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INDEPENDENT PROJECT 6

Podcast Project Introduction/Summary:
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Workbook Pages (IWB):
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Description
This is a square work in oil pastel on canvas. It is intended to show rural life in Upper Egypt. One can tell that it is Upper and no Lower Egypt from the hills in the background which are specific that geographical area. === What were the artistic and/or cultural influences for this project? Who/what influenced either the composition and/or the style. === This piece is influenced by my research into Hussein Bikar, who was the primary artist model for this piece. Since I have showed urban Egyptian culture through formerpieces I want to show the other main aspect of Egyptian culture, which is rural life. through this and similar pieces. The style of Art Deco posters which usually have rays radiating from the center symmetrically influeced the composition for this piece, except here I moved away the rigidity of technical style and explored a less-straight, measured layout. However did generally use the rule of thirds to layout the house, for it be the center of focus in the painting.

What materials/media/processes did you use and or experiment with, and how?
I used oil pastel for the first time in a a final studio piece and experimented with those to show texture and depth in the fields. I also used a square layout for the first time. I also used some shading/texture/gradient for the first time, since myh previous works were all flat and 2D.

weaknesses/strengths/improvements to the piece
=== 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? === In the next piece I will be working on several pieces at the same time. In one I will be moving forwards with the rural life theme, however in general I wish to continue using oil pastels in my painting as I've found them extremely useful in getting the effects that I like. I intended to experiment with combining them with oil paints.
 * rough details need to be added in the hills to make the scene more realistic, these can be trees/bushes and/or small houses
 * the building is too clear cut, it should appear old, overgrown with vegetation, etc., but building's color needs to be darkened slightly
 * there is good shading in the pal leaves, and no blending problem as experienced in my paint trial
 * the texture formed naturally by the pastels gives the field life, but the borders between the fields are too clear defined
 * the figures are improved from my trails and appear within the grass, but are too unrealistic and appear still, they should show motion and movement as if they are actually working
 * I didn't trial enough with the drawing of animals which is new to me, and as a result, the 'donkey' is the biggest weakness of the work
 * the lack of a harness between the donkey and cart, etc. show how unrealistic it is, just becuase the painting is rough in stryle doesn't mean that I should ignore details like this. Perhaps in the future I should draw the entire scnee in technical detail, and only color it in roughly at the painting stage
 * the donkey and cart do not fit the setting, a donkey here would have probably been carrying things on his back and not on a cart