Dry Point
Critical Investigation
My inspiration for Funeral Attendance¨ comes from Vincent Van Gogh´s work, Angie Hoffmesiter´s work, and German Culture. Vincent Van Gogh’s “Self Portrait Without Beard” is a portrait of himself which he made during a time of tough mental anxieties for him and is one of the most powerful artist portraits today. Angie Hoffmeister is a German artist from Düsseldorf, Germany. A lot of her work is inspired by her own city and the world that surrounds her. Her Untitled piece is a dry point print inspired by her home and her experience in art school. German culture is one of my main inspirations. I was fascinated by their unique way of celebrating funerals. Germans hold funerals for 3 to 4 days while funerals I know of, only last 1 day. While most people worry for costs of living, Germans worry for death costs. Their cost of dying is among the highest worldwide, being from 5,000 to 10,000 euros, which is about $5,500-11,000. Families don’t have much control over what is done with their deceased loved ones since it is part of the law that every deceased person gets buried in soil, even if they have been cremated. Germany has strict laws on funerals since it is a near and dear subject to them. The population of women is also greater than men in Germany. I included this part of German culture into my work by creating a dry point of a girl attending a funeral, with tears in her eyes. She has her hair in a nice bun, although kind of messy as it represents her being “a mess” herself, with her loved one passing away and her not having control over the funeral services or costs. The print represents the state of grief and sadness one has while attending a funeral.
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Inspiration
"Funeral Attendance" was inspired by the art movement of Realism, having detailed images and an accurate visual appearance. My biggest inspiration for this piece is an Untitled dry point print by Angie Hoffmeister. As I was researching different dry points, I came across Angie Hoffmeister's work and this Untitled piece caught my eye. I admired the amount of detail and fine lines. I thought the way the print overlaps itself was very interesting and fascinating to look at. I wanted to create my own print of this kind, with an overlapping design. As I was researching more about Angie Hoffmeister, I fell into a hole of German Culture. I was amazed to learn about the unique way they celebrate funerals. I was inspired by the whole process of death in Germany to create "Funeral Attendance" of a girl crying, having the viewer imagine she is attending a funeral. I thought to myself how when we cry, our vision is blurred, which is also how I was most inspired by Hoffmeister's work, showing an overlapping image, almost creating an illusion of crying for the viewer to get a better understanding of my work. Vincent Van Gogh's "Self-portrait without beard" inspired my piece in the way he uses the paint brush to create this smooth and swirly, detailed design. I wanted to copy that same technique into my own work, mostly inspiring the 'messy" hair of my subject and the background design.
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Planning
Since the beginning of my planning, I knew immediately what I wanted to create and attempted to put my ideas onto paper. I began with creating my first rough sketch of an idea of what I wanted my work to be. I knew I wanted the subject of the piece to be a girl crying, since that is a common image shared in funerals. When one cries, we see a blurred image, similar to the one shown in my piece and the one the girl in my work is going through. I created a girl crying, wearing a messy bun, with a devastated look on her face. I wanted to incorporate crosshatching somehow and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to create for the background. In my second sketch, I was just experimenting with a different type of hairstyle, a more put together bun. I didn't really like how it looked though, I feel as though the messy bun fits better with my meaning and overall piece. In my third sketch, which is my final sketch, I incorporated all the ideas I wanted in my piece. I included crosshatching and a good amount of fine lines. I figured the background could be an array of abstract lines which can also symbolize the all-over-the-place mood. I incorporated more of Van Gogh's technique for the bun, eyebrows, and background. I created a more realistic version of my original idea and added more details. I crosshatched the lips so that they can be a darker shade, since a lot of the time lipstick on a woman can give off her vibe. I did not make a completely nice final sketch because I felt as though I couldn't capture my vision or my intentions in a neat way, so when it came to tracing my piece onto the printmaking plate, I improvised my ideas along the way.
Ideas & Intentions
My original intentions for this piece were to create a dry point print which depicts the strictness of German Funeral Culture and can relate to ones attending funerals, as the image has a blurred illusion, similar to the vision one has while crying, typically attending a funeral. My ideas for the piece were to have it represent a woman attending a German Funeral, her being family of the deceased one and being in a state of grief, worry, and helplessness, as funeral laws in Germany are quite strict.
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Process / Experimentation
I started my project by peeling off the plastic sheet on the plate. I began to trace my design with an etching needle. It was not very difficult, it was actually a little bit harder than I thought it was going to be, but it was a simple process overall. I traced along my final sketch but I added or removed some parts along the way, depending on how I wanted my final piece to look that I couldn't interpret onto my paper. I noticed that if I pressed too hard on the plate, it would scrape and create a rough surface, so I maintained a fair strength. Once I was done tracing my drawing, I began the printing process by gathering together my materials which consist of: 2 sheets of newsprint paper, a scraper tool, a spatula knife, black oil-based ink, 2 sheets of water color paper, and gloves. I began by soaking one of the pieces of water color paper into a bin of water filled about 1/3 of the way. I let the paper soak for 8 minutes while I continued to work on the printing process. I placed a piece of newsprint paper down on the table to not get it dirty and placed my plate on it. I wore my gloves and scooped a small amount of oil-based ink onto my plate with the spatula knife. I spread the ink around the whole plate with the scraping tool, and took my second piece of newsprint paper, ripped it into smaller pieces, and folded it so I can get the smooth side and used a significant amount of pressure to wipe the excess ink off my plate without scooping up the ink from my actual print. Once all the excess ink is off, revealing my design, I took out the wet paper and set it on a flat towel on the table and patted it down with force so it won't be soaking. I lifted all the mats of the etching press machine and placed a sheet of newsprint paper before placing my inked plate on top as well as carefully placing the wet watercolor paper over the plate. I rolled the machine and revealed my print. At first it didn't turn out very pigmented so I decided to experiment and wait less time in between taking my paper out of the water and finishing applying the ink. With my second print, I had an idea of how long it took me while applying the ink plus the 8 minutes it took for my paper to soak so, I managed to find a good time and printed it again, which turned out darker, and clearer to see, not faded.
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Reflection/Critique
Overall, I am not too happy with how my piece came out. I was expecting the lines I engraved in my plastic sheet to appear clear and neat. That was not the case as in my piece there is visible smudges and still some parts lacking ink or pigment which are a bit faded. I admit I kind of rushed the process and wanted to finish sooner since I was a little behind, and didn't commit to the presentation of my work. I was committed to meaning and technique as it interested me a lot but I don't think this is my best work and I could have definitely done better. If I were to do this project again, now being my 2nd time making a dry point, I would be more experienced and know how to successfully create a dry point. I would take my time and probably do a cleaner or simpler design and job, Instead of trying to re-created my drawing 3 times on the sketch, I would make one and trace that same one to give a nicer look. i do think though that my piece accurately and successfully represents the message I wanted to get across and has heavily included my inspiration. I think the meaning and feeling is clear.
Compare & Contrast
Angie Hoffmeister's Untitled piece was inspired by her surrounding environment in Germany, and based on what she sees during her daily life. My piece on the other hand is inspired by death and funerals, not from what I see everyday. Similar to her piece, mine was inspired by German culture, as hers, living in Germany, is too. The technique I used in creating my dry point was similar to hers as I tried my best to make clean and significant lines. The appearances of both pieces are similar since they are both three overlapping images of a single subject, both our subjects being women and their side profile with a similar hairstyle.
My work is similar to Vincent Van Gogh's "Self-Portrait without beard" in the way we both use the same technique of creating fine line work to create design and texture. I used this technique on the hair and eyebrows of my subject, similar to his, and creating the background a design of lines as well. The lines in my piece aren't as smooth and blended as his since I did not use brushes or paint. We both used different mediums as his piece is oil on canvas and mine is a dry point. Our pieces are different in meaning while mine is having to do with a different cultures funeral ways and his is having to do with his own personal anxieties and struggles. |
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 incorporate the art movement of Realism with similar techniques of Van Gogh and Hoffmeister with line art. I created a piece which is appealing to the eye. I made my piece to have a look which is as strong as my inspiration. I include a variety of lines and a realistic, detailed look in my piece.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors from Angie Hoffmeister's work interpreting her work as being inspired by her own environment in a positive way. The author from the Vincent Van Gogh article was simply stating Van Gogh's feelings, intentions, techniques, and work ethics and meaning of the artwork. The authors of my German Funeral inspiration were stating facts on funeral costs and organizations, assuming they are from Germany.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, ect. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered that German Funerals are amongst the most expensive in the world and last 2-3 days which is longer than the average funeral. I learned that some German people find ways to cut the money cost of funerals but end up being caught because of the strict funeral laws in Germany. They take funerals quite seriously.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea was about funeral services, celebrations, and feelings towards them in Germany.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I have inferred that Germans have a very hard time and dread having a loved one pass because of the lack of control over the deceased body and all the money they have to pay.
Bibliography
Gent. “German Culture: Facts, Customs, Traditions, and Things To Know.” Study in Germany for Free, 7 May 2019, https://www.studying-in-germany.org/german-culture/.
“Funerals in Germany: ‘You Can't Afford to Die.’” How To Germany - Funerals in Germany, https://www.howtogermany.com/pages/funerals.html.
“Dusseldorf, Germany Artist Angie Hoffmeister #Artistaday.” Artistaday.com, 21 Mar. 2012, https://www.artistaday.com/?p=13518 http.
Unknown. “Angie Hoffmeister- Drypoint Prints.” Angie Hoffmeister- Drypoint Prints, 1 Jan. 1970, http://amyshillitoe171209.blogspot.com/2012/11/angie-hoffmeister-drypoint-prints.html.
“Self Portrait without Beard, 1889 by Vincent Van Gogh.” Vincent Van Gogh, https://www.vincentvangogh.org/self-portrait-without-beard.jsp.
“The German Way of Death and Funerals.” The German Way & More, https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/germany/the-german-way-of-death-funerals/.
I incorporate the art movement of Realism with similar techniques of Van Gogh and Hoffmeister with line art. I created a piece which is appealing to the eye. I made my piece to have a look which is as strong as my inspiration. I include a variety of lines and a realistic, detailed look in my piece.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors from Angie Hoffmeister's work interpreting her work as being inspired by her own environment in a positive way. The author from the Vincent Van Gogh article was simply stating Van Gogh's feelings, intentions, techniques, and work ethics and meaning of the artwork. The authors of my German Funeral inspiration were stating facts on funeral costs and organizations, assuming they are from Germany.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, ect. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered that German Funerals are amongst the most expensive in the world and last 2-3 days which is longer than the average funeral. I learned that some German people find ways to cut the money cost of funerals but end up being caught because of the strict funeral laws in Germany. They take funerals quite seriously.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea was about funeral services, celebrations, and feelings towards them in Germany.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I have inferred that Germans have a very hard time and dread having a loved one pass because of the lack of control over the deceased body and all the money they have to pay.
Bibliography
Gent. “German Culture: Facts, Customs, Traditions, and Things To Know.” Study in Germany for Free, 7 May 2019, https://www.studying-in-germany.org/german-culture/.
“Funerals in Germany: ‘You Can't Afford to Die.’” How To Germany - Funerals in Germany, https://www.howtogermany.com/pages/funerals.html.
“Dusseldorf, Germany Artist Angie Hoffmeister #Artistaday.” Artistaday.com, 21 Mar. 2012, https://www.artistaday.com/?p=13518 http.
Unknown. “Angie Hoffmeister- Drypoint Prints.” Angie Hoffmeister- Drypoint Prints, 1 Jan. 1970, http://amyshillitoe171209.blogspot.com/2012/11/angie-hoffmeister-drypoint-prints.html.
“Self Portrait without Beard, 1889 by Vincent Van Gogh.” Vincent Van Gogh, https://www.vincentvangogh.org/self-portrait-without-beard.jsp.
“The German Way of Death and Funerals.” The German Way & More, https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/germany/the-german-way-of-death-funerals/.