Rhianna Catt

Type Fives are considered independent, innovative and inventive and can become wrapped up in their own minds with their own thoughts and their imaginary ideas. Therefore, can become detached for the surrounding world around them, also intense and high strung. They can struggle with eccentricity, which can be also considered a positive thing, nihilism (rejection of religious ideas), and isolated themselves. However, many see the world in an entirely new way.

Here I was trying to represent the imaginary ideas and worlds which can be created in a Five’s mind and how they can detach from this reality. I tried to engulf the character in this nights sky surrounded by the birds which are in inverse trying to notion that is not a real construct.  

With this type, straight away I knew my idea and what I wanted to achieve. Therefore I sketched out my idea and skipped the process of the digital mock-up, which in someways I slightly regret however I am generally happy with this piece, the only issues I have are with the moon, and that wasn’t down to not planning correctly that just was myself not achieving in the painting what I wanted to achieve.

The main issues/only issues with this painting to myself is the moon and the hand. The moon looks are bit strange and draws too much attention to it because that fact I lost too much white of the paper when painting and then had to go in with white ink and is looks a little off putting and doesn’t fit with the rest of the image, also opaque white looks slightly blue when overlaid on top of the grey’s.

The hands, specifically the fingers look like sausages, that might sounds a little harsh, but they appear very smooth and have little detail and accuracy unlike the rest of the painting. This not in these words was also pointed out by Karl during the Wall of Artwork critique.

However I love the expression I believe it really represents the idea of the Dreamer, and in general the idea of the piece and it’s links to the idea of the type, and the idea of the imaginary world and the idealism created within her head and the way I expressed that.

Sixes are all about commitment and security. They are responsible, hardworking, reliable and trustworthy. They are trouble-shooters, they ensure cooperation and foresee problems before they occur. However, at their worst they can become anxious, defensive, cautious and indecisive. They can have issues as well with self-doubt. As their main desire is to have security and support they are very loyal to the people around them and they champion not only themselves but others as well.

In spirituality and some religions, deer represent and are symbolic to the idea of loyalty and compassion. The idea of the circle behind was also this idea of security and reliability as a circle never ends.

This was one of my favourite paintings, and I took a very different approach, I was worried about the all looking the same, but at the same time them not being cohesive, and this piece was the one I painting in the middle, and wanted to incorporate elements of other but make it even more so unique. I like the balance of the graphic elements are the softer, more natural and textural elements. The hair has the balance between the detailed hair I had been create and the stark graphic flat coloured hair.

I love the simplicity of the pattern and ties in the pattern from Two and the inverted nature ties into Eight.

I love this painting and the colour yellow tinting the black giving it this warm slightly sepia tone, is beautiful and a colour mix I would definitely use in the future.

The only thing I can think about improving this painting is working on the shape and the edges of the hair as they seem a bit haphazard and messy in places.

Sevens are always on the go, they are high-spirited and practical and want to be everywhere at once. They are always constantly seeking experiences which are new, exciting, and different. Therefore, try to apply their many talents and become over-extended, overworked, scattered, exhausted, distracted, and undisciplined. They can also struggle with feelings of impatience and impulsiveness. However, they are also extroverted, optimistic, versatile, and spontaneous.

The idea of the lightning was myself to emphasise and illustrate the strikes of inspiration and ideas, and the energy and high spirit nature of a seven, but at the same time how this can be dangerous, as even though lightning is beautiful it opens up the skies and can cause fires.

The sketch for this painting was really simple, I knew I wanted the edges of the hair to blend into the background even though in the end I gave a little definition, it was to mirror the painting Five. Also when working with images of rain and lightning it is hard to draw out with a line drawing, therefore I knew the mock-up would give me a better idea and insight into the painting and the outcome.

It was still a very simple mock-up because I have experience of painting thunderstorms in hair, specifically from the paintings I have completed of my interpretation of Zeus a couple of years ago. The main reason for the mock up was to work out the tones, as for this piece I knew I wanted darker hair, however not black and the idea of using a white background didn’t fit with the rest of the series therefore I needed to work out the values.

I also wanted to include texture in this image in tie in with Six, and to express the same idea of the bubbling energy and enthusiasm of the personality type.

Generally I am overall happy with this painting and the outcome, however like previous paintings, I am not completely happy with the hands, I am generally more pleased with them than others, as there is more detail however I think they got a little dark while trying to achieve more detail, and there is some weird wobbly lines which makes some fingers look a little deformed.

The model in the reference I used was Hispanic, however I don’t believe I made her look so, and feels a bit ordinary, and this plays a part into as a whole I feel the collection is lacking diversity. I also believe I could of pushed the contrast and the texture more in this piece and it would have made it more unique and play more off the characteristics of the type.

Eights are leaders, self-confident, strong, and assertive. However, are protective of themselves and others around them, but resourceful and decisive. However, this can all lead to issues with becoming ego-centric and domineering. Plus, the need to control their environment including people and therefore can be seen and act confrontational and intimidating. They can also have issues with allowing themselves to be vulnerable and with their tempers. However they wish to use their strength to improve their own life and the lives of others and can become heroic, magnanimous and inspiring.

With this piece even though I roughly sketched out the girl, see below, I was mainly working with a digital mock-up. My sketches include very limited detail and just the bare minimum I would need when painting, as the sketches are ready to transfer to the watercolour paper.

With this image I didn’t need the lines, the needles or spikes as I could eyeball them in, plus I wanted to experiment with the tones, as I wanted stark contrast as the idea of the challenger and being dominant.

Here I was trying to find the balance of being protective but also strong and assertive. Therefore, I used this spikes as ones goings into her however there are ones going outwards as well, as if she is fighting back.

The texture in the background of this piece I absolutely love, I used a spray bottle and built up around 15 layers add more and more ink into the water with every layer, the texture is unique to this painting however still looked cohesive with the rest of the pieces.

This was one of the last pieces I painted and some of the elements in this piece were to tie in others and make the collection feel cohesive, and the texture was an important part of that.

The painting which inspired the feel, style, and the tone of this collection, see below, had this inverted image as the grass entered the hair and I wanted to honour that in this piece. I used Eight to do this as the lines are very similar to the grass in the image below.

I used red in this piece as it to me, not only colour psychology, represents quite a domineering personality, and anger and strength. The warmth in the tone of the black also worked well with this piece and I believe it would have felt a little cold when using a cold colour. I know sounds obvious however depending on the image and the colour depend on how the colour tinting the black works and gives the image, life in some pieces with the design, blue can give life and even warmth to the image, as it isn’t so flat, but also that coldness can extenuate something inside the image. This image I wanted to be warm, as the personality type at an extreme could be considered cold. However I wanted to find a balance and still have the image to be inviting even though some of the elements are quite harsh.

The black flat graphic hair is also one of my favourite elements, however unlike Nine, which had flat tone and no detail, this hair is still full of detail and the juxtaposition, and even though it is a single tone, the mind can fill in the detail and no more was needed than that. This was done in this specific piece to tie in the hair of Four and Nine, and bring the flat colour in but using detail to tie into the other pieces. I think this was sucessful.

Even though I like the spikes I believe I should have gone thinner and more delicate, as they seem a bit bulky in places. Also I found it really difficult to do the invert image in the hair accurately when the hair was so detailed, and could pull of the elegance I wanted or wished I could have achieved. Even though I planned this piece out, I forgot to think about this detail and I think if I planned more thoroughly I could have achieved the result I was looking for.

Nines are able to bring people together and heal conflicts as they are accepting, stable, trusting and supportive. However, can go along with others too willingly to keep the peace. They are afraid of conflict, and of loss and separation and their goal is for everything to go smoothly. However, this can lead to similar problems as Twos as they are not considering themselves as much. They can also struggle with being complacent and stubbornness, and minimising anything which could be considered as upsetting to others.

Nine was also a tricky one. I used the idea of her starting to blend into the background as that is what a nine can do when trying to resolve conflict, as they can minimise one’s self. I really wanted to use a reference to peace, even if it became more obvious than the others which were more subtle in nature, I used peace lilies, however I wanted them to sort of overwhelm the character.

The way I build and develop an image I overlay images/references to create a unique image, even when working in black and white, and even more so with monochrome work, I work out the values. This is important so there is enough contrast but also harmony. And this way of creating my image through collage and sketching, really gives me a good reference to work from.

When working on this tonal comp, I knew I didn’t want too much contrast as I had an idea of the character blended into her surroundings, coming part of them, therefore I knew most of the image would be quite dark however having some contrast with the stark white peace lilies, and white representing innocence, purity and light.

Due to the fact once all the final paintings were placed together there was a lot of compositions with the figure looking to the right I decided I would flip the image digitally to then give some variety in pose. As I intended for the final outcomes to be printed at some point, these little details are things I would do before printing.