Existential #1

Sustained Investigation #1

Colored pencil, Sharpie

18 x 24 In

This is my first sustained investigation, focused on showing internal conflict and crisis. I showed the subjects' internal conflict by having a devil and angel on his shoulders and the subjects are shown with blank faces and closed eyes to represent their vast thoughts not seen by outsiders. I also made the lines shown coming from the corner of the page to give the feeling of the subject being "watched" by the face in the moon above, representative of "God" or a higher being. I made the colorful and textured patterns coming from the subjects head to give insight into how he is feeling, chaotic and uneasy.

This work is made primarily out of colored pencil however, the black background is sharpie and the lines are made out of whiteout. I used thin markers to add color to the lines and patterns coming from the subject's head. Because I made this piece on illustration board, it was hard at times to burnish all the colored pencil but I think the results are good.

This piece had lots of revision, I originally didn't have the lines but I think they add necessary composition to the piece. I also haven't used colored pencils very much on my projects so I experimented when using them. My inquiry is "How can I explore crisis/existential thinking using mixed media art?" which I think this piece well represents.