Two Free Choice Pieces

Paper Substrate Artist Statement:
Have you ever had a ever looked in a mirror and not liked what you have seen… Well if you are then you will be able to relate to my first piece. Recently my sister and I went shopping and found ourselves critiquing our bodies based on what the clothing looked like on the mannequin, and I took a step back and thought I am not the mannequin and I am me and should not, along with so many people, be comparing myself to something that I am not. For this reason I got this idea to create a painting that expressed this feeling. I started by building a paper substrate out of a plain brown piece of paper and then built up five or six newspaper layers. Next I added a layer of magazines of models and bodies that are considered “attractive”. To finish the paper substrate I painted on a thin layer of gesso mixed with a little water and painted on top of that. Lastly I painted the girl. The girls skin tone is made of only primary and white mixed together to create rich natural layers (I probably painted like 5 layers of her face and arms). The girls hair is also composed of primary colors blended to create highlights and a normal hair color. Thinking compositionally I chose to place the girl off centered and to the left because I always do things centered and I wanted to add more emotion to the piece. I also chose to have the girl hugging her leg because she is sad and the position just looked sad. Lastly I chose to have her face showing, contrary to my planning of just the side of her face, because I wanted to show the raw sad emotion of feeling bad about oneself based on the photo shopped celebrities and magazine models. Overall I like the piece and love the meaning I put in the piece however, I am torn between adding something to the background or leaving it as is.

Canvas Painting:
My next composition started as a cliche portrait of a person holding an umbrella n the rain. While I was painting it I was bored, plus it just felt so icky, and I hated it so I frustratingly painted over it. While I was painting over it I was getting this cool movement and brush strokes from the layer of wet paint underneath. I was then feeling better about my piece and got this idea to paint a girl (which is kinda like me), on top of the cool looking background, walking towards the light. I really loved the movement and subtle drama of this piece however it needed to go farther and I needed to and another layer of some sort. I then thought of all the things I could add like smoke, cities, flowers, patterns, and etc. All of a sudden it hit me I should add more brush strokes that are a different color and break up the flow of the circular motion of the background. I chose brown to do this because, it repeated the color of her hair and I took it to mean her leaving her dark troubles that are closing in on her. I love this piece because it can be perceived in so many different ways, people can view it as they want and take it to mean whatever they want based on how it makes them feel. If I could change anything I would go in and add another layer to her hair and skin otherwise to me it is perfect.