Home #7

For this art piece, I was inspired by various factors including my investigation exploring ideas of home and childhood and other artist styles like Kehinde Wiley and Chuck Close. Kehinde Wiley’s art influenced this work through his use of detailed floral backgrounds. Chuck Close’s realistic style of portraits and people influenced my work as well. I tried to capture a moment in my childhood and reflect on ideas of home with this drawing of Clio and me playing with flour.

I used black drawing paper, Prisma colored pencils, and a bit of cornstarch with glue. I wanted to try out black drawing paper because I thought it would naturally add more depth and contrast. I used colored pencils for the entire piece, trying to blend and burnish for a more realistic look. I also wanted to include flour in the piece as Clio and I are playing with it. I used corn starch instead because flour molds and I sprinkled it around and tried to stick it to the paper using glue. 

With this piece, I began by brainstorming a few ideas and sketched them out in my notebook. With the help of a reference image and past artists' inspiration, I created this piece. I aimed to convey a scene from my childhood and capture themes of home and its impact on me. I wanted to include brighter colors in the shirts and people and flowers as a background to emphasize this theme.