User:Elise.cai

Musicerende Engel

Research - Stealing from the museum

My method to steal and copy from the museum requires patience and perfection. The work I chose is called Musicerende Engel and was created by Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen in 1545.
It is a relatively small print and was made possible through a combination of etching and engraving. Below I will invent a step by step tutorial on how to copy a piece like this:

1. Measure the work of art and note down these measurements
2. Take a flat photo with a suitable camera
3. Accurately print a photo copy with the correct measurements
4. Research the paper and tools used to create the work
5. Acquire a light box and put the photo in it
6. Carefully trace to copy the style of the work on your selected paper

The aim of this method is to be realistic as it provides a simple and low budget do-it-yourself strategy to copy printed sketches like the Musicerende Engel even though it may not be completely accurate.
It is designed for people like me who do not have access to etching or engraving tools or lack the experience to do so. After doing some research I have found that it is indeed possible to make your own cheap tracing light box.
I will illustrate this with some photo examples below of homemade light boxes as pictures explain more than a thousand words. Click to enlarge.

Research - The idea of beauty

As a 2D illustrator I am mainly intrigued by 2D works as well. Upon entering a department in the museum that was filled to the brim with traditional and rather old sketches, one of them stood out to me in particular.
A small framed work, next to many bigger drawings caught my attention in the corner of my eye. It was this work by Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen that I observed and pondered about. Despite being a colourless sketch, the idea was clear.
I noticed instantly how something about this representation of an angel felt off to me. One would normally think that this lady is an ordinary woman and not a heavenly creature until you pay closer attention and notice the little wings behind her and her halo.
People back then had different standards for beauty than our society does now and what better to represent beauty than through an angel? This lead me to do research into the meaning behind beauty and what affects people to think differently about this definition.
What changed in our history and why? Is there a way for me to emphasize that beauty is subjective in my copy and reproduction? Concluding this, my research question is the following: What causes our ideal of beauty to change?

Research - The process

Starting my research, the first thing I did was look up tons of pictures of how we view beautiful women now compared to beautiful women back then.
Popular models and works of art alike indicate what we consider beautiful as beauty is often not only represented through real people, but also art such as the many famous paintings of Venus.



Women have become skinnier throughout time. Back during the Rennaisance, being chubby was considered good as a sign of wealth. There had also not been any works before featuring darker skinned women (Benton & DiYanni 2014).
In fact, the woman to the right in the above example is transgender. Another thing you would not have seen back in the 16th century or during the Renaissance.

Research - Images we had to bring

Handpicked some of my favourites. These images are all relevant to my chosen work.

Research - Statement (500 words)

My craft is closest related to 2D art and 2D artists were given many new tools and ways to continue their creative endeavors with the coming of the new age.
Living in this digital age brought forth a new generation of digital artists utilizing art programs on computers such as Photoshop for both 2D and 3D art. Over the course of years my interest in these digital programs has increased as well.
It is because they create rooms for autonomous artists to pursue new markets and look for new opportunities such as the movie or video game industry. So I have also tested the waters and tried out many of these programs next to traditional sketching because I was so interested.
When I picked this practice I had already hoped and thought about ways to apply my own interest and knowledge to the upcoming assignment. This is why I tried my best to make a digital copy of the Musicerende Engel to my own interpretations.

Artists often share similar goals. Two goals I see frequently that I can think of from the top of my head are that artists desire to change the world through their works or share their works for people to simply enjoy. The former are related to social workers as they intend to provoke thought or address political issues through their art. I major in illustration because I was and am more interested in the latter. I intend to use my craft to create things people enjoy. Be that alone or in a team or company. The past year we have been taught to specialize more and more and think about what we actually want to aim for too or achieve with our major. Because of this, I have been working hard on subjects such as character design or environmental painting because my preference lies within working together with the video game industry for example to bring collaborative works for a consumer to enjoy. To shed more light on this, other things I have looked into are music album designs, book designs, or movie design and all of these fields are in need of digital artists. Without the digitization of our current society, some of these products such as video games or 3D movies would not exist right now. To join this market means to learn their tools and that is what I am doing as of now.

I make art to create worlds where words would not do them enough justice. It is not enough to describe our imaginations so we have to draw them.
These creations and interpretations of our mind are to be put out there for others because sharing is important and keeping your creativity to yourself would not benefit anyone in this world.

Practice - Copy and transformation

The first sketch to the left is the copy and reproduction. The final sketch to the right is the contemporary transformation positioned in a new context.
Utilizing digital tools such as Photoshop enabled me to transform the woman step by step and illustrate how beauty is in the eye of the beholder as none of these women are objectively prettier.
I chose to work this way because working traditionally on paper would not have let me slowly edit and transform the features of beauty.

References (APA style)

Benton, J. R. and DiYanni, R. (2014). Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities, Volume II.
Edwards, V. (n.d.). A Look Back at Beauty Through History. Retrieved from scienceofpeople.com/ideal-body-types-throughout-history
Petty, A. (n.d.). How women's 'perfect' body types changed throughout history. Retrieved from thelist.com/44261/womens-perfect-body-types-changed-throughout-history