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I’ve grown up seeing the paintings of my grandmother everywhere, asking myself the meaning of each one of them. When I was six, I thought as them as my world with my big imagination; they were like fantasies that I heard were fake come true. I remember thinking they were photographs, asking my parents for answers, “Why is there a fairy? Do they exist?” The answer always was no. But every time I asked, it made me want to see them in real life. I remember asking my grandmother if they were real because they looked like a photograph. And she always answers “they are, in my heart.”
I never understood the reason behind of her telling me they were real. I questioned a lot, until one day that I asked how does she see these creatures, these places, and these animals. “In my dreams,” she said, smiling, so I asked if we could dream together, sleep holding hands for me to be able to see these remarkable creatures. I didn’t get to see what she was seeing by holding her hand; it turned out not working that way. Years later, I understood how I could see her dreams without holding her hand. Her paintings were interpretations of what she saw, like a picture that she took with her mind and interpreted onto her canvas. Because of that, she made me believe that dreams can turn true in a painting. That everything is possible and the only thing needed to begin is paper and a pencil.
“Los sueños pintados ya no son sueños.” -Martha Perfumo
Thanks to the IA, I had the opportunity to pursue this project and make it my independent project. My final project was creating a triptych in watercolors based on my dreams. I decided to see my grandmother as an inspiration. Since I’m just learning how to do art, she is the best person that could teach me and help me in the process of recreating the image I had in my mind. With this triptych, I wanted to inspire others as my grandmother did with me, that dreams can come true in a canvas. This is the first time I ever draw and paint something from my mind even though I still have lots steps to go through, I could not have been more proud, knowing it was all from my mind. I am so glad I got to experience doing something I wanted to try for years.
Everything started with me brainstorming ideas on how to organize this triptych. Since I was familiar with pencil drawing, I decided to make one of the sections of the triptych. Before starting this, I was supposed to make an oil painting triptych that would be 60 by 60 cm. But during this process, I got to the conclusion that it was not a great idea since I was already challenging myself by drawing from my head without any source of an image.
But why is it challenging to create something from scratch? I decided to research this question and see if there was a reason behind or if I was just a terrible artist that needed a reference. It turns out that we usually attempt to recognize things like a bicycle, but we don’t memorize all the parts. Thanks to my expert Martha, I decided to change from oil painting to watercolors, something I am familiar with. This prototype also helped me with my final decision on the organization of the triptych. At first, my design was going to be organized like a ladder, each section a little higher than the other. But after looking at some surrealistic art pieces, I decided to organize it like a nuclear sign.
Prototype two is the one that helped me play around and discover different techniques and different ways I could do the sky. I could play around with colors and decide which combinations I was surely not going to do. I had the opportunity to research different ways of doing clouds, like wet on wet clouds putting pigment in some zones an letting the paint flow by itself; or wet on dry clouds that are basically drawn on the dry paper with the wet brush (here you control the type of shape you want for the clouds). In this prototype, I was able to look more into the meaning of surrealism. I call it “the meaning of the unexpected.” Combining things people might not know the answer to, things you usually won’t see in a typical day. Surrealism is unlocking the imagination drawing/writing/painting the irrational. This type of art from the 20’s century does not have one specific meaning for everyone. It’s what you see and what you interpret from that.
Going back to the color combination, I decided to survey my presentation where I asked my audience (IA 2021 cohort) which of the combinations of colors they liked the most and why to get a more significant idea of what my audience preferred.
For prototype three, this survey was beneficial. I decided to pick the most voted combination of colors and the combination of color I liked the most. I painted both of these backgrounds in a 50 by 50 paper with watercolors. One of them was in hot colors while the other one was in cool colors. The feedback I got was exciting. People would tell me that the warm color background reminded them of nightmares, contrasting with the cool color background that reminded them of dreams and peace. This is where my research in color psychology came from. Most people told me they preferred the blue sky, and it’s because blue is the favorite color of most people. We associate the color with the things we see in our day to day. For example, blue is related to the ocean, the sky, summer, pools, ice cream, and other positive things most people like. On the other hand, Brown is associated with mud, bugs, or the day we stepped on dog poop! The more positive associations, the more significant amount of people that will like that color.
This prototype not only taught me why people prefer some combinations of colors over others, but more about Surrealist artists. It’s crucial that as an upcoming artist, you see other artists’ work as an inspiration. There is such a difference between artists and what they paint. Some paint their dreams like Vincent Van Gogh while others paint their reality like Frida Kahlo. What type of artist am I? What’s my style? At that moment, I did not know the answer to these two questions. I was impressed by how much complications Frida had throughout her whole life. It is truly inspiring to know more about her art and the story behind all the paintings full of pain. Before I did not know much of her, and why she was so known in the world. Now I can see Surrealism not as a fantasy but as an interpretation of someone else's reality.
Prototype number four was a little different; I was able to work on my creatures by creating stencils. This prototype did not end as planned, but it helped me know how I wanted to interpret my dream in the triptych. Remember the two questions I could not answer before? What type of artist am I? Am I the one that shows her reality in a painting like Frida Kahlo ? Or am I the one that only draws her dreams and her expectations like Vincent Van Gogh? It turns out I am not like one or the other. Let me tell you a little about my dream and then come back to that.
My dream was in the sky, a pink sky. In the sky, there was an ocean of clouds, one on top of the other. Huge clouds that cover almost the whole space. Huge and pink like cotton candy, with that sweet and soft look. In the sky, there were elephants with an ear as big as wings; each elephant was different from the other. They were the only creatures in the sea of clouds. Each elephant was a different color. I interpreted the elephants’ colors as emotions. The black one represented anguish, the white peace, the blue joy, and so on. However, in my triptych, I only have one elephant. And on the other side after the birds, there is a fox bigger than the elephant. Why, if my dream has no fox or no birds? The elephant represents my dreams, my hopes, and my desires; it represents joy and affections. Moving towards the fox, some birds close to the elephant are more intense than closer to the fox. The birds fading represent moving towards reality, that each time the dreams get forgotten or my expectations lower, sometimes because of loss of faith. The birds never fade completely since I never forget a dream completely or never lose hope altogether. Then there's the Fox, a serious fox, but elegant. He is attached to the ground like in Spanish it would say “Pisando Tierra.” This is a way to interpret reality. The fox has like a portal or a galaxy inside. That's where the dream comes to an end. The elephant represents the dreams, the birds represent me going back to reality, and the fox is the reality. But even though the fox is a reality, he is not aggressive; he is just looking at the dreams hoping one day they become real and make him enjoy the sea of clouds. Faith never ends in this reality dream art piece.
Now, going back to the question. What type of artist am I? I’m not Frida or Vincent. I’m Ariana. I draw my dreams and reality because, for me, both make me who I am. A dreamy person that has lots of thoughts and hopes but never leaves the ground. I paint who I am. In art, there is no such thing as what's correct and what's not. Prototype 4 made me realize how staying true to myself is essential and that not everybody is going to understand the meaning behind the art piece I make.
Prototyping was a great experience this semester. This project made me organize my time much better than before. Usually, now I attempt to try several different things, test them, and see if they work out. For example, the experiment in science I did recently. Even though it does not have to do anything with my art project, I learned things that will help me in other classes. But I think what I accomplished the most was being able to focus on one specific artwork the whole semester. Old Ariana would have done one super fast, not testing or trying different ways to do it, end up not liking the product and starting again going nowhere. Even though this art piece might not be the best one ever, it is something I will always be proud of. First time doing such a big art piece. First time doing a triptych. First time doing a semester-long project, and I think I nailed it! I’m glad to have the opportunity. And look forward to taking classes in oil painting this July. Hope someday I can recreate this in oil paintings the way I first thought of doing it.