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Advertisement Media: black Ink on paper, Adobe Photoshop Size: Month of completion: September 2012

Description: __This studio work is still not finished__. It juxtaposes the belief of gender roles. It is meant to look like an advertisement, however, it is not intending to advertise anything. The reason being that vintage advertisements usually had some references to sexism. I wanted to contradict what vintage advertisements had regarding gender roles. In pop culture, beer often refers to men and washing the dishes often refers to women. However, in this ad, I switched the roles and had the woman holding the beer bottle and the the man washing the dishes. I'm still not finished. I have to add the setting. Analysis: What were the artistic and/or cultural influences for this project? Who/what influenced either the composition and/or the style. Charles Shridde was my artistic influence. He was an advertisement illustrator in the 1950s and 60s who specifically made adverts for Motorola and Cadillac. Since advertisements were printed, i went to his official gallery online and saw that most of his work is in watercolor. Therefore, i used watercolor as the medium. Cultural influences include pop culture in the 1950s and early 1960s. I found that sexism was ubiquitous in vintage advertisements between the 1950s and early 1960s.

What materials/media/processes did you use and or experiment with, and how? I used watercolor. I had already used watercolor, however, i experimented with the medium. I tried using watercolor with water on the brush, but with none on the paper; with water on the paper, but none on the brush; and with both water on the brush and the paper. I found that with there is water on the paper, the watercolor bleeds and when using a dry brush with watercolor, it can provide clean, thin lines, which can be used for details. Most of my watercolor techniques were influenced by Jean Pederson. After trying watercolor, I found that the piece does not resemble an advertisment, and that it looks like a mere watercolor painting. I decided to follow through with a suggestion i was given and digitally painted it on Photoshop. I used black ink to draw the subjects, scanned it and painted it digitally. I mainly used the brush tool to add color and the smudge tool to blend in different colors for a shadow effect.

How do you think you have responded to advice and criticism during this project (and during the term), both from fellow students and the teacher. Did you actively seek advice? If so, was it useful? Many have said the proportions of the woman seems oddly and as a result, I am still attempting to make her proportionate. No, i have not actively sought advice for this particular piece.

Clearly explain the weaknesses/areas for improvement - I had problems with proportions. I feel like the man's head is slightly bigger than what it should be and the woman's feet are slightly smaller. Also, after completing the man on Photoshop, I found that when adding the sponge filter, it is more appealing and resembles earlier advertisement when the smoothness is at 1. However, i had set a different level of smoothness when adding the filter on the other subject. It is not noticeable because of the size differences.

Clearly explain the strengths of the piece – The blending of different colors was successful. It accurately resembles shadows and highlights, which was my intention prior to completing this piece. Also, because of the mix of digital painting, filter effects and ink, it resembles an early 1960s advertisement. Although it is not as realistic as Shridde's work, but it still resembles it.

What could you take through to the next project and develop further? This could be anything, from a technique to an idea, not necessarily just the theme. Since i am researching Surrealism, i am thinking of going through that direction. However, i will use photo references to make this pieces and will not use my dreams as a source. This will still revolve around my them of the desire to be free.