Title: Safe Haven
Medium: Watercolor and pen on paper
Size: 18 x 12 inches
Completion: December 2021
Medium: Watercolor and pen on paper
Size: 18 x 12 inches
Completion: December 2021
Exhibition Text:
Inspired by Elene Akhvlediani, 'Safe Haven' is a landscape depicting a library surrounded by nature and appears to be a page out of a storybook. This piece focuses on how the physical space a person is in is essential to one's well-being, and utilizes warm and cool tones to contrast the building from the outside world.
Inspiration
'Untitled' by Elene Akhvlediani
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'Untitled' by Elene Akhvlediani
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Elene Akhvlediani, a Georgian artist, demonstrates scenes depicting the contrast between man-made buildings and nature in her works. Throughout her life, the artist particularly designed pieces for Georgian writers and believed it was essential to the human experience to immerse oneself in all forms of art, including theater and literature. I draw inspiration from her due to her particular style and colors used.
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What stands out to me in particular about Elene Akhvlediani's works is her contrast between warm and cool tones. She uses blues and reds in particular to create a visually dynamic and appealing scene. In the background of her pieces often includes a landscape with greenery and light blues. The greens come in many different shades, mixed with yellows to convey lighter grass, and black for the deep shades of the trees. The fine details of the windows, doorways, and rooftops drew me in as she uses the dark hue of black to create distinction between colors. Furthermore, I was inspired by children's storybooks, and wanted to create a comforting and picturesque scene. I desired to create a calming and inviting landscape that combined a library with the outdoors. Libraries are places of learning and knowledge, and contain stories that inspire humans to connect with the world around them. This artist believed in uniting people with their surroundings, and illustrates a balance between buildings and the environment. Similarly to Elene Akhvlediani, in my work I want to connect a building with its surroundings and use nature to promote harmony.
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'Untitled' by Elene Akhvlediani
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Planning
Process
A large willow tree is also included as a place of shade, and the whole area is filled in with many different trees to connect visitors with the environment. A bridge is located in the background so people can take a walk and enjoy the scenery. After my initial sketch of the library building, I went back and corrected some lines by making them straighter with a ruler, but the balance still appears to be slightly off with some proportions.
After completing the pencil outline, I went back with pen to refine and bold my forms to create clear distinction. This was slightly tricky because I wanted to create precise, smooth lines but sometimes the pen ink would run out or I would be unable to create the line exactly how I wanted it so the angle was off. Ultimately, I wanted to create outlines of the figures before going in with watercolors. I knew that I wanted my piece to appear more imaginative than truly realistic or representational, so was unafraid to make clear distinctions using black lines between objects instead of shading with the watercolors. After tracing all the pencil lines with black ink, I also added in a few minute details, such as lines to give the appearance of grass and flowers, and also ended up including a streetlight surrounded by flowers.
From there, it was time to apply the watercolors on the paper after waiting for the ink to dry. To start, I provided a base layer for the library because I knew I wanted to work from the center out. For my building, I wanted to use warm, vibrant hues that would catch the viewer's eye. I wanted the library to stand out from its surroundings and contrast from the greens and blues of the landscape. Then I went back and applied the watercolor pencil directly to the paper, so that certain hues were more heavily saturated than others. To complete the painting, I reapplied shades so that they mixed together and after waiting for certain sections to dry I went back in to add further color.
Experimentation
To begin my experimentation, I focused on creating potential landscapes and trying out different styles for elements of houses and trees. The buildings are not extremely detailed, but I aimed to figure out the technique I liked, perspective I wanted to draw, and how to best apply colors to create an appealing piece. I first created a few door designs and created a mock building to determine style. Furthermore, I worked on a landscape involving one house in the foreground of the paper along with a large willow tree which contrasts from the trees and another building in the distance. Following that piece, I made a more detailed work involving two buildings and a body of water in the foreground. When creating the largest tree, I focused on varying the shades of the tree trunk which revealed to me how mixing colors can have a positive impact. Furthermore, I varied the trees to make them increasingly smaller, creating a feeling of depth to the piece.
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Instead of using water color paint, I used water color pencils which took a while to adjust to. Initially I tried dipping the pencil into the water to give me a more saturated color, but the technique was not effective. From there, I tried to shade in my pencil drawing before applying water with light brushstrokes. This strategy worked but also lightened the hues and made them more inclined to bleed together when I did not want the colors to mix. However, it was effective when I wanted to mix various shades or combine colors to provide different hues. After that, I tried to put the water on the paper first and then fill spaces in with the colored pencil which resulted in more saturated hues.
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Experimenting with watercolors involved blending colors and discovering how to not let the pen ink bleed into the painting and darken the colors. At first I had difficulty maintaining the hues to be as light as I wanted. Eventually, I figured out that taking more time than I previously thought to let the ink dry helped keep a distinction between the two mediums. I decided I wanted to use a combination strategy of the two depending on the section I was working on, which was helpful when I worked on my final product.
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Critique
Similarities include subject matter as a landscape image with a building as the main focal point is depicted in both paintings with hills and elements of nature in the background. Additionally, there are similarities within the content of the paintings such as the trees and fields painted. Space is also similar between the two pieces because there are a lot of different smaller components surrounding one large one which fills up almost the entirety of the artwork.
One of the main differences is line, as the lines in my piece tend to be thinner than the inspiration. In my piece, lines are more defined than in Akhvlediani's work, which has blurrier, softer lines. These lines are subtler in Akhvlediani's work and more visible in mine as they do not blend into the surroundings as well despite the two both containing black outlines. Furthermore, another difference is the contrast achieved between the two mediums as my inspiration piece is more heavily saturated than mine, and has more contrast between dark and light colors whereas my hues are primarily lighter.
One of the main differences is line, as the lines in my piece tend to be thinner than the inspiration. In my piece, lines are more defined than in Akhvlediani's work, which has blurrier, softer lines. These lines are subtler in Akhvlediani's work and more visible in mine as they do not blend into the surroundings as well despite the two both containing black outlines. Furthermore, another difference is the contrast achieved between the two mediums as my inspiration piece is more heavily saturated than mine, and has more contrast between dark and light colors whereas my hues are primarily lighter.
Reflection
This project truly helped me to grow as an artist, and particularly grow and refine my skills in watercolor. Prior to this experience, I had never worked with watercolor pencils before but had a good amount of experience painting in general. Overall, the process required slightly more planning and experimentation than other pieces due to my lack of familiarity with watercolors. From the start, I knew that I would pick the technique of watercolors and I enjoyed using this method of painting. It was a great help to break the project down piece by piece and focus on one individual component at a time until the entire painting was complete. Something that was highly beneficial for me while working on this project is not being overly critical about my work along the way and going with the flow to improve my painting when I needed to. I will take what I learned from this painting process, such as how to use the technique with layering colors, and mixing different hues to move forward in other painting endeavors.
My inspiration for the project, Elene Akhvlediani, connects fairly well to my final painting. There were certainly similarities but differences as well between the artworks by my inspiration artist and my final painting. The biggest challenge I encountered during this project was trying to replicate the colors of her work. I didn't really get all of the shades right on, but did my best to try and replicate some of the greens which turned out somewhat successful. However, I achieved the dreamy, light colors unlike the bright contrasting hues I had aspired to achieve during my planning process. Overall, this was a challenge for me because I was unfamiliar with the paints given, and the colors were also not exact primary colors either. I discovered that watercolors are very thin paints, so I need to add thicker layers in order to create the same feel that Elene Akhvlediani exhibited. Due to me being unfamiliar with how to capture certain tones, the light and shadows of my painting were not as spot on as I would have hoped. Moving forward, this is certainly something that I can improve on as I develop my skills further.
In conclusion, I hope that others view my work and reflect upon capturing the fleeting and ever-changing moments in their lives. The theme of my painting was noticing nature's beauty and discovering the wonders of the world through reading in a safe and secure spot. When others examine my piece, I want their takeaway to be a questioning of if they notice the small moments around them. I hope that they feel invited and drawn to the library, and reminiscent of children's storybooks. If you don't stop and look around every so often, one could easily miss the fast passing moments that bring joy. All in all, my watercolor painting inspired by the works of Elene Akhvlediani is meant to evoke thought and wonder in those who see it.
My inspiration for the project, Elene Akhvlediani, connects fairly well to my final painting. There were certainly similarities but differences as well between the artworks by my inspiration artist and my final painting. The biggest challenge I encountered during this project was trying to replicate the colors of her work. I didn't really get all of the shades right on, but did my best to try and replicate some of the greens which turned out somewhat successful. However, I achieved the dreamy, light colors unlike the bright contrasting hues I had aspired to achieve during my planning process. Overall, this was a challenge for me because I was unfamiliar with the paints given, and the colors were also not exact primary colors either. I discovered that watercolors are very thin paints, so I need to add thicker layers in order to create the same feel that Elene Akhvlediani exhibited. Due to me being unfamiliar with how to capture certain tones, the light and shadows of my painting were not as spot on as I would have hoped. Moving forward, this is certainly something that I can improve on as I develop my skills further.
In conclusion, I hope that others view my work and reflect upon capturing the fleeting and ever-changing moments in their lives. The theme of my painting was noticing nature's beauty and discovering the wonders of the world through reading in a safe and secure spot. When others examine my piece, I want their takeaway to be a questioning of if they notice the small moments around them. I hope that they feel invited and drawn to the library, and reminiscent of children's storybooks. If you don't stop and look around every so often, one could easily miss the fast passing moments that bring joy. All in all, my watercolor painting inspired by the works of Elene Akhvlediani is meant to evoke thought and wonder in those who see it.
ACT Questions
1) Clearly explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
I am able to identify that the artist's work has an impact on my work through vibrant hues, use of black lines, and depicting a setting of everyday life.
2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The artist transformed 'ordinary' scenes and brought them to life with bright, saturated colors. Her aim was to create a piece of work because he found it enjoyable.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
What I have discovered is that there is beauty in the little things in life, and observing a seemingly simplistic setting can be an interesting thing.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
I was searching for inspiration with vibrant hues, which I applied in my own painting to transfer some of the concepts I researched into my piece.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
One inference that I made was that the conjunction of nature and manmade structures is an important concept in our society.
I am able to identify that the artist's work has an impact on my work through vibrant hues, use of black lines, and depicting a setting of everyday life.
2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The artist transformed 'ordinary' scenes and brought them to life with bright, saturated colors. Her aim was to create a piece of work because he found it enjoyable.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
What I have discovered is that there is beauty in the little things in life, and observing a seemingly simplistic setting can be an interesting thing.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
I was searching for inspiration with vibrant hues, which I applied in my own painting to transfer some of the concepts I researched into my piece.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
One inference that I made was that the conjunction of nature and manmade structures is an important concept in our society.
Bibliography
https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/gouache/m0j12g?categoryId=medium
https://www.baiagallery.ge/en/project/elene-akhvlediani/
https://georgianjournal.ge/culture/36001-important-facts-about-georgian-painter-elene-akhvlediani.html
https://www.baiagallery.ge/en/project/elene-akhvlediani/
https://georgianjournal.ge/culture/36001-important-facts-about-georgian-painter-elene-akhvlediani.html