SW3

** Different Identities ** ** Acrylic on Canvas ** ** January 7,2012 ** __ **STRENGTHS** __ 1. This piece has a lot of strengths including the contrast between the colors used, the way i used black and then used vibrant colors. 2. Another thing that i count as a strength is the shadings on the face using different shades of the color being used, the shades i did kind of made the face look more realistic.

3. When looking at the piece i noticed that it is equally spaced out and is balanced correctly. Something that helps with that are the black lines that seperate the people from each other. The proportions of the face also look accurate.

**__WEAKNESS:__** 1. This piece had a number of weaknesses, one of them being the shading of the faces, even though i thought they looked accurate i noticed that i needed to add more shading on the faces and make it stand out more to add emphasis to the face and make it more realistic.

2. Another weakness is the writing on the identification cards (the cards that the people are holding). I think the writing should have been in white rather than black so i can add more emphasis on the "identity". They would have also showed better in the dark identification cards in the bottom and top of the piece.

**__INFLUENCE:__** -The idea i got for this piece was from the influence i got fro Larken, which is basically a company that takes real mugshots and edits the colors to make it more artisitic. But instead of taking real mugshots i took my own photographs so that i could have the option of choosing the identities and the way i wanted the people to stand. Something else that influence a little part of my studio work was the artist known as Hany Rashed, who is known for his work with collage. In his work he would cover people's faces with white to hide their identity,i did the same thing with the side portraits in my piece.

**__CRITIQUE:__** -While working on this piece i did not seek a lot of advice like i normally would have. But i still took some advice from other students on the colors i should use i also asked advice on how i should make the faces look realistic when using colors like that. The response i got was basically using different shades of the color by adding black or white so i can make different shades on the face of hands. When the piece was finished, i still had to go over a few things that needed to be fixed such as the face shadings, outlining the eyes and mouth of the people to make them stand out more, i also had to go over some of the green background to make it look like the paint was going one way. In the end i was satisfied with what the piece turned out to be, eventhough it still needs a few improvements.

**__MEDIA/PROCESS:__** 1. Before starting the actual piece i had to take my own photographs of people that had the same idea of mugshots. I did that so i could have more options of identities and make it more of my own work than using somebody elses. 2. Before starting, i drew the people in pencil first just in case i made a mistake while painting and to know exactly where i'm supposed to use the paint. 3. After that i started painting with acrylic because i find it easier to use acrylic since it dries quickly and i can cover it with another color if i made a mistake. I would make different shades for each color to make the shadings needed on the face and arms so i can show details. 4. Thin brushes were used when painting the face so that i can focus on detail and make it more precise. For the background I would used a bigger brush and i would make strokes go the same way so the background would look the same throughout.

**__DEVELOPMENT FOR NEXT PIECE:__** -For my next piece i plan on using the same photographs i took but using different designs or techniques like collage to show my ideas. My next piece is going to involve printmaking so i think i can show the same photos using the technique of printmaking, but i still need to research more about that.