Illustration
Negative
Title: Homework in Bed
Size: 36 cm x 27.5 cm Medium: Digital Illustration Completion: March 2019 Exhibition TextHomework in Bed was a digital illustration created in the application FireAlpaca inspired by Norman Rockwell's Freedom from Fear and Crackers in Bed as an ironic twist on this 1921 illustration for the Saturday Evening Post. It was created to show the stress school puts on students to succeed, as the person in the bed is overwhelmed by the amount of work she has to do.
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Planning
Inspiration
Rockwell, Abigail. “Abigail Rockwell | at The Saturday Evening Post.” The Saturday Evening Post Posts by Abigail Rockwell, Saturday Evening Post, 11 Oct. 2016, www.saturdayeveningpost.com/author/a-rockwell/.
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Crackers in Bed was created by Norman Rockwell in 1921 for an issue of the Saturday evening post, a newspaper company for which he created many of his works. It depicts a boy sitting in bed eating crackers at night. The piece has a warm tone to it, which is something I wanted to include in my piece. I also wanted to keep the same overall positioning of the figure and the objects in the room.
This piece was created to depict a perfect American society, as many of Rockwell's pieces were. I wanted to put an ironic twist on this picture by putting a stressed student in the bed doing homework at the last minute instead of a boy leisurely eating and reading a book. |
Norman Rockwell was an American artist in the 20th century whose art was featured on a multitude of media, including magazine covers, cards, and calendars. His work covered a range of themes, but all depicted aspects of American life. Many of his pieces had a very utopian feel, depicting a perfect American society, with everyone getting along and people at peace.
Some of his most famous pieces were inspired by President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 address, in which he talks about four basic human rights: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. This four part “series” was printed as the front cover of Saturday Evening Post for four consecutive weeks. Freedom From Want was published at the height of World War II, which further increased its popularity. In many of his pieces, Rockwell had recurring themes of a “perfect American society”. He famously said, “I paint life as I would like it to be”. While many of his pieces portrayed an everyday American lifestyle, he painted them with the ideas of the American dream behind them. This utopian society that was presented showed his hopes for a perfect, peaceful country that contradicted the chaos that was happening throughout WWII. His illustrations were also played a large role in the motivation of both citizens and soldiers during WWII. Their perfect depictions of society gave people at home and overseas something to fight for. Throughout his life, Rockwell witnessed many different art movements, including impressionism, cubism, surrealism, and abstract expressionism. His work, however, was mostly illustration. Because his medium was unique at the time, it allowed his art to stand out against other artists. |
Person. “15 Things to Know about Norman Rockwell | Christie's.” 15 Things to Know about Norman Rockwell | Christie's, Christies, 6 May 2018, www.christies.com/features/15-things-to-know-about-Norman-Rockwell-8714-1.aspx.
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Sketches
These were my planning sketches I made before creating the piece. I printed off the two inspiration pictures and glued them into my sketchbook so I could have them to see the placement of the figures in my own piece. My notes for the project are also included. For these planning sketches, I wanted to focus on how I was going to get the detail like Rockwell's piece across in a digital medium.
Experimentation
For experimentation, I had to really work on my technique for how to do the shading in order to get the kind of detail that Rockwell has in his piece. I also had to work a lot on getting the skin tone right. To do this, I had to layer colors on top of each other to build the depth.
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Experimenting with skin tones
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Working with shading
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Process
1. First, I created a new layer on top of my reference picture and turned the opacity down so I could see where I was drawing. Then, I began zooming in on certain places and tracing the outlines. Then, when the whole picture was traced, I made the first layer not visible so I could just work off of the sketch I made.
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2. Then, I began coloring in the larger areas with the watercolor tool. This was sort of my wash before I went back in and put details on everything.
Reflection
Critique
Overall, I really like how my final piece turned out. Originally, I wanted to do this piece using colored pencils to make it look more like my inspiration piece, but I really wanted to continue working digitally because I really enjoyed it the last time I did it. It took me a long time to complete this because the line details took a long time. I like this piece better than the the other piece I made along with it, but I think they work well together. If I were to do this again in the future, I would change the way I did the window and the sky outside because I don't think they look as detailed as they could be, and it just stands out against the otherwise warm colors. in the piece. I do really like the way the piece mimics Rockwell's. I was really worried about getting the person to look correct with the proportions, but because I had a reference picture to look at, it made it really easy.
Compare and Contrast
Similarities
Differences
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Rockwell, Abigail. “Abigail Rockwell | at The Saturday Evening Post.” The Saturday Evening Post Posts by Abigail Rockwell, Saturday Evening Post, 11 Oct. 2016, www.saturdayeveningpost.com/author/a-rockwell/.
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ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork.
Rockwell's Crackers in Bed deeply influenced the overall use of space and form in my piece. The warm hues in Rockwell's piece were also emulated in mine. I also put an ironic twist on Rockwell's original piece.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author wants to convey the stress that schoolwork causes students.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I can conclude that the school environment can cause stress that has negative effects on students.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my inspiration is the effects of school work on students' stress.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I could infer that the stress of school can cause stress to students.
Rockwell's Crackers in Bed deeply influenced the overall use of space and form in my piece. The warm hues in Rockwell's piece were also emulated in mine. I also put an ironic twist on Rockwell's original piece.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author wants to convey the stress that schoolwork causes students.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I can conclude that the school environment can cause stress that has negative effects on students.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my inspiration is the effects of school work on students' stress.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I could infer that the stress of school can cause stress to students.
Bibliography
Person. “15 Things to Know about Norman Rockwell | Christie's.” 15 Things to Know about Norman Rockwell | Christie's, Christies, 6 May 2018, www.christies.com/features/15-things-to-know-about-Norman-Rockwell-8714-1.aspx.
Rockwell, Abigail. “Abigail Rockwell | at The Saturday Evening Post.” The Saturday Evening Post Posts by Abigail Rockwell, Saturday Evening Post, 11 Oct. 2016, www.saturdayeveningpost.com/author/a-rockwell/.
Rockwell, Abigail. “Abigail Rockwell | at The Saturday Evening Post.” The Saturday Evening Post Posts by Abigail Rockwell, Saturday Evening Post, 11 Oct. 2016, www.saturdayeveningpost.com/author/a-rockwell/.