Here is my final piece:
In relation to the viewer, I intended to manipulate the viewers eye with my composition. I aimed to draw the viewers eye at first glance to the less layered, more washy center in the left central region of my piece. Immediately following the viewers original central movement, I intend to have the viewers eye move away towards the more harsh edges. I intended to make the viewer question and wonder about my process, and to portray a sort of chaos - such as that of television static. I find that the most successful part of my piece is the use of layering and strategic color choice.
I aspired to cover all aspects of Gerhard Richter's work, but I found that this aspiration could not be fulfilled. Gerhard Richter has been creating art for much longer than the the time I had for this project (and much more than I have been alive) and has been in a constant movement between mediums, techniques, and styles. I quickly realize that I could not capture effectively all of what Richter has produced in his life. However, in my sketchbook I attempted to cover his many techniques and styles. I think I thoroughly explored much of his abstract work with paint, but I wish I could have explored more realistic images with paints (although they are very challenging).
The aspect of my final piece that I enjoyed most was the painting process. My process consisted of scraping paint using tools such as drum seats, palette knives, and other scraping tools across my piece in horizontal and lateral lines. I felt comfortable with this technique because I could experiment and master the technique in both my workbook and my early painting layers. I originally learned to use this technique, and used these tools by watching a video of Gerhard Richter working on a massive piece on a wall. He used a scraper similar to that which I used.
I felt that my pen-pal conversations were very insightful, and that I was helped to realize my intentions and helped others realize their intentions through my conversations. I struggled throughout this project in determining when to stop because many others gave me lots of different perspectives on aspects they like and dislike, which ended up being very contradictory. In the end I decided I was content with my piece and would change it no further. Throughout this project I learned lots about Gerhard Richter, myself and what appeals to me aesthetically.
