inspiration, and clearly emulated Jansson in the way I wanted it to. I also felt that the meaning behind it - my personal journey and experiences with mental illness - was a lot better than the previous ideas. With that in mind, I decided to use this as my final piece, altering it slightly along the way.
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Process
Experimentation
Pictured to the right is the first print I made after I finished carving out the image on the plate. It came out very messy, and I had apparently forgotten to carve out the eyes. Since the print was very low-quality, and I was missing a lot of details, I decided not to use this print as the final piece.
Before making the next print, I carved out the eyes and some more of the details. |
This was the second print I made. It was much better than the first one, but it was still not the result I wanted. It came out very light, and the left eye was not how I wanted it to be. I realized I had scrubbed off a bit too much of the ink, and kept that in mind while making the next print. I also carved out more of the iris and pupil of the left eye, just to make it look cleaner.
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This was the third print I made. It came out a lot better than the first and second ones, and was nearly as perfect as I wanted it to be. All I really had to do with this was keep making prints until one came out how I wanted it to. This one was a bit fuzzy on the details, so I just kept making other prints after this and removing more ink around the figure. I eventually got to the result I wanted, pictured at the top of the page as the final piece.
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Process
First, I drew my sketch out in my sketchbook. I then took my plastic plate, taped it over the sketch, and began to carve away the lines i had drawn. I first started with the figure in the center of the piece, then went on to the background. While carving, I made some changes to the plate that were not part of the original sketch. One of these things was the flowers at the bottom, which I eventually added to the sketch as well. I also added more lines to the background.
After I finished carving, I realized that when I printed, the image was going to be reflected. With this in mind, I carved the image flipped on the back of the plate, and used that side for printing. This was done so that the print would come out the same way I drew my sketch, After I finished carving, I did my first print. I started by submerging watercolor paper in a tub, letting it soak while I went through the printing process. I then took out oil-based ink and began to spread it across my plate. After I had gotten a thin, even coat across it, I used newsprint to scrub off any ink I did not want. I scrubbed more off on top of the figure than I did anywhere else. After I did this, I took the paper out of the tub and pat-dried it with a towel. I then placed everything in the press and started making prints.
After I finished carving, I realized that when I printed, the image was going to be reflected. With this in mind, I carved the image flipped on the back of the plate, and used that side for printing. This was done so that the print would come out the same way I drew my sketch, After I finished carving, I did my first print. I started by submerging watercolor paper in a tub, letting it soak while I went through the printing process. I then took out oil-based ink and began to spread it across my plate. After I had gotten a thin, even coat across it, I used newsprint to scrub off any ink I did not want. I scrubbed more off on top of the figure than I did anywhere else. After I did this, I took the paper out of the tub and pat-dried it with a towel. I then placed everything in the press and started making prints.
Reflection
Overall, I'm very happy with how this piece turned out. Since this was my first time doing a dry point, I expected myself to make mistakes, but I was able to fix them as I went along in the project. Nothing went horribly wrong, and pretty much everything turned out the way I wanted it to, which was nice. I think if I redid this, I'd probably add a bit more detail into the background, but other than that I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It noticeably captured the artist's style, and the nod to the Hermit tarot card was subtle, but still there. While I could improve this with time, I think this is good for my current level of skill with this medium.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
Jansson has a very unique style - cartoon-like figures with large eyes, large noses, and no realistic details put into them. This can be seen in the figure in the center of my piece, the man with the lantern.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors of the research I gathered were all objective in their telling of Tove Jansson's life and artistic styles. The research on tarot cards, however, varied.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have come to the conclusion that some things are better left up to interpretation. For example, I kept seeing many different interpretations of the Hermit tarot card during my research, and I realized that what we as individuals think of as the truth is not universal.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea/theme was a mixture of mental illness, journeys, and fantasy.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
An inference I made while reading through my research was that the Hermit card meant something like introspection, and that Jansson was passionate about what she was creating and putting out into the world.
Jansson has a very unique style - cartoon-like figures with large eyes, large noses, and no realistic details put into them. This can be seen in the figure in the center of my piece, the man with the lantern.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors of the research I gathered were all objective in their telling of Tove Jansson's life and artistic styles. The research on tarot cards, however, varied.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have come to the conclusion that some things are better left up to interpretation. For example, I kept seeing many different interpretations of the Hermit tarot card during my research, and I realized that what we as individuals think of as the truth is not universal.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea/theme was a mixture of mental illness, journeys, and fantasy.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
An inference I made while reading through my research was that the Hermit card meant something like introspection, and that Jansson was passionate about what she was creating and putting out into the world.
Bibliography
Tove Jansson, https://tovejansson.com/eng/index.html.
Sources used by tovejansson.com:
Sources used by tovejansson.com:
BOEL WESTIN, Tove Jansson. Sanat, kuvat, elämä. Schildts 2008.
TOVE JANSSON, TUULIKKI PIETILÄ, Haru eräs saari. WSOY 1968. TOVE JANSSON MUISTONÄYTTELY 15.6.- 29.9.2002, toim. Ilmonen, Waaramaa, Bonelius, Tampereen taidemuseon julkaisuja 102, Karisto 2002. TOVE JANSSON, Kuvanveistäjän tytär. WSOY 1968. |
“The Hermit Meaning - Major Arcana Tarot Card Meanings.” Labyrinthos, 7 Mar. 2017, https://labyrinthos.co/blogs/tarot-card-meanings-list/the-hermit-meaning-major-arcana-tarot-card-meanings.