Home #1

For my first piece of work in my sustained investigation, I was guided by my inquiry question of how the idea of home influences my life and takes shape in many forms. In this specific work, I explored the idea of home in my childhood. I wanted to set a childlike tone and bubbly feeling in this scene to convey the warm feelings of childhood and home. This influenced me to use bright colors, highlights, and some contrast in the piece. 

I started by sketching out my plan on watercolor paper to establish a general plan. Then, I painted my piece with watercolor as a base layer. When I was a kid, I used watercolor all the time when creating art, and this ties into the idea of how home and childhood affect my life. I then went in with Prisma colored pencils for the details. I thought the colored pencils would provide nice pops of color and also allow for intricate details in the piece. 

I began with a few sketches in my notebook to get my ideas down for a potential piece. I decided on this one because it brings me back to my childhood and to feelings of home: scootering down my street with my sister. This is a game we used to play with one leg on the handlebar, while we held hands. I then accidentally sketched it out on drawing paper and used watercolor on it. I restarted and resketched on watercolor paper and went from there. With the use of watercolors and colored pencils, I was able to create a bright and colorful setting. With the pencils, I tried to create more intricate details on the clothes, streets, and signs for a more realistic look. I wanted the color and soft appearance of the piece to convey feelings of childhood and the closeness of home.