Sustained Investigation XI

Bubblehead

4 in x 3.5 in

Graphite, ink, & watercolor on bristol

For this assignment, we were asked to create an eleventh work for our inquiry question. The message I wanted to convey in this work was that people struggling with mental illness may feel like they have no excitement or joy in their life, which I why I chose to make the portrait without a smile or facial expression in graphite. A major part of my inquiry question is focusing on color, so to convey the joy and excitement happening around the subject (but not in the subject's life) I made many colorful circles overlapping each other, as just barely overlapping the subject.

To create this piece, I started by sketching my reference photo on the bristol paper, and used different graphite pencils and a tortillion to blend the portrait. As for the colored circles, I made sure each circle was dry before doing another layer on top so that the colors wouldn't blend and the circles would keep their shape.

Overall, I am happy with this piece because I needed to make it in a short amount of time. I continued to push my use of color, perspective, and size.