Comparative Study HL Sophia Goh Ching Hui Self Sketch

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1 Comparative Study HL Sophia Goh Ching Hui Self Sketch Sebastien del Grosso French artist living in Paris. The Sketch of a Life was drawn in 2010 onwards. Source: Function: expresses the artist's frustration with the views of what society or other people may have of him, or what he creates of himself in order to seem a certain way. His art also shows that some of himself is fake or that he wants to create a facet of his personality. This work is part of a series called "sketch of a life", which shows how he is formed and from a child to adult. "Since my childhood, drawing has always been a passion, but when I discovered photography, I thought that the combination of these two passions would allow me to give free rein to my imagination. In this series The sketch of a life, I wanted to illustrate my life, like my sketches gave birth to each of his actions or by the intervention of someone I are close. del Grosso (2014) The pencil strokes are fast and nervous in order to give the impression of a construction. Effect: use of fashion in his artwork and seems more sophisticated and not as whimsical as Heine's work due to the cultural background of France being very fashionable and having a more elegant style. It reflects his background as a Parisian artist. This makes him emphasize a lot more of the clothes and style of the subject and having a completely plain background, as compared to Heine who integrates the background of his pictures into the artwork as the culture of his city is different from the culture of del Grosso's city. Intention: to show that imagination can bring a lot to life, and how our identity is influenced by many factors and the people around us. I interpret it as showing how imagination interacts with the real world. Inspiration: This inspires me in my artwork because his intentions show that with imagination we can create so much. It was also an inspiration because of the technical aspects which merged photography and pencil art because those are two mediums that I regularly create art with and enjoy using. Del Grosso s style inspires me as well because of the rawness of his sketches and how he captures emotions. Del Gross himself was inspired by an artist called Ben Heine. Mood Sketch Source:

2 Sebastien del Grosso: Self Sketch Analysis of Formal Qualities: Composition: Face in the upper third of the drawing. White negative space and pencilled parts create visual interest and an unbalancing. Eyes are on the third line, bringing focus to them. Simplification of the background causes the reader to ignore the backdrop and focus on the high contrast of the drawing and main subject. Asymmetry is used in the picture through the drawing and deletion of picture, as well as the position of the subject's arm and sketches. This adds interest to the picture. Tone: The tone is linked to colour and faces out at the edges, bringing more attention to the centre of the picture which is framed by whiter light and therefore contrasts with the background. The vignette around the edges of the pictures causes attention to be drawn to the middle of the art piece. Colour: High contrast. Picture was enhanced by the artist to have lower colour levels in order to make the picture stand out more. This makes it seem serious and unnatural. Line: Strong lines of his shoulders and the shadows created on his arm lead to his face and his expression. Del Grosso on his technique: The pencil strokes are fast and nervous, and so give the impression of a construction. Then, my dodge and burn effect is used a lot in the final rendering. It is in fact a multitude of brush strokes, black or white, which serve to highlight, or rather mitigate some facial features, and clothing. This treatment is intended to look like a little more like a painting than a photo. This allows me to make it more pleasant to the eye. (Daily Mail, 2014) Space: Negative around the subject allows us to focus on him and leads our eyes to the main drawing. Negative space of the drawn t-shirt leading up to the face draws the eye to the face because of the space pointing up towards the face. Texture: the texture is shown through the detailed shading. The detail in this is less detailed than the Heine's but this conveys a more irregular quality and also shows the roughness of the sketch and perhaps the anger or negativity del Grosso may be trying to express. The texture of his clothing is also brought out through shading in the clothes. Shading: The drawn-in parts of the drawing use minimal shading and is very rough, conveying the effect of the artist being impatient and the drawn side being unreal and simply created. Shape: slope of the man's shoulders and the top of his head forms a triangle and gives a sense of balance. This also draws attention to the man's face which is at the top of the triangle.

3 Sebastien del Grosso: Mood s Sketch Analysis of formal qualities: Composition: Eyes are all on third intersections which leads the eye to that area. Asymmetry adds interest to the painting and allows the viewer's eyes to follow the different forms in the painting and how they interact with each other (the two sketches and the man's hands). Tone: The pictures have been altered digitally to have less colour contrast, causing them to jump out at the viewer as more prominent than the other shapes or forms. Colour: The stark colours and high contrast, like the previous piece, bring focus to the subject and the shadows and highlights. This emphasizes the contrast of the two faces that the subject is holding up, as well as the contrast of the white paper against darker colours of the artist s shirt and background. Line: The edges of the lower piece of paper seem to form an arrow pointing to the first face, indicating its importance to the subject. Other lines such as the shadow and the man s arms are at non-parallel angles, adding imbalance and interest to the photo. Space: The negative space around the subject and the blank space of his t-shirt leads the viewer s eye to the sketched-in parts of the man such as the papers and his arms, which are the main objects of focus. Texture: texture has been added to the subject s hands and the pieces of paper in order to emphasize them. The t-shirt and less important parts of the piece are less textured and this brings interest to the textured areas. Form: three forms in the picture: rule of odds (the rule of odds suggests harmony and balance, when an odd number of objects are in the picture). This causes interest in the picture. The drawing on his arms and shirt also brings interest and connects the subject to the sketches. Shape: slope of the man's shoulders and the top of his head forms a vague triangle and gives a sense of balance in the picture. This also draws attention to the man's face which is at the top of the triangle. The second sketch in his hand does not seem as important because it is tilted and below the main triangle and centre of the drawing.

4 Function and purpose of Self-Sketch: Self-sketch is much like Mood s Sketch in the sense that it shows del Grosso creating a part of himself through art. This is a process that every individual goes through in one form or another, and is relatable to many people who do create their selves in many different ways. His serious expression shows the magnitude or importance of his task, and the white area of his t-shirt and face shows the incompletion of the creation of his personality. This show that del Grosso s personality or self is still being created. The fact that even his shoulders and upper body are still being sketched shows that huge parts of his personality are being sketched and his life is a blank canvas. Since the series of works is called Sketch of a Life, we can see that that is represents his journey. Function and Purpose of both works: These two pieces have similar purpose as they were created as part of a series to illustrate del Grosso s life and his experiences. Del Grosso once said in an interview that The trickiest part with these images is creating the sketch. It has to look realistic and balanced. You should show just enough but not too much. Also, the placement of the drawing must precisely match the position of the pencil in the photo. (Hypocritedesign, n.d.). This shows that a lot of thought is put into his pieces, and indicates the amount of thought he invests into creating them as well as thinking about their purpose. In these two pictures as well as many of his pictures in the series A Sketch of a Life, del Grosso illustrates the events and shows it as him creating them as well as changing events by using his artistic talent. It indicates the amount of influence art has had in his life, form childhood to adulthood. He said in an interview that his grandmother first taught him how to draw and this inspired his passion for art. (Hypocritedesign, n.d.) Del Grosso seems to express the care it takes to sketch or build a life through his art, as well as the use of imagination in everyday life in order to construct one s identity and story. Through using powerful imagery as well as detailed brushstrokes and stylised art, he demonstrates his command of technique as well as his purpose of illustrating his life using his own hands instead of letting someone else direct his life, moods, or identity. It shows the powerful use of imagination in creating a better image or life for oneself, as well as the effect of art on a person s life. Function and purpose of Mood Sketch: For Mood s Sketch, one interpretation of the piece is that del Grosso is creating his own moods slowly and making them interchangeable and quickly changing. The sketching around his hands shows their role in his creation of the moods and the role of art in the formation of his feelings, as hands are the main tools he uses for art-making. Del Grosso holds the more serious face up in front of his real face to show that the facet of his personality which is serious is shown more or chosen more by himself to the world rather than the happy facet. The tilt of the upper face is also less, showing that it is more stable than the bottom face. The hiding of the subject s true face also shows that he is hiding his true self.

5 Evaluation of Cultural Significance: Source Sebastien del Grosso is a modern artist currently working in Paris, France. Mentioned earlier is the use of minimalistic fashion or backgrounds, which are similar to his culture, as he is from Paris (a centre and symbol of the global fashion industry). The image on the left displays this fashion industry and the minimalist style during Paris Fashion Week in We can see that the minimalist style is in fashion as well as the composition of the background being of a monotone and this comes through in del Grosso s artwork, in which he wears very plain clothes and the background is a monotone. One other clear influence on his style of drawing are comic-book designs. This can be seen in the shapes and draw- Source -man-tony-stark-comics-marvel/ ing styles of the faces in Mood s Sketch, where the face is distinctly proportioned and sketched to be more aesthetically pleasing that the regular face as well as the stylised facial features, most notable the eyes, that follow the style of a graphic novel such as one from Marvel or DC Comics. In the image on the right, we can see similarities in the style of the comic book as well as that of del Grosso, which is highly stylised, highlighting facial contours as well as emphasizing dark lines. Del Grosso s art is significant to the culture at this point in time as society is very changing and constantly being created or drawn and this is reflected in his artwork. Del Grosso s art symbolizes his need for creativity and in that need, the need also for each individual to find their unique image or self through creating something. Very recently, the world has become more globalised through the increased use of mass media and the internet. This has lead to a loss of the individual identity and this culture of one society may lead many people to lose the sense of creating their own image and instead being shaped by everything else around them. This goes against that image and shows del Grosso creating his own identity and moods apart and alone from everybody else. This is significant to the global culture at large as it would resound with many people viewing his art.

6 Ben Heine Pencil vs Camera Background: Belgian artist who was born in Ivory Coast. Pencil vs Camera was created and publicized in It comprises of a series of photographs which combine sketching and photography. "I'm pretty sure that the fact that I was born and lived so far away from where I'm based now has brought me a certain conception of life. For instance I tend to feel as a citizen of the world, I prefer the universal and I tend to ignore the particular. On the other hand, I'm not sure where my real roots are and I'm always trying to find who I am." Ben Heine (2011). This affects the backgrounds and settings of the images he creates and causes the style to be more whimsical and child-like. Source: I just make art for people. I want them to dream and forget their daily troubles. I used to write poems many years ago, I want to convey a poetic meaning into my pictures, each new creation should tell a story and generate an intense emotion, like a poem, like a melody love and friendship. My hand is always clearly visible. That was a difficult choice but it emphasizes the intimate connection between the viewer and the action happening on the piece of paper. Ben Heine (2011) on his art s purpose. Ben Heine s intentions are clear in this quote - he wants to create a personal connection between the viewer, the artist and the art piece. This is shown through the use of very personal and well-known motifs such as well-known cartoon characters and the hand which is always shown. This could symbolise the hand of the artist or the hand of the viewer in creating these artworks and viewing the scenery in a different manner. But the real idea came by coincidence while I was watching television and writing a letter at the same time... Reading my letter before putting it in the envelope, I saw in transparency the television behind the paper. I then realized it would be great to make something similar in a single image showing two different actions. Influenced by Belgian Surrealism, German Expressionism, American Pop Art, and Social Realism. Ben Heine (2011) One of the unnamed pieces in the series Pencil vs Camera.

7 Analysis of formal qualities: Tilted horizon line gives a sense of movement and draws visual interest at the imbalance and candid feeling. The converging lines of the man's backpack straps lead our eyes up to the drawing and his face. Extending the three main lines of the picture (horizon and backpack straps) cause a triangular shape around the man's face which gives a feeling of stability and focus on his face. The curved lines of the hand holding the drawn part of the photograph also lead the eyes to the focus or centre of the photo. Negative space in the pencilled part instead of detailing the clouds causes greater focus on the face and the drawing of Tinkerbell. Cool colours used (greys, blues, tinted whites) and this conveys a calm and tranquil feeling. The lighter sky frames the drawing and draws attention up from the darker bottom third of the artwork. The placing of the hand in the artwork causes the reader's eyes to be drawn by the curve of the fingers to the drawing. The rule of odds also makes the picture more visually interesting with the elements of the hand, the fairy and the man's face. The paper frames the man's face and the eye is focussed on the central part of the picture which is framed by the rectangle of paper. Simplification is used to declutter the area around the man's head in the drawing and only shows the fairy which helps the eye to focus on the subjects which the artist wanted to highlight. The clarity and focus of the camera also contributes to the focus on the drawing as the camera lens focuses more on the drawing than on any other part of the photo. The rectangular shape of the paper with the drawing frames the most important part of the photo: the drawing. the detailed shading of the man's face in the picture is photo-realistic and captures the detail in his wrinkles, the tones of his face and neck and of his hair. The contrast in the drawing is high because of the light shading and hard pencil lines and this causes visual interest and increased focus on the centre of the picture. The fairy is not shaded as much as the man's face which gives the perception that the fairy is more two-dimensional and not as real as the man. All these formal qualities of the art focus the viewer s eyes on the drawing.

8 Interpretation of function and purpose: Each new creation should tell a story and generate an intense emotion, like a poem, like a melody. Ben Heine, Heine has emphasized the stimulation of the imagination in his artwork and his intention to show the viewer the possibilities in mundane or normal life. In this piece, Heine is trying to show the whimsical side of the photograph, which would otherwise be quite boring or mundane without the drawing. It brings the reader s imagination to life. Heine connects the viewer to the artist and the drawing through the visible hand, and allows the viewer to participate in the making of the artwork. Heine said in an interview, Don't escape from problems, many other people will be there to encourage and support you. Find them. Life is love, energy and inspiration. Believe in what you do. (Corregidor, 2011) He expresses this in his art through his innovative and new style which did not stick to conventions of art or surrealism. Heine found inspiration in his life from travelling as well as through the media he had seen, which is visible from the influence of pop culture characters in his work. Heine is also inspired by nature, animals, architecture, people around me, love, friendship, death, (Astrum People, n.d.) and this piece could be an expression of the subject s interaction with the artist and an expression of his emotion through the inclusion of the specific fairy, Tinkerbell, who allowed children to fly. Critics say that Heine s work is Innovative artwork that blends photography, pencil drawings, imagination and reality is wowing art aficionados both online and offline. (The Daily Mirror, 2012). His use of mixed media has impacted the art community, especially because of the very interesting and personal way he presents his work.

9 Evaluation of cultural significance: Ben Heine s art, as a whole, is significant to his culture or background as a citizen of the world. It shows the diversity he has encountered, and in this specific piece, it shows one of the destinations he has travelled to. His art has been influenced by a range of Western surrealist artists such as Rene Magritte, who is a Belgian surrealist. This is significant as Heine is a Belgian himself. Magritte s work challenges the viewer s conceptions of reality, much like Heine s art. The appearance of Tinkerbell in this artwork shows the influence from Western media (Disney). Heine s art has inspired many artists around the world with his conception of the combination of pencil drawings and photography, and many schools internationally use his concept of Pencil vs Camera to teach students creativity and usage of different mediums. Many smartphone applications also mimic his art style, and it has inspired artists to follow in his footsteps and create similar art (such as Sebastien Del Grosso) and created a new style of art. Heine states, Yes, I d like to discover new countries, be more familiar with other cultures and start creative projects with people. I m more and more interested in interacting with other persons; I d like to include them in my artwork. (Corregidor, 2011) Belgium, where Heine was born and grew up, is a beautiful city with clear blue skies and culturally rich architecture the influence of his hometown can be seen in Heine s pictures, which are colourful and bright, showing blue skies and nature (Belgium is pictured on the right). On the global scale, Heine s work reflects a comeback in the surrealist movement as well as bring new themes into it such as the use of nontraditional media to express imagination freely, stimulating creativity. Source:

10 Rene Magritte Rene Magritte, born in Belgium in 1898, was one of the most famous Surrealist artists who approached Surrealism differently from many other artists of his time. The simplicity of his artwork avoided the fanciful embellishments that other Surrealists tended towards, showing more everyday and mundane scenes which his viewers would have observed themselves. However, the surrealism in his paintings would be the fact that despite their simplicity and ordinariness, they would induce provoking thoughts due to certain details included in the paintings. This is the paradox of Magritte s works: beauty and detail in simplicity and mystery and surrealism in the ordinary. Magritte s emphasis on the mundane and ordinary is evident in his subject matter which ranges from paintings of pipes to faceless men in bowler hats to apartment buildings. Magritte once said, Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. (Source: The Art Story) This shows his emphasis on seeing the hidden in the ordinary, and inspires my artmaking, as Magritte painted using his imagination, combining that with what he saw in reality. His viewer is inspired to use their imagination in turn when they have seen the effect of Magritte s imagination on his view of reality, showing them a whole new dimension of the world and provoking many thoughts about their perception of reality. Although some of his images may be disturbing yet calm, it is agreed that Rene Magritte is one of the most influential and prominent surrealists of history. My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question, 'What does that mean?' It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing, it is unknowable. Rene Magritte (source: Source: The Mysteries of the Horizon, 1928 by Rene Magritte Source: Golconda, 1953 by Rene Magritte

11 Rene Magritte: Attempting the Impossible Analysis of formal qualities: Composition: Firstly, both figures in the painting are on the thirds of the canvas, which balances the image and shows to the audience the equal importance of both the figures. The background is also split into three, with the upper-most third being the largest section and the lightest which draws the viewer s eyes to the top of the painting and emphasizes its importance. Tone: The entire painting is in rather dull colours such as black and grey. This emphasizes how ordinary the painting is and creates a very ordinary tone. The facial expressions of the characters in the painting are also very neutral and seem bored, which creates a tone which is highly dull and simplistic. The tone is therefore quite unsettling as the normal appearance and expressions contrasted with the activity of the man as attempting the impossible creates an unsettling mood and tone of the image. This style is characteristic of Magritte s paintings before World War II. Colour: The contrast of the colour scheme of the man and the woman in the picture emphasize their differences and the estrangement of both of them from each other. The man s dull clothes blends into the background more and the woman s pale skin contrasts with the background and stands out more. Line: The use of vertical lines in the two figures draws the eyes of the viewer up to their faces, expressions and the action which is being completed. Space: The empty space around the two figures emphasizes their isolation and the connection between the two subjects in the picture the artist and the painting or creation. The space around them has less colour than the two subjects (it s more grey and blank) and this emphasizes their importance in the image. Source: Attempting the Impossible, 1928 by Rene Magritte Texture: The texture of the man s clothes is rough and heavy, contrasting with the smooth texture of the woman s skin and this realistic portrayal of the texture of the suit and skin shows the viewer how realistic the painting is. Form: The two forms in this painting are the artist and the painted girl. They are connected by the artist s paintbrush and fill the frame, to show the relationship between both of them.

12 Evaluation of cultural significance: The Surrealist movement had its roots in the more violent and anti-art movement called the Dada art movement. The Dada movement originated with the outbreak of World War 1, and was a response to the outrage against war as well as a protest against the traditional art form of Western society. The Surrealist movement was influenced by the Dada movement and had its roots in Paris. It aimed to combine the subconscious and the conscious and to show the process of thought without interruption. Sigmund Freud s writings on dreams had a large influence on the Surrealist movement and this is seen in Magritte s work. Magritte, however, used traditional painting techniques to make his work appear realistic as he had been a poster and wallpaper designer. Despite the techniques he used, Magritte s images were very surrealist and often disturbing. This is hypothesized to be due to the fact that his mother committed suicide when he was 14 years old, and may have affected his art for the rest of his life. In 1925 he first saw the paintings of Giorgio de Chirico, whose style of bringing together objects which would not usually be found together drew Magritte into the surrealist style. Magritte was inspired by the illogicality of images that he saw in de Chirico s work, and his style was greatly influenced by de Chirico after this. Magritte joined the Surrealist movement after moving from Belgium to Paris in 1927 (Biography.com, 2015) and was influenced by artists such as Andre Breton and Salvador Dali. This piece is one of his earlier Surrealist paintings, which was not affected by the onset of World War II. His paintings during that period of time were brighter, as he wanted to paint a contrast against the darkness of the war. Before World War II, his paintings were more violent and pessimistic due to the influences of World War I and the Dada art movement which influenced the Surrealist movement of the time. As Magritte had worked as a commercial painter prior to joining and during the Surrealist movement, many of his work reflects his training as a commercial artist of that period through use of text and the composition of his work. Magritte advocated for autonomy of artistic expression, leading to his distinctive and dream-like style. Magritte s art highly influenced the Surrealist movement and the direction in which modern art would travel. Pop Art has its influences from Magritte as well. Critics have compared Magritte s art to that of Pop artists in the sense that they both used everyday imagery, have a plain style and examine the treachery of images. Artists such as Andy Warhol have been influenced by Magritte s work and his used of the everyday object in strange contexts or backgrounds. His use of imagery has influenced minimalist and conceptual art as well.

13 Interpretation of function and purpose: My painting is visible images which conceal nothing... they evoke mystery and indeed when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question 'What does that mean'? It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable. Magritte, on his art s purpose and meaning. Magritte always had an emphasis on the hidden in his art and in reality. In Attempting the Impossible, it is no different. The mystery or paradox in this painting is the fallacy of the image and how it can never be a true object - it can only be an image or imitation of what the true object is. This is what Magritte is attempting to show in this painting, that the artist (him) is attempting the impossible by trying to paint a real human into existence. This was a recurring theme in Magritte s paintings, which can be seen in the work that he created called The Treachery of Images, which focused on the meaning of images and their role as mere imitations of real life. To Magritte, this painting would have been about the nature and limitations of art. Magritte also emphasized the mystery which elevates the everyday experience. He aimed to show his viewers the mystery which they could see around them in the reallife, everyday objects and scenarios by painting these everyday objects in strange situations which provoked the mind. This is no exception the artist is a very plainly dressed man, and he and the woman are standing in a very normal surroundings which looks like a Parisian apartment of the time. This contrasts with the impossible and strange task the man is attempting. Magritte s style which is very nondescript, was used in an effort to allow the painting to be appreciated by anyone who saw it, not just fine art critics. Magritte painted his subjects in a very flat, opaque style which was in order to keep the artist s hand invisible so that everyone would be able to appreciate the art. This also contributed to the intention of his art to hide mysteries or paradoxes in ordinary life and mundane things. This stimulated the imaginations of his viewers and brought them the message that in the ordinary is hidden many mysteries which we overlook sometimes.

14 Comparisons and Connections Attempting the Impossible Unnamed sketch by Ben Heine by Rene Magritte Mood s Sketch by Sebastien del Grosso Self Sketch by Sebastien del Grosso Medium is oil on canvas Photograph and pencil sketch Pencil, photography and digital manipulation Pencil, photography and digital manipulation Darker colour scheme with duller painting style used Traditional Western painting style More traditional composition and colour scheme Darker and more mysterious tone due to the colour scheme and expressions of the subjects in the painting The use of paint and tone in the painting creates a different mood from the ones with pencil sketch, which is more serious and surreal due to the fact that Magritte painted it realistically so it looks like a photograph which is blended and real. The background of the painting is blank and supports the idea of the mystery in the ordinary or mundane. More whimsical and lighter mood due to the colour scheme used and the background of the sea and buildings Realistic and neat drawing style over a highdefinition photograph Composition and colour scheme is brighter than usual paintings because of the use of photography and natural lighting. The drawing as well is light and realistic. Lighter colour scheme, more whimsical tone. The expression of the man in the painting and the appearance of Tinkerbell allow the viewers to realise that this painting s tone is lighter. The sketching style creates a realistic overlay to the photograph and because of its realistic style it creates a mood which is lighter and happier than the other pieces of work. The background is incorporated into the drawing (the tilted horizon line) and this emphasizes the interaction of all elements of the art. Colour scheme is more of a grey scale with slight colour changes, giving a serious tone Stylised and messy and graphic drawing style superimposed onto high-contrast photo Composition is plain and leads the viewer s eye directly to the subject and his actions in the photograph. Colour scheme is stark. Serious tone due to the lighting effects and post-production editing. The expression of the man creates a serious mood. The use of pencils and del Grosso s messy style creates a more angry and yet serious mood in the painting, as well as the artist s expression. This causes the viewer to observe carefully the composition and details of the sketch which are more prominent due to the style of the artists. The background is completely blank and the vignette simply draws attention to the subject of the painting. Colour scheme is more of a grey scale with slight colour changes, giving a serious tone Stylised, messy and graphic drawing style superimposed onto high-contrast photo Composition is plain and leads the viewer s eye directly to the subject and his actions in the photograph. Colour scheme is stark. The two expressions drawn on paper gives a more whimsical feeling than the totally serious Self Sketch but the tone is still serious and moody. This style is similar to that of Self Sketch; however, Mood s Sketch is more lighthearted as there is an expression which is happy in this artpiece. However, the tone and mood of the piece is still rather serious due to the colour scheme and the style of sketching which is messier and angrier than the art of Magritte and Heine. The background is completely blank and the vignette simply draws attention to the subject of the painting.

15 Conclusion of Comparisons and Connections All four of these pieces were created by artists in the hope of stimulating the viewer s imagination and showing them the intricate and sometimes unnoticed details and magic in everyday life. Heine and Magritte do this more obviously. Magritte by placing everyday objects in strange situations and Heine by drawing impossible or imaginary situations into ordinary situations. Del Grosso does this in a less obvious but more personal way through sketching his experience of everyday life into his realistic paintings, and stimulating the viewers to see their lives in turn in a different light. All the art pieces are very personal to the artists. For Magritte, Attempting the Impossible was a self-portrait and a portrait of his wife. It also reflected his own situation, as trying to paint something that could never truly be real. Heine as well adds his personal touch to photos by using images that speak to him or photographing friends in situations which would be personal to him. Del Grosso, similarly, draws on pictures of himself to illustrate his life story and creates different aspects of himself. The similarities between Self Sketch and Attempting the Impossible are also apparent as in both sketches, the artists are creating or drawing a person, which should be impossible. Mood s Sketch and Heine s untitled piece are similar because it involves paper being held up in front of the subject to cover or show a different aspect of that person and to show the artist s imagination through tangible means.

16 ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO OWNER Connection to my own art-making practice Seeing Ben Heine and Sebastian del Grosso s work inspired me to make my own artworks with modifications to the original style. I did it using a pencil sketch because I thought I could express the cartoonish backgrounds best with a pencil and also because Heine and del Grosso used pencils in their work. The backgrounds sketched into the pictures are of Disney movies which I feel correspond to my friends characters and which are of personal significance to each of them. I m hoping to achieve my intentions of expressing childhood joy and imagination in contrast with maturity and projected image of teenagers. My work was inspired by these three artists Rene Magritte, Ben Heine and Sebastien del Grosso. These pieces were part of my experimentation for studio pieces for my exhibition. The pieces were initially inspired by Sebastien del Grosso. As I didn t have the software or means to Photoshop and combine images on the computer like del Grosso does, I decided to instead print the pictures onto A3 pieces of art paper and digitally remove parts of the image to be drawn on in pencil afterwards. My own photo My own photo Researching these artists and their techniques has helped me develop my techniques in my own art making form - such as helping me to develop my drawing style and to narrow down the pieces I would exhibit in the final exhibition. By exploring these different artists' works and styles I have learned, I have developed my own style and seen the development of their style through their inspirations. Through going in-depth into my research and exploring other artists which have inspired them, I have discovered new styles which influence my own art-making practice and it has helped me to develop new ideas of art-making. My own development has been affected by these artists as their work inspired me and gave me a stimulus to combine two mediums into one piece: photography and drawing. Before researching these artists, it was difficult for me to "choose" a medium to use in one piece, but using two mediums has further helped me to combine the imagination and reality sides of my pieces. The purpose of my art is to stimulate the imagination of my viewers and to show them another side of themselves which they may have forgotten. It is to bring them back to their childhoods and show them the happiness and imagination they may have felt back then, and to show them the connection between their imagination and the physical world. This purpose was inspired after reading the purposes of Ben Heine and Sebastien del Grosso, who also aim to touch their viewers' imagination. By looking at artists such as Rene Magritte, I have evaluated the use of surrealism in my own art-making and the merging of the background and foreground to create a piece which may be inexplicable in real life but real in my imagination and something to be questioned and thought about.

17 ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO OWNER This experimentation led to me painting on printed photographs. Painting helped me to develop my painting skills because I had reference to the photo and it also helped prepare me for painting full portraits of my friends. Each shade of colour was, to me, a representation of their personality and even though it wasn t fictional I think that it expressed who each person is. I didn t really like the acrylic paint, however, because it dried easily and could be too bright and wasn t easily worked into or shaded, which was what I enjoyed about using pencils. Looking at Magritte s work allowed me to see the subtleties of painting and the effect of using paint versus just shading on top of a picture. The realistic style of Rene Magritte inspired me to experiment with paints and to incorporate elements of bright colour and paint into my pieces which were previously plainly coloured. Using the paints and developing the style of Heine and del Grosso also allowed me to develop new techniques in painting and to develop the direction of my artwork. What had been monotonous and fairly similar before took on new direction and development which helped me to develop skills at the same time. (My analysis of del Grosso s pieces below) My own photos I created these pieces to experiment with combining the painting of Magritte with the mixed-media styles of Heine and del Grosso. This was therefore a merging and culmination of the study of the three artists. Although the painting is acrylic instead of oil (Magritte s preferred medium), I used the colours to express the moods and colours of my friends in this paintings.

18 ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO OWNER Heine s art, especially, influenced my art-making due to its lighter and more carefree tones as well as the interaction of the real world and the art piece, which connected the viewer strongly to the artist, Source: especially with the hand. The hand engages the viewers and allows them to imagine themselves in ben-heine the picture and stimulates their imagination, which inspired me to make the connection between the viewer and the painting by helping them to imagine their own childhood and the connection to people they know in the paintings (their school mates). Ben Heine s intentions inspired me for my own art, as I wanted to work with the concept of imagination and reminding people of their childhood. Looking at his work showed me different ways of expressing these ideas and was a catalyst for the development of my work and intentions. Although I did not experiment with the concept of drawing and holding the sketch in front of the picture, I experimented with drawing on printed pictures and adding details to the background of the picture in order to re-imagine the locations. Ben Heine s addition of characters from popular culture also inspired me to integrate these characters in my own drawing as a representation of my friends childhoods.

19 ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO OWNER Transitions into oil painting Magritte s work also inspired me to experiment with forms of traditional media such as oil painting. I did this by capturing expressions on friends faces and painting them as characters from popular Disney cartoons, expressing their personalities and exploring backgrounds which were more surreal. Experimenting with oil painting allowed me to make my portraits more realistic than while drawing in pencil, and looking at the detail of Magritte s work also inspired me to become more detailed in the painting style I used. However, one thing I used in my work was colour more than Rene Magritte did as well as texture of brushstrokes. I experimented with the style that Magritte used (very smooth and tiny strokes) but realised that texture helped me to express more in my own artwork. Magritte s work also makes use of people close to him such as his wife and are dedications of sorts in his relationships to them. Following the same intention, I painted people who are close friends of mine and who I have good relationships with. This helped me to choose settings and characters whom I believed correlated to the people I painted, and allowed me to express how I viewed them in my imagination. Magritte painted people in paradoxical situations in which they would never appear in order to create a mystery and stimulate the imagination, and I attempt to do this by placing my friends in situations which are impossible being a fictional character, and therefore stimulating the viewer s imagination. Similar to Heine s piece, I included characters in popular culture such as the Little Mermaid and Aladdin in order to connect with the knowledge my audience has of media nowadays. I hope to timulate their imagination, just like in Heine and del Grosso s art, and remind them of what it s like to be a child or imaginang they re in a fictional world again.

20 Digital art and photography Like Heine, I was inspired by the friendships between people and the love between them. I drew the doodles around them in order to show this relationship and emotion, and I think that using digital medium has allowed me to explore and develop the art that I originally painted using the style of Ben Heine and Sebastien del Grosso. Exploring digital art in connection to what Heine and del Grosso allowed me to develop the idea of the imagination in connection with the child. After investigating and experimenting with both these artists styles I discovered my own style which was more playful and childish, a style which merged their mixed media and use of digital art to create new art. Investigating their art also allowed me to develop my intentions to what it is today - exploring the imagination and happiness of childhood, and comparing that with one of teenagerhood. While analysing their intentions in connection to their art, it helped me to make the connection to my own art and that of Heine and del Grosso. Source: Pinterest.com