Artist Statement

This is a painting of a girl by a window, overlooking a city. The prompt for this piece was to use inspiration from past art movements. I chose two- impressionism and realism. I chose a casually posed subject, as if the painting was a candid photograph. I liked the idea of someone looking out a large, open window, objects on the floor, as if they'd run home and dropped everything to gaze out over the rooftops. It's a little like how I feel during daydreams, shudders flung open and the whole world spread in front of me.

I created this work by using an old paint-in-the-lines board and acrylic paint. The paint was thick enough to cover the lines, and I ended up using many layers of it.

This particular painting took a while. I had a clear image of how I wanted the piece to look, but I couldn't seem to be able to create it. The colours started off completely wrong, with more hints of blues and greens than warmer tones, and the brushstrokes were too small and not in the style that I was attempting. The realism movement was one that focused on positions like I mentioned. Instead of the posed portraits that had been popular, realism introduced everyday people and places in a more casual style. Impressionism was a movement full of hazy, clearly visible brushstrokes, which I drew from to create my painting. I kept coming back to the image I had in my mind, and eventually became familiar with the style of painting as well as mixing the colours that I envisioned. If I were to continue working on it, I would keep experimenting with colours.