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the formal analysis and related artist's statement need to be edit!


Guinny 2 / -  
Dec 5, 2009   #1
Hi. this is my formal analysis of artwork and a relate artist's statement of my history of photography class. i need help with edit an essay, grammar and all. and please tell me what you think of it.

by the way, in the artist's statement paper. i have to explain the connection of these works clearly.
FORMAL ANALYSIS
Like many early photographic images that used plants, botanical nature, as a subject matter, it is an image of a dandelion called "the Melancholy Gentleman" which was made in 1839 by one of the well-known British founders of photography, William Henry Fox Talbot. It is one of the first images in photography history as its process is the fundamental technique before it was applied to photograph, the photogenic drawing, that is light-caused drawing, which later on become photogram.

It is a two-dimensional work of art which did not use a camera at all. Talbot placed a dandelion directly onto the paper that was sensitized by strong solution of salt and then exposed to light for a very long time in order to render an image onto the paper. Then the silhouette was created and is considered a negative form that becomes a basis of multiple photographic prints. The flower appeared white and the rest of the paper appeared black as background. On the other hand, its pedals were not completely white as the light can slightly pass through them. So it created more tone in the subject which creates a fascinating image. This direct process of creating an image also caused the size of the flower on the paper to appear as the exact same size of the dandelion that was used to create the image. The dark background is also greater at the center where there is a flower and smoothly faded to the edges of the paper. This might have happened because the paper didn't wholly get the same amount of light and the darker got more light than the lighter area. This could have been because the chemical was sensitized differently, which means the dark area was more sensitized by salt than the lighter. Also, because of the salted paper, besides the brownish monotone which might be caused by time that has passed for many decades, the tone of the image is soft and smooth.

The image can be referred as the rule of thirds: one dandelion and two spaces, as if we divined the image into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines the most important part, which is the actual flower, was compositionally placed along these lines and their intersections. The stem was placed on left line and the flower bended to the right to balanced the image. The spaces on the right and the top, instead of wasting and distracting the subject, support it to be more obvious and makes us easily focus on what the subject is. This proponents of technique that aligning a subject with these point creates a strong interest and tension.

There also are shapes and lines in the picture. Although the subject is from nature so it has an organic shape, it also has an geometric shape too. The lines of stems, one straight line followed by leaves and then separate into four that bended and ended with the circle shapes of the actual flower. To look closely into the flower, there are also the straight lines spreading in 360 degrees and then become the circles again. Also, the image was simply done with one subject, no other subjects to be looked at, which means that the distraction will not be created. Furthermore, the shape of the paper goes along well with the subject. It is kind of vertically rectangle way up to the top which supports the shape of the dandelion.

Looking at the picture at a first glance, the picture resembles a still life painting of a flower. The high quality and the fact that it is finely done is the evidence that painting has an effect on photography. The way the painter composed the image is the same traditional style that Talbot uses in his work. In another point of view, it can be emulated the style of a so-called High Art too. The flower looks almost stylized, rather than realistic because it is a silhouette with a minimal amount of detail. The different tones and the way the background was faded and stained almost looks like it was done by brush stroke to make a watercolor painting.

Moreover, the image can apply in both art and science. In the field of science, back in 19th century, this image certainly interested the scientists and naturalists studying botanic because it was expected and believed that the photographic images had an ability to render the truth and since one can copy the difficult things with a great deal of ease at that period of time as the desire of keeping the nature. It is useful for scientific records as the photogenic drawing suited for recording the shadows of plant specimens, lace, or similar flat objects by direct contact. In addition, it preserved forever short-live blossom as it had a touch of the brevity of life and the reminder of death.

To talk about it as "art", the image also can apply to both realistic and abstract. It is realistic because the real and exact replica of a flower that can be seen without any distortion. On the order hand, an image emphasizes formal elements that create the strong feelings for the viewer. The tone and the composition of the image is in itself elegantly beautiful and intriguing. It is a quiet image but strong in a way. When looking at the picture and seeing the bending stems alone in the space, the feeling of sadness, gloominess and loneliness is created which links to its name, "The Melancholy Gentleman." Moreover, the flower was alone melancholy in the middle of nowhere but it is still standing. Similar to life, that even when we are disheartened, we still have to stay beautifully, live and move on so that our lives are worthwhile. In the same way, it is the simplicity that catches the eyes, man should simply live a life.

To conclude, "The Melancholy Gentleman," the photogenic drawing of Talbot is a work in which it conceives the photographic image as a kind of natural magic with potential for both science and art. The way Talbot composed and did his photograph related to what the painters do in their works of art. This helps the image to be very expressive and helps bring out strong emotion of misery as we appreciate its beautifulness. Its shape and line support each other well. Besides, the simple photographic image abstracts the way people should live their life. This picture of Talbot's would certainly have an effect on the modern photography and even improve it.

and ...
PERSONAL ARTIST'S STATEMENT
This is my photography-based artwork that is inspired by Talbot's photogenic drawing in 1839 "the Melancholy Gentleman." It is a photographic image of flowering plants, cyclamen.

The technique to create this work of art is to use a scanner as a "camera". Although the camera was not used, it has the quality of a photograph. There is the depth of field that the portion of a scene appears acceptably sharp in the image as if it was taken with a camera. After many experiments to finding the right depth of field by determining the distance from the scanner and the flower, the subject was placed almost half an inch away from the scanner. As we can see, the picture has both blurry and obvious parts. Part of the subjects that are near the scanner are the most obvious and, following along the depth line, the parts that are farther away are slightly more blurry until it reached the edge of the paper so that it does not distract from the most important part. Also, the other techniques of art such as photoshop, drawing and scratching the image were used to create the picture.

Beside the depth of field that makes the flower, which is the most important part appears noticeably, there some more methods that also help too. The image was done in color with the balance 80/20 rules. It contains 80 percent cool tone from the background and leaves and 20 percent warm tone from the stems and, in this case, the flower (even if it is white). The dark background and the color of the subject get along well. It doesn't take away from the flowers and leaves and that faded colors add enough detail so the background isn't completely flat or boring. In switching an image into a black and white photograph, the technique of "white on black" was used. These methods help the viewer focus on the subject matter. Also, the flower receives the direct light from the scanner, so that the strong highlight and details was produced.

The shape of the image is considered an organic shape since the subject is from nature. Its natural look has a flowing and curving appearance. The flower is surrounded by leaves that have a heart-shape and they all were placed in a curved line that moves along which is considered as a part of the circle. It looks like the leaves are protecting and embracing the flower. Its free line could be attempting to create a peaceful and calming moment when it is viewed. The green leaves on the right and left sides of the photo add balance while the bright white flowers in the center pull your eyes in and are the focus. Although the image seems to be flat by the scanner plate cover, it still has a lot of detail and shadow that make it look three-dimensional. It is simultaneous as the flower pops up. The tone of the overall color is soft and epic which goes along well with the flower that is fragile and delicate. In addition, there is a big space above the subject that helps balance the curved-shape of it. Actually this big space plays an important role because the space makes an image look intriguing and not overdone.

The picture can be considered as a form of a so-called "Art Nouveau" or "New Art" which peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century. That means it can be easily seen in many buildings for architecture, interior design and decorative arts. The picture encompasses a hierarchy of scale in design. It has the character of this form of art which is "the organic" especially floral and plant-inspired motifs, as well as highly-stylized, flowing curvilinear forms. It also imitates nature in which we can see in our daily life. Likewise, it breaks the connection to classical times, and brings down the barriers between the fine arts and applied arts.

There are a lots of connections between Talbot's artwork and mine beside the images that captured the subject without using a camera. Firstly, they have a painting style. While Talbot's work reminds me of a watercolor painting, my personal work looks more like oil painting because it looks like the image has a texture and the color is completely full and heavy, not transparent. The scratching around the paper also makes it looks like it was an etching too.

Secondly, the subject that was used a natural object, the flower. Natural objects have their own character which are elegant and dignified especially flowering plants. Many cultures around the world use flowers as subject matter so that it becomes part of classical art. Also, without an involvement of man, the colors of a flower itself are well balanced. Flowers can be used as symbols of many things to convey many specific messages to create a sense of feeling. These helps add value to the picture to be more meaningful and profound.

Moreover, the soft tone, dark background and the scratch in the paper could bring out the feeling of mystery and desolation in its beauty. To talk about the meaning of works, both images contain a small and simply subject but they have an ability to reflect the truth of nature and life in a very interesting way. And as the Melancholy Gentleman captured the truth and preserved the moment when the flower bloomed, my work has that ability too. Both of the works are simple and emphasize a similar meaning which is the correspondence of truth. Because the flowers have its time to allow us to appreciate, if we want to see them blossom we have to watch them in the morning. Whoever you are and wherever you from, rich or poor, if you are late you have to wait till the next day to see them as their blooming will not last long. The same as life, switching we feel happy and we feel sad. Neither of them last forever. The picture makes me realize that we do not have that much time in life like the flowers that have their time to bloom so we should preserve the moment we have and make it remarkable, unforgettable and worthwhile so that we will not have any regrets.

In conclusion, my own work is inspired by Talbot's artwork, the Melancholy Gentle man has it own value. It resembles the form of nature by its free form that is curved and flowing and the painting by its color. Many connections between these two works can be noticed such as the subject, forms, the way they were made and their meaning. The picture portrays the idea encouraging the values of miscellaneous matters found in daily life that makes one feel delicate, flashes back to the simplicity of life, and to be filled with the acknowledgement towards every moment. Also, they both are good evidence that the admirable photographic image is not necessarily created through the lens of the camera.

i know it's long but i really need help
thank you :)
EF_Kevin 8 / 13,321 129  
Dec 7, 2009   #2
That first sentence...

Like many early photographic images -------> it was a dandelion... (this seems to suggest that you are saying many images are dandelions, but I don't think that is your intention. Let's use a short sentence to get the reader's attention, there, at the start, and achieve some clarity.

I see that you do a good job of covering all the elements of formal analysis, from observation to interpretation and scrutiny... but some of these sentences need to be looked at again. For instance, here in this topic sentence for a paragraph, you say an image can be referred to as a rule:

The image can be referred as the rule of thirds: one dandelion and ...
The image can be explained according to the rule of thirds: one dandelion and ...

I think you will do very well! Maybe you are a visual thinker instead of a verbal/auditory thinker... or maybe you are an excellent balance of both... but look at all your sentences to make sure they say what they are intended to say. Sometimes simple sentence structure is best.

i know it's long but i really need help

I think you don't need as much help as you think you do. You write very well; please check out ef-contributor-page/. That way, we can set you up as a contributor, and you can choose a username that is not a racial slur.

Your artist's personal statement seems to be based on the analysis. It needs a theme. I see that a big theme is the ability to produce visual art without even using a camera, so I think that should be mentioned at the beginning of the essay.

Please go give some other people a little bit of feedback on their essays. Don't get out of it easy by just giving a line of feedback; instead, give a solid paragraph of thoughts inspired by their essay, and then link them to your essay and ask them to return the favor. I'm going to delete your meaningless posts, now (i.e. in my opinion this essay is pretty much well-written but you need to make clear of what your theme that you try to convince the reader), and challenge you to give some thoughtful feedback.

:-)

Kind regards


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