5 obstructions

For the five obstructions pieces, one of my five obstructions is a macro or micro focus. I performed research on what macro and micro artwork is. I found multiple categories about micro and macro artwork. In many of the reference pieces I saw, there was a heavy emphasis on nature. In these works, the pieces of nature were distorted in some sense - captured in ways that deconstructed the subject. In some instances, you might be unsure what the subject is before you are able to piece together evidence of the subject. 

After gathering a range of references, I began to draw on top of the photos to figure out how to implement the other obstructions in this piece. For example, I could only have 12 lines. The obstruction of only using 12 lines really pushed me to think about how I use lines and how I could use these limited lines to create contour and shading. This made me come up with the idea of using a subject that had curvy and intricate lines. Therefore, using a flower, I would be able to maximize the 12-line maximum by utilizing the natural curves in a flower. While I originally thought this was going to be harder since I use multiple lines in a cluster to create shadow or to define my shape, I was able to think critically about how to play with the line to achieve the same effect for shading and outlining the object. I was able to think about playing with thickness and how the line changes in order to achieve the same effect of using multiple lines, something I am more comfortable with. 

For inspiration, while I took the shape of the rose from example images, I am using my imagination to create the shading that makes up the petals. Once I settled on a design and sketch that best captured my idea of the flower, I began building and stretching the canvas. I also chose the main colors for the painting: yellow for the rose and blue for the background. I gravitate toward intricate pattern and line work, so I felt the rose’s natural pattern with linear lines woven emanating from the center of the flower best matched my artistic style.

Using house paint, I laid down the blue since I wanted a contrasting color to the yellow I planned to use for the flower. I felt the blue would allow the flower to pop against the background while also simultaneously complimenting the color, too. During the painting process, the rose started to come out green. To overcome this, I added another layer of yellow. I was nervous that this second layer was going to make the yellow base layer of the rose thicker and make it so it had a texture to it. However, I did not encounter this problem as I added the second layer of yellow to decrease the green tint. I also had to mix the paint I had in order to create value within my lines and to create multiple shades. These colors needed to stand out against the base color of the rose but not look too obviously different or contrasting. The reason for this was to differentiate the petals along with their shadows against the lighter yellow shape of the entire rose0. During the process, I changed the size of the brush while continuing the same line. Changing the brush allowed me to play with the thickness of the line, emphasizing the natural curves in the rose.