Process:

     The creation of this painting started off by studying the artistic style of Edgar Degas. When my group and I researched Degas, we realized that it was his unique artistic style that set him apart. Degas would endlessly experiment with unusual techniques. He mixed his pastels so heavily with a liquid fixative that it amalgamated into a paste. He did his drawings in charcoal and used layers of pastels to cover parts of it. He combined pastels and oil in a single work and even passed a heavily pigmented charcoal drawing through a press to transfer the excess pigment to a new sheet creating an inverse proof of the original. In his monotypes, he used etching in a new way: he inked the unetched plate and drew with a brush in this layer of ink; then he removed the ink in various places to obtain strong contrasts of the light and dark effects in this printing medium. Degas is also known to drag his backstroke from top right to down left. In addition, he would blur things that are far away and add great details to objects that are close up. These are just a few things we learned about his painting techniques. After we had finished studying and practicing the methods of the artist, we had an opportunity to choose a reference image and recreate it using the artist's technique.

 

 

 Purpose:

             The purpose of this project was to open ourselves to a whole new world of art: Impressionism. A large number of kids within our age range measures the beauty of art based on how realistic the painting looks. However, when one looks at the real beauty of art, the importance of realism starts to disappear, and the vitality of the meaning behind the art begins to emerge. That was the purpose of this project: to introduce our generation to the notion that art is more than just a pretty picture.

 

 

 Analysis:

             This painting, in my opinion, embodied the purpose of this project. It is more than just a pretty picture – it is my dream on a canvas. Ever since I was in the fourth grade, I have my eyes set on Harvard, and with hopes of staying on par with all of the other kids who are applying to Harvard especially the domestic applicants, I am forced to work twice as hard to portray myself as a dream applicant. Now that I have finished the dreaded standardized testing, universal application, and supplemental essays, I feel like I can breathe. With this breath came the realization that..."I am done." No more writing tests or boatloads of essays, and from my sense of relief this painting was born.  Conclusively, I believe I achieved the purpose of this project, by replicating the artist's technique and by painting my true emotions on a canvas rather than creating yet another pretty picture.