1.5.22 - 1.19.22

For this month's project, I want to capture the unique use of reflections to share the theme of Individuality. The use of reflections could be interpreted in many different ways, so I want to create a unique piece that could help carry my theme across. My initial plans for this project is to create a large, bright scenery, with the main figure of a glass human being in the center. The surrounding landscape will be very bright and colorful, and the glass human will be reflecting the colors within itself to create unique patterns and colors. I hope to create the central focus on the human figure, so I will make the surrounding landscape more abstract.

The initial techniques I plan to use are digital "mixed media" brushes that have the texture of paint and watercolor on a canvas. The more textures brushes will be used on the landscape, and a more fine and defined paint will be used for the glass figure. This will help create a sense of focus on the glass figure, as the scenery will hopefully appear as unclear in the background. The landscape will not be overly complicated, as most of the visible area will be a view of a bright blue sky. There will be a few areas of grass and flowery that will be visible in the foreground as well. I plan to add some depth to the glass figure; and some swirls and other patterns may be visible inside the glass.

Through these elements and techniques, I hope to share the theme of Individuality through the use of reflections in a bright landscape scene. I plan to use the same technique of bright colors in this year's Individuality project, as I have used in my debut piece "Longing for Clarity." This year's theme means a lot to me personally, as it is something that I have found great value in recently. I hope this series of pieces will help share the value I see in being yourself, following your dreams, and not being afraid of standing out in society.

I really enjoyed the process of making “Refractment,” especially with combining my human anatomy and still life skills!

One of the biggest challenges I had was figuring out the human position and characteristics. Initially I had some other poses in mind, like a criss-cross sitting position. The painting style of the figure was also a trial-and-error process, as I wasn't able to get the glass effect across clearly. But I really like the way the human turned out, especially with the see-through skeleton details. Some small features that I also liked were the sky color and cloud texture! I really like the buttery-smooth feel I got with the colors and brushes.

If I could re-do this project or fix some details, I think I would have tried to add more detail and thought to the landscape itself. I decided to not plan a lot of overwhelming details just for the sake of the human being the main focus, but I don't think I should worry about that next time. The value of the figure makes it obviously stand out, so I'm sure that the effect I wanted would still be shown with a more complex landscape.

The initial meaning behind this piece takes on a more positive side to "Individuality." The feeling of standing out in a colorful but natural scene, but still being a part of the beauty on nature as well. It's a bit ironic to me personally as I am not someone who spends time in nature, but I still appreciate the beauty of its existence. We humans are still apart of nature but we can stand out and be ourselves. I hope this piece gives a warm-hearted and positive emotion to the viewer, as I hope to share many sides of "Individuality."

I really enjoyed making "Refractment," as this was one of my first serious pieces that involved a detailed scenery and human figure as the focus. I hope to make more pieces with this central idea in the future!

*Fun Fact: "Refractment" is not a real English word. I thought it was an actual word since it sounded right, but oh well! haha*