Still Life
Title: The Fruit Bearer
Size: 60cm by 60cm Medium: Oil on canvas Completion: February 2023 Exhibition TextCombining Frida Kahlo's meaning behind her painting "Coconuts", discussing her discomfort with her body and Suleyman Seyyid's soft look in his painting "Still Life with Watermelon" make a "The Fruit Bearer" commenting on how women are expected to bear children and the discomfort that comes along with that from the women that choose not to. The crying pomegranate portrays this idea and represents the women who don't want to be a fruit bearer, as pomegranates represent fertility in many cultures.
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Inspiration
Artist in Focus: Frida Kahlo
In Frida Kahlo's still life titled "Coconuts" the Mexican painter expresses her sorrows of her health that was going at a rapid decline through the small detail of a coconut that looks like it's crying; the personification of the coconut if something that inspired me. As Kahlo is also a Mexican artist, I wanted to include fruits and vegetables in my own still life that would represent my culture as she did through the use of produce that I regularly consume. My piece would definitely include pomegranates as they are something that are always on my family's grocery list. I was hoping to use pomegranates as a way to express my own discomforts in my own life as it has juices that could easily be manipulated into tears. Pomegranates usually represent fertility, especially in Mexican culture. I could twist this and subtly make the pomegranates represent the way that women are expected to be mothers. I could show this subtly by making a couple of arils of the pomegranate on the side, hopefully inside of a shaded area (shadow) and the juices of the pomegranate resemble tears.
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Artist in Focus: Suleyman Seyyid
Suleyman Seyyid's still life "Still Life with Watermelon inspired me in aspects of art, compared to the themes that I was inspired by with Kahlo. Seyyid's still life looks so soft in the blending, especially with the fabric in the back and I knew that I wanted to achieve this effect in my piece. In addition, Seyyid's warm cream colored background contrasts with the vivid hues of color in the watermelon, but then the dark melon in the back also gives off an impact of being darker. The contrast but also balance in composition and values inspired me. The details in the middle of the watermelon with the lighter hues for the parts that reflect light were also inspiring to me and I'd hope to be able to achieve this in my painting. One of the most important aspects of this piece is the way the shadows aren't black. They look like a burnt umber that was thinned and I'd try to do the same in my painting, especially because the black shadows would make for a shadow that is too harsh. This would contrast with my intentions of my painting, making it look soft. The blending of the rind in the watermelon and the seeds is one of my favorite things about this painting. I would go forward trying to find ways that I could do this.
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Planning
When I looked at Kahlo's fruits, it reminded me that she probably used food she had laying around in her house or where she was staying when she was making the painting. Although it seems so trivial and seems like it doesn't matter much, the fruits reveal part of her culture. When someone has something that is readily available to them, it makes you think of the things they eat on a daily basis. Of course, this may depend on region and culture and I thought that this was a good idea that I could implement into my work. I would do the same and have food that I always have around my house to use for this project. Then I got to assembling the arrangement for the still life. I got some jicama (Mexican turnip), limes, and chilies, and grapes. These items are always at my house and are easy to replace if I changed my mind for the picture I wanted to take. Something that could have been a problem in the making of this arrangement if I used the same logic as before about retaking pictures, were the fact that I used pomegranates and roses in this as well. The pomegranate was significant for the meaning of the piece, but the roses were only there for practicing realism. If I had wanted to retake pictures later on, this may have been a problem, considering that transportation to get these items was limited. Next, I had to take pictures so that I could get the desired composition. I took many pictures in many different angles and differing lighting but I ended up choosing the picture to the far right.
I thought of possible ways that I could make the pomegranate look like it was crying, making sure to keep that Kahlo inspired look to the tear that the coconut had. I played around with highlights and values but I ended up choosing the picture on the right to recreate. I wanted to keep in mind to try to perfect this tear in my painting, as I had mostly conceptual inspirations from Kahlo. With this in mind, I went along and started my process. |
Process
To start this project, I started by making a 60cm by 60cm canvas. To do this I took a roll of canvas and laid it on the floor, straightening it and taking creases out of it by stretching it from all sides. Then I took my four of the 60cm stretchers for the canvases and assembled them, put them together. After that, I laid the assembled stretchers on the ground and on the canvas and began to estimate how much canvas I would need for overhang so that I'd be able to wrap around the stretchers so I could staple them later. Next, I cut the canvas so that there'd be an overhang of around 6cm extra on all of the 60cm sides of the square, bringing the total square of canvas fabric to 66cm on all four sides.
After I cut the 66cm square, I used a staple gun and secured the square of fabric onto the stretchers. As I was stapling the canvas onto the stretchers, I made sure to keep straightening out the canvas' creases before securing it onto the stretchers to limit the amount of dimples and unnecessary texture on the canvas. Then, I trimmed the excess canvas off and folded the corners of the canvas so that they wouldn't be visible to the viewer and stapled them in, one staple went on either sides of the corners and another went in the middle. Then I gessoed the canvas in two coats, spreading the gesso in even coats and long brush strokes, using a thick and low grade brush. After the gesso dried, I was ready to set up the projector to get a tracing of composition onto my canvas. To do this, I hooked up a computer to a projector and set my canvas onto an easel and lined up the picture I wanted for the still life via Docs onto the canvas. To make the tracing, I used a paint thinner (linseed oil) and got some burnt umber and mixed them to get a thin paint that was easy to wipe off, in case I messed up, and started tracing the picture. In addition to the picture, I traced some shadows that I saw in the picture and transferred them onto the canvas. |
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After making the transfer, I began to work on the background of the piece. I started off by mixing some yellow and red into some white to get a red-ish cream color for the walls of the painting. I focused on making it look soft so the brush strokes were quick and light, making the background get the appearance I wanted it to.
As I was painting, I noticed that there were some splotches that looked too harsh and I blended them out with a round brush. After I was done with that, I added some brown into the red-ish cream color and made the shadows that were made from the wall's openings. I made sure to keep the shadows parallel to each other's sides, especially since I forgot to include them in the transfer. |
After that, I started making the curtains with some red and black at first, which gave me an outcome that I didn't like. The color that this would give me was not good enough for what I was trying to do: make a soft looking painting, and it looked too dark in value when I was doing this. Eventually, I made a mix of ultramarine blue and burnt umber that gave me a color that looked less harsh, but had a similar value. I was happy with that look and that it took some inspiration from Seyyid so I did that for the rest of the shadows in the curtains. I ended up blending my brown-blue mix with the cadmium red and making transitions on the canvas, blending with a large round brush.
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Then, I began to make the shade for the table. I used some burnt umber and cadmium red for it. For the shadows, I added more umber than red. Next, I began working on the fruits and vegetables. I decided to paint the jicama (Mexican turnip) first since it was a couple of simple hues. For the jicama, I used yellow, cadmium red, burnt umber, and titanium white. Then I worked on the limes, pomegranate, and chilies. I made sure to blend everything very well using a soft touch on the canvas so that I could capture Seyyid's look.This meant that I'd have to make highlights that were similar to the ones on the knife that he made in his painting. Everything had to be done with careful consideration of the inspiration and this is how I approach that rest of the painting.
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Kahlo's inspiration couldn't be forgotten about either though. This meant that I had to pay attention to the details I put in the tear of the pomegranate. At first I was experimenting with the different ideas I had for the tear that I drew, but I quickly reminded myself of what the point of having the inspiration was. Since I had taken so little inspiration from Kahlo, it was important that I at least got the tears as close as I could get to her's in "Coconuts". I felt like this first tear was too subtle and although Kahlo does a similar thing, it was just too easy to miss. I fixed up the pomegranate's tear later on when I'd make touch ups to the painting.
Next I worked on the leaves and grapes since they were similar values and hues in greens. I knew I wanted to keep a simplified look to the leaves since they didn't add to the meaning at all. I made the darker shades of green by adding black to them, and while I said I wanted to avoid black, it worked for this instance in the painting so I wasn't too upset with this decision.
In the pictures to the right, you can see that a bit of the background is starting to be made using a dark brown mix that I had used earlier, this time I added some black to it in order to make the background look like it did in the reference picture and looking back at it, this decision is something more likely that Kahlo would make, not Seyyid. For the grapes, I created some bold lines with the green I mixed in order to remind me of the individual grapes that were on the canvas. This helped me when I looked back at my reference photo to determine what hues and values I should choose for each grape. After making the outlines with a bold line, I created some shadows using a darker green. I added the midtones next and then the highlights. For the roses, I started with the stems of the flowers. I created a redish-cream color for the stem and added green when needed. The stems fluctuated quite a bit when it came to colors and values, so it was more time consuming than anything. The roses themselves took more time than anything. The roses started off with darker colors and lighter shades were added after that. The time consuming part was making the roses blend without over-blending them. I wanted them to keep having the same Seyyid look to them without them being too realistic. While his painting looked realistic, it was also soft looking. The art style looked very vibrant and detailed but it was still obvious that it was a painting. This is what I was trying to achieve while making the roses. I kept in mind that vibrancy and blending was key to making my painting look most similar to Seyyid's still life.
The photos to the right show the progression of the roses. First, the stem is being painted with the red and green hues that fluctuate in values. Next is the base of the roses' petal colors and values, with shadows being very prominent. The next pictures show the progression of details in the rose petals and how they developed. The stems became more detailed through the highlights which brought more depth to them. A very fine detail brush was used to achieve such detail. This was taking inspiration from the highlights in Seyyid's knife that was in his still life. This process would follow for the proceeding roses that were left in the painting. Next, I painted the plate, which was a cool toned light blue and the shadows I used were also gray, but also had a hint of that same light blue. In the end, I painted the table a full weight layer of red and brown to create a foreground for the painting, the table. I also added some finalizing touches to the painting and I was done with the project. |
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Experimentation
During this experiment, I experimented with taking pictures and making the curtains in my painting.
For taking pictures I experimented with angles and lighting so I could see what I could work with and so I took all kinds of pictures. I took some darker pictures and some lighter pictures. The angles were different too. There were different compositions as well and the camera was at times up close to the fruits and there were other pictures where the camera was farther away. I had fun taking these pictures but then I had to focus on the inspirations. At first, I wanted to get papayas in the painting but then I got rid of them because of how they got in the way and were distracting from the pomegranate, which was supposed to be the focus of the painting, similar to the way that Seyyid used the watermelon as the focus of the painting. I ended up choosing the image below for my painting due to the fact that nothing was distracting from the pomegranate and the movement of the photo was heading towards the pomegranates due to the jicama's (Mexican turnip) stem pointing towards the pomegranate. The camera is also closer to the fruit as it was for both inspirations of Kahlo and Seyyid. I was happy with the photo and I was ready to project it onto the canvas. For this project, I wanted to have the look of Seyyid's still life rather than Kahlo's. I thought that having her concept was more important for this piece more than her presentation. If I were to have made this project in Kahlo's composition and style, I would've chosen the picture to the right of the pomegranate close up. |
For experimentation with the curtains, I started off with making the shadows. I had placed some ivory black straight from the tube onto the canvas. I had made a mistake and forgot about the inspiration's look. From then on I had the picture of Seyyid's still life on another tab while painting so I could use some qualities and aspects from his painting. This would include making the shadows from a mix of ultramarine blue and burnt umber which I will refer to as the dark brown mix. I then added that mix to a bit of cadmium red and applied it right next to the dark brown mix. I went ahead and blended the two colors together with a round brush, just barely touching the canvas. I used the same red to add more vibrancy to the curtains, just as Seyyid used vibrant hues for his watermelon. I would use these two colors, the cadmium red and the dark brown mix in order to create the curtains. For brighter areas, I'd add some titanium white to the cadmium red and then blend out the areas around that, getting it to a hue I wanted. I found that blending with a larger round brush and a smaller square brush was good for this painting.
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Critique
Frida Kahlo
To compare, Kahlo and I both used oil on stretched canvas, our mediums were the same. Kahlo and I had both used the tears of the fruit to convey the discomforts of bodies. The reason for the tears was different though. The reason Kahlo used them was to express how she was in immense discomfort and pain because of her physical conditions while I used the tears to highlight the discomfort of women that are held up to expectations to bear children, making the women who don't want to have kids be in a period of time (long or short) of guilt and discomfort. Another similarity is the fact that we both used fruits that are common in our regions or homes. Frida used coconuts, watermelons, and coconuts, fruits that are common in Mexico. In my house, there are always pomegranates in the winter season, and limes and chilis have always been a staple in my house. Everything else is also bought weekly. A similarity in our paintings is how we use line. She used very bold lines for the rinds of her watermelons, and I did the same for my grapes.
Suleyman Seyyid
To compare, Seyyid and I both used oil paints on canvas in our pieces, our mediums were the same. We also used both used highlights that were very prominent in our paintings. Another comparison is how we both have an overall soft look in our paintings. Both of our backgrounds are both a cream-yellow color and involve fabric. A difference in our work is how he has a light foreground while I have a dark foreground. To contrast, I used bold lines in my work with the outlines of the grapes, meanwhile Seyyid doesn't have that in his work until it is to create detail in the melon to the right in his still life. Another difference is the orientation of the work, while he uses a landscape style canvas, I use a squared canvas.
Reflection
This project came with little disturbances and was fairly simple, just time-consuming. Since I had already worked with this medium before and knew how to use it, it was easy for me when it came down to techniques when blending. What I took away from this was simply to use a mix of ultramarine blue and burnt umber for shadows and dark values instead of black. This gives the overall look of the canvas a softer look since black on its own is so harsh. I do wish that I had the chance to actually paint from life and didn't have to take pictures and then transfer them from the picture, but I had so many things to do in and out of school. I knew I wouldn't have time to dedicate a couple of days to just painting and that led to having to use the projector. Hopefully, I'll be at a point in time where I can actually do something of that nature for one of my upcoming projects. I'm hoping I can do that with my self-portrait and just work on that for a couple of hours every weekend and spend time on it instead of taking this approach and getting things done just for them to be done. Although I liked the process for this piece, I wish that I was able to spend the time actually painting from life. This was good practice with value and color and I valued that aspect of this project. What I liked most about this project was painting the curtains and experimenting with the fabric's texture. Over the course of my last two paintings, this one and my perceptions of identity painting, I found that I love to paint fabric and I will definitely work with this skill later on since I think that I refined my skills with blending and color matching. Something that I liked the least was the process for making the lime's color and finding the correct value for them.
Connection to ACT
1. Clearly explain how you can identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your work.
The way that Frida Kahlo displays her feelings about her physical conditions with the tear coming from the coconut was reflected onto my own painting with the tears from the pomegranate due to woman's expectations to have children. Suleyman Seyyid's soft brush strokes are seen in the background and curtains of the painting, along with the soft looks of his painting that are reflected in the fruit (excluding the grapes) and flowers.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The topic of my inspiration is women's identity and how expectations create discomfort in one's identity. Frida Kahlo would explore similar topics in her work and would focus many of her paintings on women's experiences. Suleyman Seyyid on the other hand would focus his body of work on still lifes.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I concluded that there are many meanings behind fruits in not just Mexican culture, but all around the world.
4. What is the central theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research was representation and symbolism to capture women's experiences.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that Kahlo would be my only inspiration due to the connections in theme but then I found Seyyid and I liked his art style.
The way that Frida Kahlo displays her feelings about her physical conditions with the tear coming from the coconut was reflected onto my own painting with the tears from the pomegranate due to woman's expectations to have children. Suleyman Seyyid's soft brush strokes are seen in the background and curtains of the painting, along with the soft looks of his painting that are reflected in the fruit (excluding the grapes) and flowers.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The topic of my inspiration is women's identity and how expectations create discomfort in one's identity. Frida Kahlo would explore similar topics in her work and would focus many of her paintings on women's experiences. Suleyman Seyyid on the other hand would focus his body of work on still lifes.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I concluded that there are many meanings behind fruits in not just Mexican culture, but all around the world.
4. What is the central theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research was representation and symbolism to capture women's experiences.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that Kahlo would be my only inspiration due to the connections in theme but then I found Seyyid and I liked his art style.
MLA Citations
THE COLLECTOR’S GUIDE: La Granada - the Pomegranate in New Spain. www.collectorsguide.com/fa/fa115.shtml.
“Still Life With Watermelon - Süleyman Seyyid Bey (Turkish, 1842-1913) - Google Arts and Culture.” Google Arts & Culture, artsandculture.google.com/asset/still-life-with-watermelon-s%C3%BCleyman-seyyid-bey-turkish-1842-1913/pQGOR0k5Dx14BA.
“Still Life With Watermelon - Süleyman Seyyid Bey (Turkish, 1842-1913) - Google Arts and Culture.” Google Arts & Culture, artsandculture.google.com/asset/still-life-with-watermelon-s%C3%BCleyman-seyyid-bey-turkish-1842-1913/pQGOR0k5Dx14BA.