Title: Forgive the Sinner
Size: 24cm x 33cm
Medium Linoleum Cut Block Print
Completed: September 2022
• Exhibition Text •
- This art piece,"Forgive the Sinner" is a self-made
- linoleum that was inspired by Michelangelo's fresco painting; "The Creation of Adam." This art piece is meant to portray the biblical story of God creating Adam, the first man. My piece is emphasized more about the fruit of the tree; the apple, that Adam and Eve took a bite of. Adam is represented holding the apple, showing it to God asking for forgiveness after betraying his rule.
• Inspiration •
Artist in Focus: Michelangelo
-
"The Creation of Adam" 1508-1512
Michelangelo was an Italian Renaissance Artist that was an architect known for creating sculptures, paintings, and doing poetry. He was widely considered as one of the most influential artists of the Italian Renaissance. One of his major art pieces that I chose as my inspiration was his “Creation of Adam” fresco painting. He painted this in 1508–1512. Which is also a part of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling. His intention of “The Creation of Adam” was to show the religious, biblical scene of God giving life to Adam.
The art piece overall is very detailed and incredible. Using this art piece for my block print was a challenge. Michelangelo used very intricate line art for his painting, and had very complex details. More so focused on the hands of God and Adam, we can see that the hands he painted were extremely realistic, the shading of color and texture presented. Although, this was a challenge to use on my block print, I still decided to use this as my inspiration. The hands were a perfect example of how I wanted my exact hand positions to be. I used this painting as an inspiration in my process journal.
• Process •
-Sketches in my Sketchbook-
The first step in my process journal was to plan out what I wanted to do. I began sketching hands, in different poses to practice more on my ability to draw hands well. I took my reference image - closeup of the hands of God and Adam - and tried replicating it into my sketchbook to the best of my ability. After practicing doing hands, I wanted to also practice being able to draw an apple. I took pictures of an apple, and tried replicating it into my sketchbook as well.
For the apple, I was very worried about being able to represent the bitten side of the apple, not only in my sketches but into my block print as well. I knew that I would have to do very thin lines in order to be able to achieve the “bitten” look that I was desiring. I decided to just give my apple a deep inward edge to represent the “bitten” look I really wanted and it came out very well. My other worry was practicing the vines with thorns. I was worried as to how I would’ve been able to make the thorns show on my block print. So, while I sketched them out, I decided to make the thorns a little bigger and thicker, that way when I had to do it on my block print, it wouldn’t be very small, or nearly seen. After a couple of attempts, I was able to get the perfect vines that I wanted.
I experimented with other factors as well. I tried my sketches without the apple, and just the hands. Then, later on realized that the Fruit of the Tree - The Apple - would really bring out more empahisze of the meaning behind this art piece, and what meaning I wanted to really represent in my art piece. Since, Michelangelo’s piece represents the more positive side of God creating Adam. I decided to kind of change the perspective of it. I decided to do the negative perspective of this piece. I wanted to show how Adam deceived God and took a bite of the Fruit of the Tree. I wanted to show Adam trying to ask God for forgiveness, whilst holding the apple as well.
To bring more emphasis on the apple, I decided to add tree petals around the apple, to kind of show that Adam had grabbed the apple of the tree. I drew them around the apple to really draw attention it. I then did a clean sketch of my final art piece that I wanted to use for my block print. I used charcoal shading pencils on the back of my artwork so I could get the most accurate transfer onto my block print. I then used a regular #2 pencil to trace the lines onto my block print as well.
• Carving •
My next step was to begin my carving. A small concern I had before doing the carving was the fact that I’ve never done block print carving before. I was extremely nervous and scared because I thought I would mess up my art piece or not do my lines correctly. The carving tools that I used allowed me to do my thin lines that I needed to carve away. I also used the more bigger carving tool to allow me to get rid of the bigger pieces of my block print that I wanted to remove as well. A small struggle I had when carving was that sometimes I would carve a bit too deep, which caused my to carve away small holes in my block print. I was a little upset, but later on realized that it didn’t affect how my print came out which made me feel extremely relieved. After carving away the hands, apple, vines and leaf petals, I was ready to begin my printing process.
• Printing •
I began to gather my materials and set up my working station. I used my roller to apply a thin layer of my black ink to my block print. After my first print, I examined it and made some corrections. I needed to carve away a bit more of the empty space. I also realized that I needed to use a bit more ink. The first layer didn’t have enough ink. After fixing my mistakes, I made another print and it came out just the way I wanted it to, I was satisfied with my piece.
• Critique •
Stating some Similarities and differences between Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" and my "Forgive the Sinner" art pieces.
Similarities:
-Religious Message. Both of our art pieces portray the overall story of Adam and God. Although, they have different in-depth meanings, we both are presenting the same basic story of God giving Adam life to be the first man.
-Line Work. For the hands on Michelangelo's piece, I focused primarily on the detail that he used to create realistic hands and fingers. For my art piece, I portrayed the realistic hands to the best of my ability, trying to make it look like the original hands in Michelangelo's art piece.
-Religious Message. Both of our art pieces portray the overall story of Adam and God. Although, they have different in-depth meanings, we both are presenting the same basic story of God giving Adam life to be the first man.
-Line Work. For the hands on Michelangelo's piece, I focused primarily on the detail that he used to create realistic hands and fingers. For my art piece, I portrayed the realistic hands to the best of my ability, trying to make it look like the original hands in Michelangelo's art piece.
Differences:
-Overall Religious Message. In Michelangelo’s piece he was presenting the normal perspective of the story, God giving life to Adam. As for my piece, I wanted to present the negative perspective of the story, Adam deceiving God.
-Different Scenes. Michelangelo’s art piece included more images, such as full body paintings of Adam, God, and the angels around God. As for my piece, I was morley focused on just the hands of God and Adam. I didn’t include the full body of both God and Adam.
-Different Art Methods. Michelangelo’s art piece was a fresco painting that he created using paints. As for my art piece, I did mine on a block print, I didn’t paint. I also printed out more prints of my art piece, creating more copies of my art as well.
-Overall Religious Message. In Michelangelo’s piece he was presenting the normal perspective of the story, God giving life to Adam. As for my piece, I wanted to present the negative perspective of the story, Adam deceiving God.
-Different Scenes. Michelangelo’s art piece included more images, such as full body paintings of Adam, God, and the angels around God. As for my piece, I was morley focused on just the hands of God and Adam. I didn’t include the full body of both God and Adam.
-Different Art Methods. Michelangelo’s art piece was a fresco painting that he created using paints. As for my art piece, I did mine on a block print, I didn’t paint. I also printed out more prints of my art piece, creating more copies of my art as well.
• Reflection •
Overall, my art piece was a bit challenging to do, and was kind of fun to do. This is a new experience for me, using the ink, the carving tools and block printing. I learned a lot from this experience, my mistakes, and even from my successes. I’m very proud of myself for this entire project. It was challenging, but I was able to really surprise myself but what I could do. I was very proud of the block print carving I had made. I was able to learn a new skill from doing the carving and printing. Learning more about the Renaissance Era, and Michelangelo overall was extremely fun. I plan on making more art pieces inspired by the Renaissance and religious art pieces.
• Connecting to the ACT •
1) Clearly explain how you were able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your art?
My inspiration for my art piece was overall the Renaissance Era. I wasn’t sure as to what I wanted to create yet, but after researching more about different artists from that era, I was able to find a really inspirational artist; Michelangelo. The type of physical realism that he did in most of his artworks, truly inspired me. Especially the “Creation of Adam”. Being Catholic myself, this art piece inspired me to create my own perspective based off of the perspective Michelangelo had for Adam and God.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Michelangelo was Catholic, so I believe that he would have truly understood my perspective of the “Creation of Adam.” Especially since Catholics do consider Adam as a sinner and deceiver of God.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
While researching the Renaissance and art pieces from Michelangelo, I learned more about Catholic religion. Although I am catholic, there were some saints and angels that Michelangelo painted about that I wasn’t aware of. I learned more Saints such as; St. Laurence and St. Sebastian.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Since I am Catholic, I wanted to research more about religious art, specifically Catholic or Christian. Based off this, I knew that I would have to research deeper about the Renaissance Era, since many artists from this time period did primarily religious art pieces.
5.) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
A lot of artists from the Renaissance including Michelangelo really used God and religion as their source of motivation and happiness. I was really able to connect to that on a personal level because I have always seen God as my main source of inspiration and happiness as well. Being able to connect with the art that I was inspired by really made this project more fun to do.
My inspiration for my art piece was overall the Renaissance Era. I wasn’t sure as to what I wanted to create yet, but after researching more about different artists from that era, I was able to find a really inspirational artist; Michelangelo. The type of physical realism that he did in most of his artworks, truly inspired me. Especially the “Creation of Adam”. Being Catholic myself, this art piece inspired me to create my own perspective based off of the perspective Michelangelo had for Adam and God.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Michelangelo was Catholic, so I believe that he would have truly understood my perspective of the “Creation of Adam.” Especially since Catholics do consider Adam as a sinner and deceiver of God.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
While researching the Renaissance and art pieces from Michelangelo, I learned more about Catholic religion. Although I am catholic, there were some saints and angels that Michelangelo painted about that I wasn’t aware of. I learned more Saints such as; St. Laurence and St. Sebastian.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Since I am Catholic, I wanted to research more about religious art, specifically Catholic or Christian. Based off this, I knew that I would have to research deeper about the Renaissance Era, since many artists from this time period did primarily religious art pieces.
5.) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
A lot of artists from the Renaissance including Michelangelo really used God and religion as their source of motivation and happiness. I was really able to connect to that on a personal level because I have always seen God as my main source of inspiration and happiness as well. Being able to connect with the art that I was inspired by really made this project more fun to do.
• Citations •
“Michelangelo Is Born.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Feb. 2010, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/michelangelo-born.
“Michelangelo's Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel.” Michelangelo's Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel, https://www.thesistinechapel.org/the-creation-of-adam.
“Michelangelo's Architecture of Faith.” National Catholic Reporter, 22 Dec. 2017, https://www.ncronline.org/news/media/michelangelos-architecture-faith.
“Michelangelo's Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel.” Michelangelo's Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel, https://www.thesistinechapel.org/the-creation-of-adam.
“Michelangelo's Architecture of Faith.” National Catholic Reporter, 22 Dec. 2017, https://www.ncronline.org/news/media/michelangelos-architecture-faith.