AP Studio

In the beginning, I had an idea to paint semi-realistic storm clouds with rain as tears. As I was painting, I decided to change it to realism and make everything lighter. I liked the soft and tranquil look of the lighter colors. I changed the direction of the piece and went with something more peaceful. I had never painted clouds before so I thought it would be fun to push myself and try something new. Besides painting something different, I also decided to use a different process than I normally do. 

Instead of using a dry brush with acrylic paint, I tried using a wet brush to let the colors act on their own. I started with a thin coat of paint, figuring out the layout I wanted. After I decided on a layout I put down a base coat of paint. I used the watered-down acrylic to paint in sections. Starting with the clouds in the front, moving to the middle, and then doing the background. Once I was satisfied with how it looked I spent some time figuring out what color to use for the background. After the background, I used pink to add pops of color and blend the clouds with the sky. 

When someone looks at this piece I want them to take a moment and think about peaceful times. There’s no stress, no responsibilities, no worries. You’re lying in a grassy field looking up at the clouds, taking a moment to relax and enjoy the tranquility. 

I had a lot of difficulty with the shapes of the clouds. I had never painted clouds before and the structure and shadows confused me. I spent a lot of time looking at pictures and paintings of clouds. I also watched a few videos of other artists painting clouds. After trying out a few different painting techniques, I was able to successfully paint a section of clouds that I was happy with. If I were to start over, I would spend more time defining the shape and shadows of the clouds. 

Instead of painting in my usual semi-realistic or cartoon style, I decided to paint this in a realistic style. I still wanted color, so I added pink for the lighting. I love how the pink pops and stands out.

My concept started as someone looking in a shattered mirror. I wanted to do something dramatic with perspective. I drew a few small thumbnails, experimented with the idea, and decided to change the layout to what it is now. 

I started by roughly sketching out the layout I wanted. I filled in everything with a base color and then went straight into rendering. I did the person first, mapping out the shadows and blending where it’s needed. After I finished rendering the person I did the lighting and shadows on the mirrors. I cleaned everything up and added an overlay to make things more moody. 

I made this piece to represent the expectations of those around you. When people have this concept of you in their head that doesn’t align with who you are, it can be suffocating. Their expectations of you can shatter the image you have of yourself and make you lose sight of who you really are. 

The most challenging part of this piece was the person’s back. It was difficult to find a reference image with the exact pose I wanted. To get around this, I used several images with poses similar to what I had in mind. I was able to use parts of those references to get an idea of what the shadows should look like. I like how it turned out, but I think the piece is missing some visual interest. If I were to change something, I’d go back and add detail to the background. 

I would say this piece is a combination of realistic and surreal. The person is more realistic while the background is more surreal. I really like how the shading on the person looks, it looks pretty realistic.