I painted my friend Kiana for my final project in ART 221. I chose this friend because I have grown up with her and it is an honour to paint her. Kiana kindly sent several pictures of herself doing ordinary activities for me to think through for the painting. My goal was to capture her personality and interests through what is included in the painting and her position and expression.
I chose to paint Kiana reading in bed because it has an interesting composition with foreshortening and this is a very casual and regular activity to do at home.
Riley
Tips from class (self-reference)
use a grid or projector
think about when you feel the most alive in a painting, and then harness
If you include the text, try to make the chevron pillow more emphasized to separate it from the value, and balance the text in the background
Think about how pillows etc are significant to us during covid, so they can be highlighted
Use Jordan Casteel as a stylistic guide in this painting. Graphic, colourful shadows and highlights
vanessamjolsness
stunning final. My eyes were really drawn to the folds and highlights in the shirt and chest/collar bone. Beautiful. Has a strong sense of ‘folding in’ and coziness.
Riley
Thanks Vanessa! I actually wasn’t super happy with it and have continued working on it. It’s encouraging to hear that you like it 🙂