Reaching For...

Zoey Tiefenthaler "Reaching for..."

6 x 12", Colored Pens, Alchohol Markers, Acrylics, 2022 

My inspiration for this piece came from my experimenting with different poses at the beginning of the school year.  I soon drew a pose that I was very interested in, and I wanted to translate that sketch into an actual project.

The project process began with making the concept sketch, then beginning to turn that into my final project.  I drew the same pose on a  different sheet of paper while also trying to figure out what I wanted to do for the background.  I decided to go for a simpler one in order to make the central figure stick out better.  Once the figure was fully drawn in, I began drawing in the background using alcohol markers.  Along the way, I used a couple of colored pens to outline the figure, representing value through contrasting colors.  Near the end of the project-creating process, I used some white acrylics to paint the glass-like shards looming behind the figure.

This work represents the "power" of a human's ambition and resilience.  It depicts how much one is willing to go through to reach their goals and attain something more than what they've gone through.  Most of the background is dark, like a void, but a flashing light at the bottom shines, breaking through much of the darkness.  The figure appears as if they're floating or falling through a spatial domain, with their hand outreached and extended to its fullest, trying to grasp the light, mere millimeters away.  The white shards behind the figure point at them menacingly, threatening to stop them from even touching the light.  The figure, in spite of the peril, remains focused and is determined to find salvation in the void of hopelessness.

For me, the most difficult part of this process was the background.  The alcohol markers proved to be a bit of a struggle when it came to this kind of paper.  However, by the time I realized this, I was too far into it that I couldn't change mediums and hope for something better.  So, I continued with what I had and eventually left it as is.  If I were to start this project over, I definitely would've at least used a different kind of paper that could handle the alcohol markers better, or even use a different medium like paint or colored pencils.  I also would've used something other than acrylics to draw the shards since they don't look as smooth or clean as I wanted.

The style of this piece is Surreal.  What makes it unique for me is the posing of the figure and the different kinds of colors used to represent the background and the "power" represented through light.  I love the central figure the most, especially the left arm and hand.