Sustained Investigation #10

Artist's Statement:

Jillian Wight

Medsker

AP Art and Design 

14 February 2023

With this work, I wanted to keep pushing myself to incorporate more material synthesis.  I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go with this project so I looked through my sketchbook, my journal, and thought about what is on my mind now.  I realized that as a second-semester senior, I’ve been thinking a lot about what plans I have next year, and when people ask me (which they do, A LOT), I sometimes joke that I “have a lot of irons in the fire.”  This idea is definitely connected to growing up, which is what my inquiry is shifting toward at this point.

After I solidified my idea, I needed to think about how I could add material synthesis.  I wanted the depth of color from oil pastels, so I used them to create my reds and yellows, and then shaded and added depth using ashes from my fireplace at home.

This piece was a lot of fun, and gave me the opportunity to practice really defining facial expressions.  I experimented with perspective a lot, because I wanted to emphasize details like forehead creases, etc. but also wanted the fire/mouth to be the main subject.  Finally, I played around with a light source here.  Shadow isn’t usually something I prioritize, but since the fire was so important to the narrative of this piece, I practiced paying attention to where highlights/darks fell.  I’m happy with the result!

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