Existential #8

Road Less Traveled

9 x 11 in

Marker

This piece was made to focus in on the solitude of a house, the house is all alone because it represents the need for escape from society and civilization. The most important element of the piece however, is how the house is on the search for isolation they are unable to escape because of the large road by the side of their house and the power lines leading to their house. Although they want to escape society they are unable to fully get away because they still think they need the luxuries civilization allows, like power through power lines and paved roads. I played with perspective a lot with this piece in order to help it tell a story as someone looks at it, the hills roll along with their eyes and they follow it up to the house, which breaks off onto its own path.

I made this work with Blick markers. I used lots of layers of marker to create bold and clear colors and marks. I used fine sharpies and pens for some of the black details around the roads, building, and on the power lines.

Originally, my piece was sketched without the house and instead with a lot of trees, however as the project evolved I realized I wanted to make a more complex idea behind the piece and add the house on the search of isolation. I experimented a lot with color with this piece because there are a lot of bold colors which I wanted to ensure were right for the work. Lastly, there was also a lot of research that went into the piece, I looked at a lot of roads all hills to evaluate the way I should shade and present them on the rolling hills. I also researched houses to get inspiration for how to design mine.