Words of Wisdom

Here are some words of wisdom I found about beauty... I found some of them quite inspiring :)

• Let your smile change the world, but don't let the world change your smile.
• She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. (Proverbs 31:25)
• Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. (Khalil Gibran)
• She turned her can'ts into cans and her dreams into plans.
• I wonder how often in the past I may have missed the good in people because I pre-judged, based on differences?
• "Gimme that girl with her hair in a mess, sleepy little smile with her head on my chest. That't the you that I like best, gimme that girl." (Gimme that Girl by Joe Nichols)
• Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world. (Marilyn Monroe)
• To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
• Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. (Marilyn Monroe)
• Beneath the makeup and behind the smile, I'm just a girl who wishes for the world. (Marilyn Monroe)
• I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles. (Audrey Hepburn)
• For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone. (Audrey Hepburn)

She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. (Proverbs 31:25)

For my first experiment with the theme of beauty, I am playing with watercolor, portraits, and glasses. Glasses fascinate me... especially to paint! I remember when I was little hearing about how kids were called "four-eyes," but I personally wish I wore glasses because I think they are so fun. That's only partly why I did this project, though. I like the way glasses distort the way we see people, and also the way they distort the world for them. Are glasses something people hide behind, or do they show confidence in their look? Beauty is about the way you see things, and glasses have a large effect on that. From an artistic standpoint, they change the shape of the face through the reflection in the glasses. Check out the way the cheek is extended past the side of the face because of the way the glass distorts the view! Also, I made the glasses the only thing in color to draw more attention to them, much in the same way glasses make someone unique.

Glasses Study, Part 1

11/2011

Watercolor

I love this one because you can see the innocence in this little girl. It shows what childhood should be all about. I also love her hair and all the shadows/highlights.

Glasses Study, Part 2

11/2011

Watercolor

This woman represents the idea of growing up. Her expression leaves some mystery, like the life ahead of her. I also like the intense shadows cast across the face here.

These girls portray their strength, their independence, and their confidence, which is what beauty should be all about. :)

"Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." -Goethe

In IB Art, the thing that matters most is developing a theme. I finally decided that I am going to explore the theme of beauty. It may seem superficial at first, but I don't simply want to draw pretty people, just to be clear. What is beauty in other cultures? What was beauty in other times? What is beauty? Is beauty important? I want to be able to find these answers, and maybe some meaning through my research and artwork. 

I starting searching, and here are some of the interesting things I found:

• According to generallythinking.com, adherence to social consensus + genetic fitness = physical beauty. Quite an interesting formula, I thought.
• According to the dictionary, beauty means:

1. the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest).
2. a beautiful person, especially a woman.
3. a beautiful thing, as a work of art or a building.
4. Often, beauties are something that is beautiful in nature or in some natural or artificial environment.
5. an individually pleasing or beautiful quality; grace; charm: a vivid blue area that is the one real beauty of the painting.

• According to the thesaurus, beauty is physical attractiveness. This is also known as...
• adorableness,allure, allurement,artistry,attraction,bloom,charm,class, comeliness,delicacy,elegance, exquisiteness,fairness,fascination, glamor, good looks,grace, handsomeness, loveliness,polish,pulchritude,refinement, shapeliness,style,symmetry, winsomeness
• According to a Dove Campaign that asked, "What exactly is beauty?" it was found that:
• Seventy-seven percent strongly agree that beauty can be achieved through attitude, spirit, and other attributes that have nothing to do with physical appearance.
• Eighty-nine percent strongly agree that a woman can be beautiful at any age.
• Eighty-five percent state that every woman has something about her that is beautiful.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways of defining it. So can you help me out? One of my projects I am planning to do is with words... and I want your words. What is beauty? Does beauty matter most or least?

-Sarah