Social Issues

Natalie Costas "Women's Rights" 

Acrylic, 2025

The idea for this painting stemmed from the social issues category, and this is an issue I feel very strongly about. From there, I looked up some ideas to portray it, and I went from there. I started by painting the background, mixing different colors of orange and white to make it a color I liked. Then, I used transfer paper to get the drawing in place. After that, I mixed orange, pink, and white to make the coral color for the body. For the flowers, I used the same color but added a little bit of red to make it a darker shade of pink. I did the same thing for the wording and other flowers, just with blue. After everything was painted, I used a small paint pen  to outline the letters, flowers, and everything else. The artwork is trying to show the importance of women rights. When the audience looks at it, I want them to see that. It's been a constant battle in the world for a long time about what women should and shouldn't do with their bodies, and it needs to change. Women should have the simple right to choose what they would like to do. It's a different way to show beliefs and changes that need to be made that could speak to a different audience through art. The most difficult part for me was definitely the transfer paper part. I had to use the projector, which made it much harder for me to make sure everything was lined up. It wasn't, and the flowers got quite messed up. I overcame it by just winging it and making the flowers look better by adding the length or shape it needed. If I were to change anything, I would change the shape of the flowers and I would be more careful when tracing. This would fall under the abstract category because it's showing the human body in a simpler way rather then it being super detailed. The message it sends makes it unique to my personal style. I'm a super opiniated person, and it speaks towards something I believe in. I really like the bold colors and the way they look together, and that it speaks loudly about something I believe in without me having to say a word.