birb tales @rachelscpsarts - Tumblr Blog

On May 30th I went to visit the East Building of the National Gallery to see the American Art gallery for an art history paper. The new interior was really cool, and so was the gallery - I liked seeing the paintings we’d been studying in class in person. I also had some extra time so I wandered around to see some of the upstairs galleries, which were all very intriguing as well. I’ve been having a growing appreciation of modern art (over classic) lately and this trip reinforced that.

#cpsa pentathlon #art

Learning Agreement [updated]

#not really sure why it does that weird thing when copy &pasting from word #hm #anyway here it is #cpsa capstone documents

While executing the paintings, I mainly updated the progress on my snapchat rather than on here, so now I will be going back posting some of those images to reflect upon them.

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(i apologize for the language in the caption on the first image; it was like 1am and I was exhausted >< )

I wasn’t initially sure whether I’d even be able to finish Hummingbird on time, as I didn’t even have him sketched out before starting the others. I decided to plow ahead and attempt to complete it though, and I’m glad that I did; the effect would not have been the same with just three paintings. It took about seven hours to finish, and I didn’t sleep that night, but I’m surprised at how well it turned out despite that and the lack of a pose reference. I was surprised to see, though, how similar it ended up being to a sample image I had painted months ago in the conceptual stages of the project (pictured in bottom right)!

#capstone project #process binder

While executing the paintings, I mainly updated the progress on my snapchat rather than on here, so now I will be going back posting some of those images to reflect upon them.

- - -

Kingfisher was the hardest to find a literary reference for. However, since I was drawing upon Chinese painting techniques, I tried searching for its symbolism in Chinese poetry, and ended up finding a very intriguing essay on it (here if you’re interested). One of the parallels it covered was between kingfishers and luxury items, which the lotus was considered in medieval China, so I decided to include it in the background. It ended up being somewhat abstracted in composition, but I like how it turned out; it was a good experiment for me. The drying of the pigment on watercolor paper versus traditional rice paper is very different, though, so leaves and petals were a little more washed out than I had intended.

The only “problem” was that when displaying it, no one knew what a kingfisher looked like, so the bird was less obvious, haha…

#capstone progress #process binder

While executing the paintings, I mainly updated the progress on my snapchat rather than on here, so now I will be going back posting some of those images to reflect upon them.

- - -

Robin went much more smoothly than Raven did. I had a much clearer image in my head of what hers would look like, which certainly helped. The tree in the background was referenced off a picture I took in early spring. I wondered if I should add more details, especially to emphasize the literary connection to the Secret Garden more, but I liked the more minimalistic concept of her image, so I kept it simple. Also at this point, I tried to use some of the techniques I learned from Chinese brush painting when I was younger. This would influence the last two paintings as well.

#capstone progress #process binder

While executing the paintings, I mainly updated the progress on my snapchat rather than on here, so now I will be going back posting some of those images to reflect upon them.

- - -

The process for Raven was definitely the longest out of all four paintings – likely because it was the most ambitious composition and because it was the first one I began, so I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to express with it and experimenting with the paints and methods of applying it. For example, the pattern on the shirt was completely freehand, and thus ended up being less intricate. Originally I had wanted to use gold watercolor or ink for it, but all I had on hand was acrylic, which is a lot less flexible. It ended up working but not quite matching my expectations. I don’t think I quite consider this one finished, but somehow people seemed most impressed by this one out of the four when I displayed it.

#capstone progress #process binder

The other day I happened upon an outdoor concert by the UMD Jazz ensembles while i was taking some pictures with my friends. Apparently this was the first time in 3 years they hadn’t been rained out and were actually able to play outside. All the ensembles were very good, and it was a perfect day to sit on the grass and chill out with some relaxing tunes.

#cpsa pentathlon #music

Also today, I attended a joint event by the Asian American Student Union and MICA in honor of the closing of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Pride Month. They had several students perform spoken word, each poem dealing with themes on either or both Asian American and LGBTQ+ issues. They also had a guest poet & performer named Kay Ulanday Barrett, a transmasculine Filipino individual. I thought this was a very intriguing and empowering event, as these two themes are rarely addressed simultaneously, and thus characterized the intersectionality of identity, while also showing solidarity between communities.

#cpsa pentathlon #literature

Today I attended the opening of the MFA thesis gallery at the Art Sociology building. It was an interesting experience, as all the art was abstract, so the meaning of each piece had to be derived from the titles and the viewer’s own perception. One of the artists had really weird complicated titles that I appreciated very much. There were also fancy refreshments, which is always a plus :3

#cpsa pentathlon #art

nevver

Cherry Blossoms

kuntyleopard

gatakka

Sakai Hōitsu. Edo period.

Advising Meeting 2

NAME: Rachel Samelson

ADVISOR: Kenna

MEETING DATE & TIME: Monday, 3pm

1. During the meeting, we mostly discussed what my project was and how I could put more detail in it. We talked about the symbolism of the birds, my inspirations, and compositional possibilities. I also expressed the difficulty I’d been having with deciding on how to represent my Hummingbird. Kenna urged me to think about the narrative I am trying to express with my art, as she felt the impact of the four paintings could be very strong if executed thoughtfully.

2. My next step is to find literary references for the Kingfisher and Hummingbird, and then develop the rest of the background composition for the characters. Once I finish that, I will begin painting. In the process, I will also consider how or if I want to frame the works.

3. I have no pressing concerns at the moment.

#cpsa capstone advising #cpsa capstone documents

Tumblr Process Assignment Reflection

It seemed that a lot of other people (both in my group and in general) were/are much farther behind than they had expected to be by the end of break. This mostly applies to those like me who had complex creative processes; those with more palpable goals seemed to be more on track. Alexia, who also has watercolor paintings as a part of her project, has had a similar beginning process as I do with sketching first then painting, though she is doing more and on a smaller scale than I am. The most useful feedback I received was on my post wondering how I should go about including or not including literary symbolism. Maddie’s nudge saying that it would be a good idea encouraged me to continue connecting Raven to the poem, and inspired me to find other literary references for the other three birds. I also enjoyed those who asked questions; it led me to think more deeply about what I am trying to achieve with this project.

#cpsa capstone journal