I struggled a lot with this project. From the very start I ran into complications. I couldn't figure out what to make. I spent several days wandering aimlessly around my house trying to spark some kind of inspiration. I came across a piggy back which made me feel nostalgic. That's when I realized what I wanted to do. I decided my piece would reflect my emotions. As I grow older, I become increasingly excited for college and my future in general. However, part of me still craves the simplicity of childhood. I mean who wants to deal with life when it gets hard. Sometimes I would much rather go back to my crayons and construction paper days. This longing for my childhood is symbolized by my hand reaching out to the various items (sock money, piggy bank, Jenga) that are representative of my childhood. I really loved this concept, so at first I was really motivated. Because I was super motivated, the sock monkey came out really nice. I think I did a good job adding all the small details to really portray the texture of the monkey. However, as time went on I got decreasingly motivated and my drawing and quality of work suffered. By the time I got to the Jenga blocks, I hated the piece. Everything looked so boring to me and I felt like I made wrong color choices for the hands and blocks. I pushed on and started the background, purposely avoiding the piggy banks because I had no clue how to make the reflection. After I made the background, I hated it even more. Due to this severe hatred, I took a week break. Taking the break was one of the best decisions I made. Coming back from the break, I felt motivated and confident. After seeing how one of my classmates created a reflection on a similar material, I had a rough idea of how to make the reflection. In the end, the piece grew on me. I really like the reflection in the pig and I still love the concept. My one major problem is that I forgot to add the second foot on the piggy bank. I guess it's just going to have to deal with having only three legs.
This was not my first time working with oils. I took a painting class a few years back and came to the conclusion that I hate oil painting. This statement is still partially true. The first pear which was made using standard painting techniques was not dreadful to make, but I am still not a big fan. Personally, I don't prefer painting. Painting with the oils was slightly frustrating at times. The paint takes so long to dry and I am a very impatient person. I didn't like that I couldn't wait till the paint was dried to add layers. When I tried layering the paint would just get muddled and mix together. Eventually, I realized this and made sure to save the places where I wanted highlights and keep them white. Sometimes I would just embrace the mixing and let it be. On the other hand, I LOVED using the pallet knife. I've always loved sloppy and messy paintings. However, I could never seem to let myself do it when using paint brushes. This is most likely because I am so used to creating smooth textures with my prismacolors. What I love about the pallet knife is that I have no other choice but to make it messy. I can easily incorporate random spurts of color and the texture is amazing. OH MY GOD I LOVE THE TEXTURE. All I want to do is run my hands down the painting and feel all the bumps. All these aspects come together and make, in my opinion, really eye catching pieces even if the subject is as simple as a pear. I am super excited to continue to make pallet knife paintings. I feel like they are not only cool to look at, but the messy style reflects me as a person.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2017
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