Poetry Transformation

Picture:

By: Stephen Monus

Poem: POSTCARD

I write to you beneath this tent
While summer day becomes a shade
And startling magnificent
Flowers of the cannonade
Stud the pale blue firmament
And before existing fade

Author: Guillaume Apollinare (postcard sent to Andre Rouveyre, 20 Augest 1915)

Q. Write a 3-4 sentence explaining your interpretation of the poem. Explain how you used certain elements or principles of design to describe the selected piece of poetry.

The poem Postcard by Guillaume Apollinaire is a great small piece of poetry which I enjoyed reading, and presenting in my painting Postcard. In this poem Guillaume Apollinaire is taking about himself, who is writing to a friend (Andre) about a summers day. In this poem I used the words which I believed were important and I created my own visual painting of the poem Postcard.

Some elements of design I used were colors, shapes, and value. I used color because in the poem Guillaume talks about a pale blue flower and the changing of the day. I used shapes for example because it talks about a beautiful flowers. I also, used value because he talks about a transition from day to night.

Some principles of design i used were balance, contrast, and harmony. I used balance because I like to have balance in my paintings. I used contrast becasue of the transition from day to night, and I used harmony because it is a preety poem and so the image must also be preety.

Q. What discoveries or techniques did you find helpful through the process?

Discoveries:

I found that when I added the sewing portion to the blue flower I created, I found really brought out the blue, but it also created a nice border to the flower, making it stand out. I also found the sewing to make a drawn object appear more 3-d than painting on just the paper, I found it really added to my painting.


Techniques:

Some, techniques I used in my creative process were using the groves of the paper to make straight lines across the page. Also, by using the grooves this allowed me get rich detail out of the acrylic paints. Another technique I used were solid colors (no use of grooves), this gave me a transition between using the grooves versus using thicker/solid amounts of paint. I choose to do this because it seems to me, able to bring out the greens of the leaves and the blue flower. The last technique tried to use in my painting was the use of complementary colors, I wanted to use them because they make the painting look brighter, so I used green and red, and blue and a pale brownish orange.

Q. What are two skills that you learnt and what is one area that you feel you work on to improve your skills?

Two skills:

Two skills that I learnt from this project would be that by adding a new material or object to your painting can enhance your piece. Through the process of adding the sewing portion of the flower, I found it to be a challenge and difficult, but in the end it gave my painting a more 3-d look, which I was going for in the beginning. The second skill I learnt from this project was that the use of complementary colors can make your painting appear brighter and full of life. The complementary colors I used were green and red, and blue and orangey brown. Also, I used my complementary colors with tints (white) which gave my painting a sense of depth.