Choice Piece
The Day I Was Born
Watercolor Painting
25cm x 17cm
Exhibition Text:
For my choice piece, I painted Cook County Hospital in Illinois. This hospital has so much meaning to my life. It was the place where I took my first breathe and a place where society took care of those could not otherwise afford medical care. Hal Koenig is my inspiration artist. He is known for his urban landscapes, natural landscapes, and portraits, done primarily in oil paints. His quick application of bright colors provides the contextual foil and accentuates the fluid characteristic of his paintings and subjects.
PLANNING
Artistic Inspiration
For my artistic inspiration, I used Hal Koenig, a local artist in my area. Hal Koenig is a painter of urban landscapes, natural landscapes, and portraits, done primarily in oil paints. Hal is deeply Interested in the interplay of the urban environment and natural landscape. His quick application of bright colors provides the contextual foil and accentuates the fluid characteristic of his paintings and subjects. I really love the way Hal uses bright colors to portray a landscape. It's very aesthetically pleasing and gives viewers a sense of tranquility. Apart from that, his paintings make me a proud resident of Milwaukee. It's not everyday that I get to see beautiful scenery in Milwaukee.
Planning Sketches
For my first sketch, I thought of painting Cook County Hospital in Illinois. This hospital has so much meaning to my life. It was the place where I took my first breathe and a place where society took care of those could not otherwise afford medical care. So many impoverished immigrants were treated there. Because of this, the hospital was often called Chicago’s Ellis Island The old Cook County Hospital building was designed by architect Paul Gerhardt and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The 102-year-old building features a Be-aux Arts facade, graced by pairs of fluted Ionic columns and a full complement of decoration .
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For my second sketch idea, I thought of painting my neighborhood. My neighborhood is where I've spent most of life in. It's seen me in my good days and in my bad days. No matter where I go in life, I will always remember my neighborhood. I also now realize that my neighborhood is dull in color so it will be fun painting it with bright and bold colors.
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For my third sketch idea, I thought of painting the plaza in Atotonilco el Bajo, which is a town in the municipality of Villa Corona in the Mexican state of Jalisco. This plaza holds so many memories to me. This is the place where I can be happy and interact with my family from Mexico. Essentially, this place is what connects me to my roots and heritage.The actual meaning of Atotonilco comes from its Nahuatl roots. "Atotos" means place and "nilco" means strings of water. For this reason, I thought it to be a good idea to use multiple shades of blue for the shadings.
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PROCESS
The top half of the Cook County Hospital was the most difficult to draw because the building had a lot of intricate designs. I found myself having to simplify some of the designs because they were simply to small and time consuming. This is what the finished top half of the sketch building looked like. I repeated my sketching process for the bottom half of the hospital building.
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This is what my final drawing looked like. I didn't draw the fence around the building like my reference picture had included because it took away the focus from the hospital building and gave it the the appearance of being unapproachable and old. I wanted my drawing to recapture the Cook County Hospital to when it first opened and gave many immigrants a guarantee to good health, despite not having insurance. I also didn't draw the man walking down the street because Hal Koenig never had people shown in his paintings. He did however include cars.
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I then used bright watercolors to paint the drawing. I went in color order to paint this. What I mean by this is that I colored everything that needed to be orange first, then moved on to everything that needed to be painted blue, and so on. At this point, I had to keep referencing the colors used by Hal Koenig in his paintings in order to imitate his painting style.
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This is what my painting looked like when it was halfway done. I found myself using mostly shades of orange, blue and purple. At this point, I had to experiment a lot with watercolor paints. There were times when the colors came out to pale or too dark. This painting helped me learn that darker values and more intense colors can be developed through multiple applications of color. Lighter values are developed with minimal applications, since the white of the paper influences the resulting value.
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This is my finished result. I am very pleased with my results, though personally, I wish the drawing came out better. When I compare my painting to the original photo of the Cook County Hospital, I realize that colors truly can change the emotions being evoked. The cool colors used in the painting provide a nice balance between stimulation and serenity that is supposed to encourage creativity. Light purple is said to result in a peaceful surrounding, thus relieving tension. The colors green and blue give the impression of a peaceful and calming environment. These cool colors are typically considered restful.
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REFLECTION
Meaning:
For my choice piece project, I chose to paint Cook County Hospital in Illinois while imitating Hal Koenig's landscape painting techniques. I chose to paint this specific hospital because it has so much meaning to my life. It was the place where I took my first breathe and a place where society took care of those could not otherwise afford medical care. So many impoverished immigrants were treated there. Because of this, the hospital was often called Chicago’s Ellis Island The old Cook County Hospital building was designed by architect Paul Gerhardt and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The 102-year-old building features a Be-aux Arts façade, graced by pairs of fluted Ionic columns and a full complement of decoration. I always want to remember this building because essentially, it's where I came from. Never forgetting where you come from will keep you grounded and in touch with reality. I believe that it is important to embrace your life and those who have helped you to be where you are now. I know that the struggle to the top can be a difficult one. For those of us that are the right combination of smart and lucky, we'll have been cultivated in large part by our actively influential surroundings. The environment we grow up in is an important factor in our upbringing and in the success that we one day will achieve. For this reason alone, I want to never forget where I came from, and that includes the hospital in which I was brought into the world by.
Compare & Contrast
SIMILARITIES:
- All three paintings have a high saturation of color
- Both of Hal Koenig's paintings were done using oil paint but my painting was done in watercolor out of pure preference. Because this, the colors aren't as bold or bright as the colors made using oil paints.
- All three paintings have vivid detail and a good use of highlights and shadows to add depth.
DIFFERENCES:
- All three paintings are landscapes. However, "The Day I Was Born" and "Third Ward Afternoon" include a close up view of a cityscape, whereas "East Town Summer" features a view of the city from farther away.
- In both of Hal Koenig's works, the brush strokes can be faintly seen. It is unknown to me if this was done on purpose. Brushstrokes are not visible in my painting and the colors fade into each other gradually, unlike Koenig's.
ACT RESPONSES
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
I was deeply inspired by the works of Hal Koenig. Hal Koenig is a painter of urban landscapes, natural landscapes, and portraits, done primarily in oil paints. Hal is deeply Interested in the interplay of the urban environment and natural landscape. His quick application of bright colors provides the contextual foil and accentuates the fluid characteristic of his paintings and subjects. I really loved the way Hal used bright colors to portray a landscape. It's very aesthetically pleasing and gives viewers a sense of tranquility. Keeping that in mind, I also used bright colors for my landscape painting. In doing so, I realized it added new meaning and emotions to my own artwork.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The information I have about Hal Koenig came straight from his mouth. I got the opportunity to meet him at the Downtown Gallery Night in Milwaukee. He sees his work as extraordinary and full of color. Hal loves to portray his city's beauty in his paintings.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
While I was researching more about the Cook County Hospital, I relearned that it was a place where society took care of those that could not otherwise afford medical care. So many impoverished immigrants were treated there. Because of this, the hospital was often called Chicago’s Ellis Island. This old hospital was very important to the immigrant community. I also learned that the old Cook County Hospital building was designed by architect Paul Gerhardt and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The 102-year-old building features a Be-aux Arts façade, graced by pairs of fluted Ionic columns and a full complement of decoration .
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my inspirational research was of remembering your roots.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While doing my research, I inferred that Cook County Hospital truly was an important building in America's early years.
I was deeply inspired by the works of Hal Koenig. Hal Koenig is a painter of urban landscapes, natural landscapes, and portraits, done primarily in oil paints. Hal is deeply Interested in the interplay of the urban environment and natural landscape. His quick application of bright colors provides the contextual foil and accentuates the fluid characteristic of his paintings and subjects. I really loved the way Hal used bright colors to portray a landscape. It's very aesthetically pleasing and gives viewers a sense of tranquility. Keeping that in mind, I also used bright colors for my landscape painting. In doing so, I realized it added new meaning and emotions to my own artwork.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The information I have about Hal Koenig came straight from his mouth. I got the opportunity to meet him at the Downtown Gallery Night in Milwaukee. He sees his work as extraordinary and full of color. Hal loves to portray his city's beauty in his paintings.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
While I was researching more about the Cook County Hospital, I relearned that it was a place where society took care of those that could not otherwise afford medical care. So many impoverished immigrants were treated there. Because of this, the hospital was often called Chicago’s Ellis Island. This old hospital was very important to the immigrant community. I also learned that the old Cook County Hospital building was designed by architect Paul Gerhardt and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The 102-year-old building features a Be-aux Arts façade, graced by pairs of fluted Ionic columns and a full complement of decoration .
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my inspirational research was of remembering your roots.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While doing my research, I inferred that Cook County Hospital truly was an important building in America's early years.
Research Links
- Koenig, Hal. "Hal Koenig." HAL KOENIG. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 2017. <http://www.halkoenig.com/>.