Midterm Writing Paper & Creative Project
aalsunni
example_1_tara_visual_literacy_paper.pdf
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! ……………………………………..
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.
(Word Count: 1016)
