Extended Blind Contour.

Mind Boggling.

2H pencil, sharpie, oil pastel, and watercolor. 

9x12"

The main idea that inspired my artwork was the face and hand that formed from the blind contour exercise. After the exercise, I began turning the paper, looking at it from all angles. Somehow, I recognized the hand placement, imagined an arm stringing the face and hand together; and saw what was the form of a violinist. It seems insane that all of this could just rapidly come to my imagination. But I kid you not, it did. I'm still in shock at how specific it was, too.  Moving on, after I had the idea of a violinist, and my brain was on a musical track, I saw the two hands together and thought they looked like a pianists fingers, playing a chord. But then I thought: I have to pick one, because if one hand is playing the violin, then they can't also be both playing the piano. I debated for a while and then decided that they in fact could be. This idea of a multitasking musician sparked the entire rest of the piece. A complex, colorful, confusing piece that represents everything at once.  Without going too deeply into it,  the patterns near the musician is supposed to represent liveliness and music and happiness. The piano tapers off and falls into a plume of smoke from a city, meant to represent climate change approaching quickly. Everything created has a purpose and is supposed to flow well. 

I used a 9x12" piece of watercolor paper, sharpie,  2H pencil, watercolor, and oil pastel. 

I chose to use oil pastel because of how the colors are bright and vibrant. I also knew I would have control over small patterns or shapes and lines. I used watercolor because I wanted to add light background to some places, and I thought it would contrast well in the trees. I did a lot of smudging/fading of oil pastels in this piece because I like the way it creates flow and could make everything feel connected. In terms of research, the only thing I did was use a reference photo of a violin. Lastly, I did revise my work. After confusion, my work was not finished on time. However, the good thing that came out of this was that I had heard my classmates feedback, and was able to put them into my final artwork. Revision definitley gave me some last minute ideas on how to improve the piece.