Sustained Investigation #1

Her Own Little World is a portrait of my little sister against a background of ideas that represent who she is at this point in her life. My inquiry question for this sustained investigation is: how can I use symbolism and background to tell a story about those I portrait? Sylvie Anna, my little sister, is currently in middle school. The gestural style of her portrait is representative of the unorganized lifestyle she leads while her outward gaze shows the curiosity and wonder of growing up. Sylvie Anna spends a lot of time hanging out in her room in ~her own little world,~ so she is represented here against a background of space. This holds double meaning though: she's at a point where she is expanding her horizons and exploring and finding where she belongs— similar to the idea represented by the lines breaking the border: she is pushing her boundaries and beginning to emerge from the shelter and confines of our parental rule. Poppies peak out around Sylvie Anna's face because they are Poland's national flower and we are of Polish lineage. I included this to reveal a staple fact about her background. The final intentional symbol I included was the color of her shirt— green symbolizes her youth and innocence. I'm choosing to explore this topic for my sustained investigation because I'm interested in bettering my portraiture skills and explore new ways to convey meaning and tell a story through my art. I’ve chosen to draw those who are close to me so that I can have them pose for me in person, which gives the drawing enhanced energy and liveliness. I also have a decent understanding of who these people are and what story I think is important to tell about them.

This mixed media portrait was created using a Sharpie gel pen, acrylic paint, a white Sharpie paint pen, and painter’s tape on bristol paper. Bristol is my go-to when doing a pen drawing because the smooth texture allows the pen ink to flow continuously, creating strong line quality. I also used the gel pen because I know that the Sharpie brand has good ink quality that creates smooth, strong lines. Acrylic paint is a material I typically shy away from but I felt it would be the most effective way to create the background image and I am happy with the way it looks with the pen ink. The paint pen came in handy to draw in the planet's rings and to add general detail.

The first order of operation to create this portrait was to brainstorm a background that would reveal something about my sister. Before I started putting these ideas down on paper, though, I had my sister pose for me while I gesturally drew her portrait. While doing so, I focused on the different shapes that come together to create a facial feature to improve accuracy, as well as negative space to ensure that all facial features were accurately distanced and positioned. I created value in this portrait by overlapping lines and scribbling more densely to make shadows. Once done with the main figure, I moved onto the background where I first stenciled out several circles to later become planets. I then drew in details such as the planet's rings, a moon, and poppies. Before I began adding color, I taped off a border where there would be no paint, then began painting. The bright red/pink color of the poppies gives them emphasis which is effective in keeping them from blending into the background and hidden behind the head. As the layers of paint increased, I went in with the gel pen again to outline the figures to make them stand out more from the background. Once the paint was peeled off, I spread some of the color outside of the border to tie in with the lines breaking it. My next steps for this project could be adding more color or depth to the areas where the border is broken to make it seem more intentional.