the vlog squad

!

A!good!example!for!Art!100!midterm!paper!!(with!MLA!writing!style)!

!

*Please!follow!the!instruction!(under!“What!New”!on!BB)!carefully!again!

before!submitting!your!midterm!paper!to!me!(and!also!to!BB).!

!

*The!yellow!highlights!are!the!good!examples!of!how!to!put!the!references!

where!you!got!the!info!to!support!your!paper.!

!

*Also!don’t!forget!to!put!the!word!account!at!end!!

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!

Visual!Literacy!Paper!&!!

Creative!Project! !

! !

Tara!Calderon!

October!4,!2013!

Arts!494! !

!

Dancers(in(Blue,!was!created!in!Musée!D'Orsay,!Paris,!France!during!the!year!of!

1890!by!Edgar!Degas.!I!have!always!admired!Edgar!Degas’!artwork,!so!I!decided!to!look!for!

famous!artworks!created!by!him.!I!was!instantly!fascinated!by!Dancers(in(Blue(and!was!

able!to!found!a!nice!quality!image(at!the^athenaeum.org.!1!!!

I!would!like!to!start!by!describing!the!historical!background!of!Dancers(in(Blue!and!

some! background! information! about! Edgar! Degas.! Degas! is! best! known! for! being! an!

impressionist! artist! but! he! considered! himself! to! be! a! realist. 2 ! The! artist! Jean! Auguste!

Dominique!Ingres!hugely!influenced!Degas.!!Ingres!would!advise!Degas!to!draw!lines!and!

draw! more! lines. 3 ! ! In! the! 1880s! Degas! started! to! get! involved! with! photography.! ! He!

would!photograph!his!friends!that!were!dancers!by!using!a!lamplight.!It!was!the!artificial!

light!that!he!preferred!to!use!for!his!photographs. 4 !He!would!use!the!photographs!as!a!

reference!to!his!artwork.!!Degas’!Dancers(in(Blue!was!just!one!of!the!many!artworks!that!

he!incorporated!ballet!dancers!into.!He!made!approximately!1,500!paintings!and!drawings!

on!this!subject!matter.!At!this!time,!his!artwork!focused!on!the!human!figure!and!the!

movement! that! is! creates.! Degas! captured! the! line! and! movement! of! the! figures! in!

different!viewpoints.!!

The!artistic!value!of!Dancers(in(Blue!is!very!high.!Throughout!the!years,!Dancers(in(

Blue!has!been!duplicated!for!consumerism.!It!has!been!reproduced!and!repackaged!for!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 !“Dancers!in!Blue”!Edgar!Degas.!http://www.the^athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=5525!(Oct.!2013)! 2 !Schenkel,!Ruth.!"Edgar!Degas!(1834–1917):!Painting!and!Drawing".!In!Heilbrunn(Timeline(of(Art(History.! New!York:!The!Metropolitan!Museum!of!Art,!2000–.!

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dgsp/hd_dgsp.htm!(Oct.!2013)! 3 !“Edgar!Degas”,!Museum!Quality!Handmade!Oil!Painting!Reproductions.!http://www.1st^art^

gallery.com/Edgar^Degas/Edgar^Degas^oil^paintings.html!(Oct.!2013)! 4 !“Edgar!Degas”,!Museum!Quality!Handmade!Oil!Painting!Reproductions.!http://www.1st^art^

gallery.com/Edgar^Degas/Edgar^Degas^oil^paintings.html!(Oct.!2013)!

multiple!items.!!Dancers(in(Blue!has!been!reproduced!into!paintings,!t^shirts,!mugs,!etc.!

because!Degas’!artwork!is!considered!public!domain!and!has!no!copyright.!The!beautiful!

detail,!texture!and!bold!colors!that!are!represented!in!the!oil!painting!make!this!piece!of!

art!highly!valued.!!

Degas!creates!Dancers(in(Blue!on!canvas!by!using!oil!paints.!Degas!illustrates!four!

ballet!dancers!stretching!and!posing!in!blue!dresses.!He!creates!angles!in!the!arms,!

dresses,!and!legs,!which!makes!the!work!of!art!very!dynamic.!Degas!creates!asymmetry!by!

positioning!the!dancers!in!an!environment!that!is!cropped!to!fit!the!specific!viewpoint.!

Degas!learned!this!technique!from!the!Italian!Mannerist!style. 5 !!Degas!visited!Italy!in!1856!

where!he!studies!some!of!the!great!master!painters!such!as!Raphael,!Michelangelo!and!

Titian. 6 !!He!would!draw!and!paint!their!works!of!art!over!and!over!to!learn!from!their!

technique. 7 !!On!the!right!side!of!the!painting,!there!seems!to!be!a!brown!door!like!panel.!

He!put!the!viewer!in!a!position!that!creates!the!idea!of!peering!in!on!the!dancers.!Degas!

studied!a!variety!of!techniques!in!Dancers(in(Blue.!He!used!hatch!marking!for!the!

contours!of!the!dancers!skin.!Contours:!meaning!near!and!around!the!outlining!of!the!

figures.!!He!combines!vibrant!colors!with!pastel!tones!to!create!an!all!over!whimsical!

feeling.!!Degas!established!layers!and!layers!of!the!oil!paint!to!create!a!wonderful!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 !Schenkel,!Ruth.!"Edgar!Degas!(1834–1917):!Painting!and!Drawing".!In!Heilbrunn(Timeline(of(Art(History.! New!York:!The!Metropolitan!Museum!of!Art,!2000–.!

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dgsp/hd_dgsp.htm!(Oct.!2013)! 6 !“Edgar!Degas”,!Museum!Quality!Handmade!Oil!Painting!Reproductions.!http://www.1st^art^

gallery.com/Edgar^Degas/Edgar^Degas^oil^paintings.html!(Oct.!2013)! 7 !“Edgar!Degas”,!Museum!Quality!Handmade!Oil!Painting!Reproductions.!http://www.1st^art^

gallery.com/Edgar^Degas/Edgar^Degas^oil^paintings.html!(Oct.!2013)!

background!texture.! 8 !He!defines!the!figures!and!environment!subtly!with!thin!lines.!!He!

also!creates!depth!by!creating!shadows!near!and!surrounding!the!figures.!

I!have!always!been!drawn!to!Edgar!Degas’!artwork.!I!love!the!sketch!like!studies!

that!he!has!created.!I!am!so!inspired!by!his!work!that!I!have!made!my!own!studies!of!his!

dancers.!I!am!personally!drawn!to!figural!artworks!specifically!the!female!figure.!To!me,!

there!is!something!so!beautiful!about!dresses!on!the!female!figure.!My!current!artwork!

focuses!on!fashion!and!the!female!figure,!so!I!think!that!is!why!I!am!so!drawn!to!this!

specific!piece!of!art.!The!colors!and!texture!are!pretty!captivating!too.!I!love!how!Degas!

uses!loose!painting!lines!with!more!detailed!sketch!lines.!It!is!so!great!how!Degas!is!able!

to!capture!the!movement!and!pose!of!the!dancers.!He!brings!the!viewer!into!a!private!

place!where!you!would!normally!not!be!able!to!experience.!

The!four^panel!artwork!that!I!have!created!is!called!The(Blue(Dress.!I!used!Edgar!

Degas’!artwork!Dancers(in(Blue(in!combination!with!my!idea.!I!display!the!artwork!at!the!

end!of!my!four^panel!artwork.!My!first!panel!is!the!smallest!panel!and!it!starts!at!the!top!

of!the!artwork.!I!have!used!rice!paper!to!create!fabric!like!samples.!I!have!colored!them!

with!yellow,!blue,!and!brown!acrylic!watercolor.!This!stage!represents!picking!out!a!color!

of!fabric.!The!second!panel!gradually!gets!larger!in!size.!I!have!created!a!pattern!for!a!

dress!and!glued!it!to!a!brown!colored!background.!On!the!panel!modele!de!robe!is!

written!which!means!dress!pattern!in!French.!I!choose!to!write!it!in!the!French!language!

because!Edgar!Degas!was!French.!This!stage!demonstrates!the!act!of!finding!a!dress!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 8 !Schenkel,!Ruth.!"Edgar!Degas!(1834–1917):!Painting!and!Drawing".!In!Heilbrunn(Timeline(of(Art(History.! New!York:!The!Metropolitan!Museum!of!Art,!2000–.!

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dgsp/hd_dgsp.htm!(Oct.!2013)!

pattern!to!create!in!fabric.!!The!third!panel!is!a!drawing!of!a!vintage!French!sewing!

machine.!I!have!created!the!sewing!machine!in!blank!space!with!a!yellow!background.!

Machine!a!coudre!is!written!on!the!panel.!This!is!also!in!French,!which!means!the!sewing!

machine.!This!stage!represents!the!act!of!sewing!the!garment!together!to!create!a!dress.!I!

have!also!included!blue!thread!pieces!on!to!this!panel!to!make!it!more!three^dimensional.!

The!last!panel!is!the!largest!of!all.!It!is!the!famous!Edgar!Degas,!Dancers(in(Blue!painting.!!

I!did!not!create!the!painting!with!oil!paints!like!Degas!did.!I!used!acrylic!watercolor,!

Prismacolor!pencils,!graphite!pencil,!and!rice!paper.!In!the!last!frame,!one!of!the!figures!is!

wearing!the!blue!dress!that!was!created!with!the!fabric!in!panel!one,!the!pattern!in!panel!

two!and!the!sewing!machine!in!panel!three.!It!is!the!only!three^dimensional!dress!in!the!

painting.!The!dancer!is!depicted!as!if!she!was!looking!down!at!her!new!created!dress!and!

the!other!ballet!dancer!looking!down!at!the!dress!as!well.!I!wanted!to!add!another!sewing!

element!to!my!four^panel!artwork!by!sewing!each!panel!together.!Moving!from!the!

smallest!panel!to!the!largest.!Each!panel!also!has!some!sort!of!three!dimensional!element!

added!to!it.!!

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