Tub Girl
MEDIUM: DIgital illustration/Manipulation
COMPLETED: december 2016
Tub Girl is a digital illustration piece inspired by the Pop Art movement. Using Adobe Illustration, I wanted to create a piece that conveyed a sense of insecurity and doubt that many women of color may face with the overwheling portrayal that European features are the only epitomy of beauty in modern culture and social media. Also to convey the feeling that women of color not good enough when comparing themselves to these false expectations even when they obtain features deemed desireable because of the ideas thrown at them that the tone of your skin is the deciding factor of their beauty and worth.
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artistic inspiration
For this project, I was inspired by the works of pop artists Roy Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein was inspired by a romantic comic-strip. Woman in Bath features a basic range of primary colours—blue, yellow and red—applied using Lichtenstein’s characteristic Benday dot technique. The woman’s hands and face, outlined by thick black lines against a white background, stand out from the static geometry of the tiled wall behind her. Here, in his treatment of a subject often addressed in the history of art—in the form of ‘The Bath of Venus’—he succeeds in challenging appearances, replacing the mechanical reproduction of the cartoon by the manual work of the painter.
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planning/experimentation
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I had a wide range of ideas when I first began this project, from a much different idea of illustrating two women in a bathtub together in a non-sexual way enjoying each other's company to just changing the features and characteristics of the single girl shown in the image. I decided to go with one girl sitting in the bathtub, who seems rather insecure of her personal self rather than enjoying a relaxing time in the bathtub.
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process
I first began this project with making a simple yellow background and checkered floor using Adobe Photoshop. During this time I wasn't completely sure of what I wanted to accomplish with this piece, but I did know that I wanted it to be bold with high contrasting characteristics and primary colors. Once this image was finished, I thought it most resembled a bathroom scene and decided to go off of that idea.
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Next, I began by adding lines to the top and bottom of the yellow portions of the image to make it resemble crown molding that is found in modern homes. I then edited an image of a claw foot bathtub and made it transparent. I went with the color red to provide further contrast and stick to the theme of bright primary colors.
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Once the bathtub and background were done and I was satisfied with the image, I began to trace and sketch a figure of a woman who appeared inside of the tub. I experimented with a variety of skin tones, features, and hairstyles until I was satisfied. I ended up going with a brown skin tone, red lips to match with the color theme and to provide contrast, and big hair to add personality to the piece.
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reflection
When I first began this piece, I did not intend for it to be a studio project and that it would just be a personal illustration that I have created on my free time. After looking deeper into the reasoning behind why I decided to create this piece, I thought that it would be perfect to use since it not only represents my personal stlye, but it also conveys meaning to a problem that I care about. Digital illustration and manipulation has come to be one of my go-to mediums to use, but I still found myself having trouble with combining illustrated images with real life objects and still make it all look coherent and proportional. While I would like to possibly add more symbolsim and images to the background later, I am overall happy with the results of this project.
act questions
- I was inspired by the works of Rpy Lichtenstein, in which the techniques and compositional value of his pieces have caused me to make choices in how I completed my piece. For the composition, I was inspired to incoporate his style of illustration with their use of bold lines and primary colors.
- The approach Lichtenstein has regarding the topic of inspiration was to address a women's portrayed role in society. To do this, Lichtenstein often
- Generalizations and conclusions I have discovered while researching contemporary African American art are the symbols and motifs that can be interpreted through the works. Many contemporary pieces provide details that tell the story and history of African American culture.
- The central theme around my inspirational research was history and storytelling, and how I can include modern symbolism to tell a story.
- Inferences I have made while researching is that with conveying culture through works it is important to include symbolism that has both modern and historical origins, as well as modern and historical interpretations and perspectives.