Wonderful DisguiseIn-Progress PhotosCaterpillar Compositional SketchesGraphite Sketch #2ReflectionI began this piece gathering inspiration from a reoccurring dream that I used to have when I was younger. In this dream, I was in an environment similar to that of Alice In Wonderland; I was the embodiment of Alice, and as I stood near the tall strands of grass, I was greeted by an intimidating caterpillar, like that of Absolem (the blue caterpillar from Alice In Wonderland). Years later, I still remembered this dream that was so vivid and would repeat night after night when I was around the age of nine. Looking back, I interpret my dream as the situation in which a vulnerable, possibly young person, is pressured into participating in or completing an action that is disguised as something harmless and beneficial in the short term but is secretly dangerous. I interpreted the blue caterpillar as the item or individual that would be taunting someone into doing something harmful. The smoke that the caterpillar exhales alludes to smoking - an example of doing something harmful that falsely conveys a benefit. I have heard many adults recall being peer-pressured into drinking and smoking; my school peers have also participated in the same actions out of fear of "missing out" (i.e. juuling). What are they really missing out on? The short-term benefit of feeling a sense of satisfaction from these types of actions, leads to greater consequences- losing your job, losing your family, becoming depressed, being diagnosed with a disease, and death.
After interpreting what this dream meant to me and how it would relate to reality, I decided that my main focus for the piece would be to illustrate a vivid, happy, somewhat abstract environment with large-scale plants. I also wanted to ensure that I illustrated a blue caterpillar, smoking. I began sketching on my phone, instead of on paper, to try something new. I was able to illustrate a very 2-D, low-detail sketch with large-scale flowers, tree branches, a mushroom, a caterpillar, and a girl approaching the caterpillar. Although my idea of this composition was good in theory, on paper it looked off; it needed more depth and detail, and a more complex perspective. My teachers and classmates agreed with this, and so I began to sketch on paper to visualize differently. My first on-paper sketch had a similar perspective to that of my digital sketches, but I removed the girl from such composition. I removed the girl because I felt that looking at the final painting from the perspective of looking into the environment, rather than observing another figure in the environment, would be more meaningful and allow my audience to develop more freedom in their interpretation of my piece. I also decided that I no longer wanted to include a fence, and opted to only include a small house in the background, to make the colors and structures in my piece make more sense with the environment. After completing my sketches and adjusting what I would choose to include in my piece, I began my piece by laying down gradients of colors in areas of the canvas in which I felt would look best. Next, I painted some faint, messy strands of grass and mountain forms. I then tried to add more color to the sky and the tips of the mountains, and add more variations of green in the foreground. I then felt it was time to add some flowers, a mushroom, and a few other items in greater detail. Continuing to add color and detail, I started to experiment and add flowers and bits of color where I felt it would make the painting look more vivid. Noticing the sky seemed dull although colorful, I added some faint beams of light coming from the sky. While taking a break and observing what I had done so far, I questioned why I decided to add mountains to this piece. Yes, they were pretty and fill up space on the canvas, but what else? Boom! I had an epiphany; I realized that the mountains in this piece symbolized a portion of mountains from the mountain range in my piece #1. My interpretation of this was that these mountains in the foreground of this piece were the other side of a set of mountains that are not visible in my first piece. This correlation symbolizes how when one feels like life is moving too fast and being worried about choosing the wrong decision under pressure (referring to the meaning of piece #1), and sometimes, one can feel confident and excited to continue living with the choice they made, but the truth could be revealed later down the road, revealing that such was the wrong decision. This meaning brings greater significance to my pieces that have been completed so far, and has given me greater motivation to continue my course of action and find a deeper meaning for my future pieces that relate to the ideas of dreams and how they transpire into what people are thinking and dwelling on in reality, and how people's internalized fantasies will dictate their decisions in life, possibly preventing or manifesting the dream. After this further discovery of what my artistic concentration is transpiring into and connecting my pieces, I continued to add more detail to the mountains and soon began to illustrate the caterpillar. I knew beforehand that I wanted the caterpillar to be blue, so I focused on those colors, and added some additional flowers with hues of blue in this process. I also decided to add a branch with the same leaves of the trees/tall flowers in the background, in the foreground; doing so made my foreground correlate more to the environment of the background, and filled up some of the space in the sky. I also feel like this addition of the branch emphasized the caterpillar being the focal point, but it also draws the eye towards the branch itself, alluding to the idea of trying to cover up the true nature and harm of a course of action. After reflecting on this piece and explaining my process, if I could do anything differently, or add anything at this point, I would add more detail to the grass in the foreground, plants found in the grass, the caterpillar, and the pipe that the caterpillar smokes. I plan on adding these revisions soon, and after such, I feel like my piece will be exactly where I want it. Although this painting is not realistic in detail, nor imagery, I appreciate the vivid colors and the mood of the environment.
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AuthorHi there, I'm Ashley and I love all mediums in which I can express my fascinations and emotions. Whether it be painting, music production, apparel production, 3-D modeling, drawing, or writing, I just adore creativity's endless possibilities. I am currently taking Apparel Production II Honors and AP 3-D Art while I work with music production and 3-D modeling outside of class. ArchivesCategories |