The Son of MemeSize: 18in x 24in (45.7cm x 60.9cm)
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas May 2020 "The Son of Meme" was a painting inspired by the famous painting "The Son of Man" by Rene Magritte. It depicts my teacher Mr. Chay eating the infamous apple, based upon a meme created of him, by myself. I wanted to create a piece based around one of my memes, because they became a large part of my Junior and Senior year as not only a form of humor, but a coping mechanism, and I wanted to commemorate it. |
Planning
Inspiration
Symbolism/Meaning
In the beginning of my Junior year, I had some detrimental family occurrences that took their fair toll on me. I was going through a dark time in my life, and my math teacher Mr. Chay was a large help in guiding me through it. A meme is essentially a form of visually expressing a joke or funny coincidence, and/or to accentuate a feature visually with humor. Right from the beginning of the year, he made it clear that he enjoyed memes, and sometimes integrated them into daily conversation and class. I began creating them, and soon, these memes essentially became a coping mechanism for me because I truly enjoyed seeing the laughs everyone got out of things I created. I began using my Photoshop skills to create funny memes of Mr. Chay as he and many others were humored by them, as long as they were kept appropriate of course. Over time, more art students and friends helped me to create a large array of memes that over the course of junior year, became well known to not only students, but faculty as well, as other teachers wanted memes of their own. Because this became such a large and memorable part of my Junior year, I really wanted to create something to commemorate it. One of the very first memes we created was based on Mr. Chay's love for apples and cheese, as he ate them almost every day for lunch. As I was thinking of different memes I could base this painting off of, I had this "ah-ha" moment when I thought of "The Son of Man", from to the apple already pictured.
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Planning/Experimentation
Painting Process
Due to the virus quarantine and school being closed, I was not able to make my own canvas, so I had to settle for a pre-gesso'd canvas from Michaels. I prefer using self-made canvas because I feel its more personalized and custom, rather than mass-produced. I am able to control how tight the canvas is around the frame, etc. I then began to draw simple outlines and placing everything where I felt appropriate. I wanted to of course keep the same vibe and placement of the original portrait, the only thing changing places was the apple. Once the original drawings were complete, I began laying paint. I started with the background, and the clouds. I love the way the clouds came out, and I finally found a great technique. I found clouds look best when using very little amounts of paint, on a synthetic, long bristle brush. I took me the longest to blend the skin tone, and to try to make this as realistic as possible, but I was very happy with how it turned out. After the face and arms, and the background, I painted the clothes. To make him recognizable, I had to add the signature coral-colored jeans. These pants also became a large indicator in Mr. Chay memes because he wore them so often. Last but not least, I painted the large green apple. This was what really tied it all together, especially the bite out of it.
Compare/Contrast
Similarities
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Reflection
This is probably one of my favorite paintings I've ever done. I love that it has such a humorous and light-hearted meaning behind it. I really like the way it turned out as far as the level of realism I was able to capture. I can confirm that Mr. Chay did love it as well. This is likely one of my most realistic paintings as well. If I were to do this again, I think I would have worked a little more on body proportion because there was something a little off about the ratio of arms to the body. I also would have worked a little more on the detail work in the hair to gain a little more shading and dimension. Im happy with the blending of the background, and I learned a great technique in creating clouds that I'm sure I will use in the near future.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork...
Rene Magritte found that using vibrant colors distracts the viewer from the contrasting dull aspects of the piece, and in knowing this, I made all the colors vibrant to allow the viewers eyes to travel.
What is the overall Point of view the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors of my research gave a good overview of Rene Magrittes artistic intention, and an in depth reference to meaning/method of his artworks.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Magritte often used the use of color or setting to alter what the viewer focuses on in viewing his art.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea was to make something that single-handedly represented and commemorated a large part of my junior year, my meme page.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
After researching Rene Magritte, I could see how influential he was in the works of many other world-renowned artists and movements.
Rene Magritte found that using vibrant colors distracts the viewer from the contrasting dull aspects of the piece, and in knowing this, I made all the colors vibrant to allow the viewers eyes to travel.
What is the overall Point of view the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors of my research gave a good overview of Rene Magrittes artistic intention, and an in depth reference to meaning/method of his artworks.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Magritte often used the use of color or setting to alter what the viewer focuses on in viewing his art.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea was to make something that single-handedly represented and commemorated a large part of my junior year, my meme page.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
After researching Rene Magritte, I could see how influential he was in the works of many other world-renowned artists and movements.
Sources
Images
Liberty Mutual Commercial. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.google.com/search?q=liberty+mutual+commercial&rlz=1CAZGSZ_enUS868&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwimt5eYl-bqAhVGHM0KHVOWBYsQ_AUoAnoECA4QBA&biw=1366&bih=609&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=8KJxceJES7QpIM
The Son of Man. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.google.com/search?q=the+son+of+man&rlz=1CAZGSZ_enUS868&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiyieXsl-bqAhVLAp0JHZiEA5MQ_AUoAXoECCEQAw&biw=1366&bih=609&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=_HtSj0dYAXjp1M
Websites
Rene Magritte. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Magritte
The Son of Man. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.renemagritte.org/the-son-of-man.jsp
Liberty Mutual Commercial. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.google.com/search?q=liberty+mutual+commercial&rlz=1CAZGSZ_enUS868&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwimt5eYl-bqAhVGHM0KHVOWBYsQ_AUoAnoECA4QBA&biw=1366&bih=609&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=8KJxceJES7QpIM
The Son of Man. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.google.com/search?q=the+son+of+man&rlz=1CAZGSZ_enUS868&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiyieXsl-bqAhVLAp0JHZiEA5MQ_AUoAXoECCEQAw&biw=1366&bih=609&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=_HtSj0dYAXjp1M
Websites
Rene Magritte. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Magritte
The Son of Man. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.renemagritte.org/the-son-of-man.jsp