I made this piece as the final part of my year-long project in my AP Art class. The general idea of the course is to follow a chosen question and create art to answer that said question. Each piece is meant to add a different perspective on the question, answering it from as many different angles as you can think of.

The question I chose to consider was: "How does the concept of falling change depending on the concept that it is used?" Late in my junior year, I came up with this question in preparation for this course and ended up having my heart set on it. There were so many different angles I could go with each piece, and I wouldn't run out of ideas.

As the year went on, I pushed myself further and further out of my comfort zone. I dove into more intense concepts and imagery and pushed myself with methods of creating. As I did, I spent longer and longer on my art. This is something I was not used to, as I spent 4 hours on each piece at the maximum. When I began making pieces that were taking me 15 hours to the 18 hours that this one took me, I was noticing the huge differences in the work. I was becoming more detail-oriented. I used references, color pallets, and so much more that forced me to be present while making my art, having me actually consider what I was doing. This was therapeutic, in a way, pushing myself to meet a goal and actually creating a product that I'm proud of.

This piece was a gift that I made for myself. I took inspiration from movies I love, mainly Labyrinth and Dark Crystal, and I tried to make something that would do the concept justice. This piece went through many phases, from digital to traditional to relief printing to acrylic painting, and yet nothing was right in my brain. One day I decided to just let myself do what I'm most comfortable with, digital art, and go from there. I created this creature and worked for long hours to create different backgrounds, taking breaks to shade him, deleting the background, and repeating. I had to stop myself from being sentimental and precious with my art, deleting attempt after attempt of backgrounds that I deemed unworthy for my creature to live in. At some point, I got frustrated and decided to just go for it, not make something realistic or perfect. I ended up sketching this background, and it was perfect.

I am so beyond proud of this piece, though the title isn't as creative. It is, to date, my favorite piece of art that I've made.