For my final art project, I interpreted what
Norbert Goeneutte would have maybe done today if he were still alive. I took
his everyday life aspect and impressionist techniques and combined the two to
make a contemporary piece of work. For everyday life, I found photos of coffee
shops including a barista bar and people sitting on their computers doing work.
Then I took these photos and put them into Photoshop. Here I was able to create
a layer for both pictures and color match his painting View of St Lazare
Railway Station, Paris (posted below). Then I made the resolution 150 and went
to filters to add the oil paint layer. I played around with the texture I
wanted until I found the perfect medium. This part incorporated the
impressionist techniques of showing thin, light brush strokes with an undone
look to it (since from my research I found most works look unfinished). I then
added a 3D feel to have the people pop out as well as the bar. I wanted to the
people with computers to stand out because I felt this truly showed the modern
day look of every day life you could see. It is rare to walk into a place today
or even outside and not see someone using technology. I also added paint to the
border of the pictures to create more texture and show the brush stroke technique
used during the impressionism movement. Lastly, I incorporated little white
Christmas lights to display light. I struggled with this idea at first because
I was unsure how to show the natural lighting that Goeneutte displayed in all
his pieces. I felt that by stringing actually lights around the picture would
not only show the light I wanted, but also add to the contemporary feel. Overall
the underlying meaning of this picture is that even in a place such as a coffee
shop, which was once for meeting up with people and catching up or just
relaxing and enjoying a coffee, people are so consumed by technology that they
no longer sit back and relax.
Visual Analysis
1. Focal Point / Eye Path: The focal point here is the barista bar and then the eye path is intended to go down to the people on their computers. Both of these aspects are 3D and therefore guide the eye.
2. Implied Line: The implied lines were formed with the 3D aspect because it is no longer attached to the paper directly; the eye has to imagine it is meant to be there.
3. Actual & Implied Texture: The implied texture in this piece was from Photoshop as described above. It has an oil paint filter in order to display impressionist techniques of light, thing brush strokes. I also added paints with visible brush strokes on the border to add more texture.
4. Color Schemes: Monochromatic; mostly consisting of different shades of brownish yellows
5. Format: Picture, Photoshop, Vertical Landscape
6. Composition Terminology: Paper with Photoshop pictures glued down to it as well as lights strung around the paper and paint.
7. Scale: A sheet of Bristol Pad paper
8. Connotative, Denotative, Ideological Meaning: The denotative meaning in this picture is people sitting on their laptops in a coffee shop during the daytime. The connotative and ideological meaning here is that everyone loves to go to coffee shops today but it no longer is to relax. Sometimes it still appears to be this way, but more often than not people are sitting on their laptops or cellphones away from what is going on around them. People no longer can just sit and relax while enjoying a cup of coffee, but rather are always invested in their technology that consumes their lives.
"View of St Lazare
Railway Station, Paris" by Norbert Goeneutte
I enjoyed learning more about art this semester. I am always surrounded by it because my sister is a very artistic person. To be able to try and incorporate my own ideas was definitely a learning experience. Having a vision in your head is a lot different once you are trying to put it on paper. I found that was the most difficult part for me. If I were to change something about this class it would be to not write an essay. I thought the presentation portion was enough for me to really understand my artist and see what techniques he used and why he used them. Other than that, I felt that all the projects we did taught me a new technique and I learned a lot about texture and visual concepts. I hadn’t really ever thought about these things when thinking of how an artist incorporates materials into their works.
