Identity

Natalie Costas "Siblings Stay"

18x10, Acrylic, 2025

My idea for this painting was to not only fit into the section that I was starting with, identity, but to show what makes me. My siblings have always been a huge part of my life. So when I saw this picture, it was what I wanted to do. I started by painting the background. We were in a tent and the majority of it was grey, so I just decided to do a solid background with streaks of different shades of grey. Then, I used transfer paper to sketch each of us's outline onto the background. I started with painting the skin, getting a base color and mixing different colors to add the shading to make everyone look more realistic. I did the same thing for the hair and clothing. I had to make sure the colors were very similar to the picture. I used many different sizes of paintbrushes, mostly smaller ones because of all the fine details. After everything was done, I had to go through and add little details, like bright spots and little hairs. The piece is me and my siblings. I think the picture does an amazing job of showing the joy we all felt when we were hanging out as a family. It shows the sibling bond we had. My siblings are not only my siblings but also my built-in best friends, and I want it to show. The most difficult thing for me was the eyes. Most of them were closed, but shaping them to be able to capture the facial expression right was difficult. I overcame it as best as I could by going slowly to make sure I was going the right way. If I were to start over, I would probably do the background a different way. I would rather have it horizontal. This is a realistic piece because it's a real picture. Something that makes it unique is that it is my family, and I always enjoy painting things I like. I love how it's not just a meaningless painting.