Sustained Investigation #9

Process Images:

Artist's Statement:

Jillian Wight

Medsker

AP Art and Design

1 February 2022

With this work, my main goal was to respond to the critiques of some of my classmates. Many of my peers suggested that in order to bring my works to the next level, I should clarify my focus and message, and work on emphasizing a specific subject. They also mentioned that a more cohesive color palette would be really effective in making each work more coherent. I decided to base my work around the theme that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I chose to depict a person that would be considered “ugly” by most, looking into the bathroom mirror where a gorgeous reflection stares back. This emulates the idea that the person sees themselves as beautiful, even if most may disagree. I wanted this piece to remind viewers that there are more definitions of beauty than the one that is pushed to sell us products. Beauty is a relative concept. I used yellow colors to suggest not only that the person is at peace and happy with themselves, but also to further the idea of discomfort with the viewer when presented with the person’s grimy appearance. The blue in the mirror emulates a sort of contrasting freshness. I think that the intensity of the colors is balanced by the intentional manner in which they were used.

I started with Blick felt-tip pens and Sharpie pens to create this work, and then went in with a white gel pen to highlight important details.

This piece required a lot of experimentation. The first thing I played around with was the shape of the canvas. I wanted it to add a unique element to the piece that would challenge my skills with composition. I chose a diamond because it is reminiscent of an eye, furthering my message that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I also had to fight my instincts a lot when adding color, because I really wanted to stick to a focused palette. In the end, I think this was successful although I did have to play around with what shades of purples and blues I used so that they would still fit into the generally warm vibe. I also had to experiment with shadow quite a bit in order to ensure that the subject stood out from the background. I used multicolored dots to darken certain parts of the image, and I’m really happy with the result! I also made sure to only add gel pen to parts of the image that were specific and important, so that they would stand out. In the past, I have tended to overdo the gel pen and details become lost. Finally, I played around with the appearance of the reflection a lot, because I really wanted to find a balance between my style and the clean, conventionally beautiful vibe I was going for. The perspective of this piece was also very challenging, but with many adjustments, I got to a place I’m happy with.

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