sustained investigation #7

(9x12c inches)

I’m calling this project, "spotlight" because I thought it would emphasize the influence young girls have on what a woman should do and what she should look like. The subject is a young girl staring at the modern mannequin. I chose to create this specific work because I knew growing up this is what I saw when I went shopping, got barbies, you name it. When I was creating this I thought of a childs mind and how easily influenced they are.

For materials, I use charcoal and colored pencil. I used charcoal to get better value for my darks and lights. I used a variety of techniques and methods including: shading, crosshatching and layering. While creating this work, I paid close attention to the light. shining on both subjects by adding bright colors and lighter charcoal. I wanted my artwork to look simple and I did that by adding few components. To add interest to my composition, I used color for the subjects and the lack of color for the background.

I like the way it reminds me of myself and I am proud of the message it has. However, I struggled with the effective use of the charcoal. If I created another work like this I make the mannequin more slender. My work shows that I learned that I can use art to show lessons I've learned.