Sustained Investigation Series
Stress is conveyed, expressed, and experienced all in different ways- throughout this sustained that was my focus. As a high-school senior, I can say I've been overwhelmed, anxious, or stressed with all the decisions and changes I'm experiencing.
The biggest challenges of my sustained was at the beginning I really wanted to focus on one subject that associates with stress- which ended up being very bland and limited to the media, subjects, and ideas I could come up with. So I changed my subject to not having one person to draw- instead I focused on different stress emotions, objects, or themes that can portray it.
During my sustained, I definitely improved technique and the way I approach any piece. For instance, I used a lot of different combination of medias and different length or size of paper to convey my idea to the viewer.
My concentration focused on expressing the sense of being stressed or overwhelmed with an illustrative style to exaggerate the emotions. Firstly, I added objects breaking apart the subject or manipulating it as seen in selected works number 2 and 3. Additionally, I included shapes, numbers, and patterns to convey "Overwhelming" or to carry the viewers eyes throughout the piece , seen in sustained 4 with the shapes coming the girl's eyes. Also, used unnatural skin tones to convey feelings of being "Unsettled" or "Sick." I strongly think these 3 elements convey the feeling of being stressed and overwhelmed.
The biggest challenges of my sustained was at the beginning I really wanted to focus on one subject that associates with stress- which ended up being very bland and limited to the media, subjects, and ideas I could come up with. So I changed my subject to not having one person to draw- instead I focused on different stress emotions, objects, or themes that can portray it.
During my sustained, I definitely improved technique and the way I approach any piece. For instance, I used a lot of different combination of medias and different length or size of paper to convey my idea to the viewer.
My concentration focused on expressing the sense of being stressed or overwhelmed with an illustrative style to exaggerate the emotions. Firstly, I added objects breaking apart the subject or manipulating it as seen in selected works number 2 and 3. Additionally, I included shapes, numbers, and patterns to convey "Overwhelming" or to carry the viewers eyes throughout the piece , seen in sustained 4 with the shapes coming the girl's eyes. Also, used unnatural skin tones to convey feelings of being "Unsettled" or "Sick." I strongly think these 3 elements convey the feeling of being stressed and overwhelmed.
“Running” | 8” x 20” | Watercolors, ink, tempera glitter paint, and Micron pen
“Caught” | 8” x 20” | Watercolor, ink, Micron pens, and salt | I made the girl a bright color to pop out against the cold background. I wanted her to feel alone and small compared to her surroundings.
“Appealing Stress” | 20” x 20” | Colored pencils and ink
“Turning Inside Out” | 16” x 12” | Watercolor, ink, acrylic, and colored pencils
“Stress Is A Dog” | 12” x 24” | Watercolor, markers, colored pencils, and ink | The idea of this piece was to symbolize the dog as stress attacking the bright or taking over the good side of things.
“Chasing the Dream” | 25” x 14” | Markers, colored pencils, Micron pens, and watercolor
“Deactivation” | 18” x 25” | Watercolor, ink, colored pencils, and tempera paint glitter
“Mood” | 15” x 8” | Colored pencils, ink, gouache, and magazine
“Through My Eyes” | 13” x 18” | Acrylic on canvas
“Realizing Reality” | 12” x 12” | Watercolor, ink, and salt
“Finding Fear” | 12” x 12” | Watercolor, salt, and ink | First I sketched out eyes trying to express fear, anxiety. Then I sketched out the composition of a pose of the scared girl biting down on her nails. Next, I started to paint her face with black and white to give her the look of being so scared that the color has drained from her face. This also made a high contrast between the background that I painted in blue hues with using salt to make a texture against the smoother subject.
Additional Artworks
“Shaded” | 15” x 11” | High flow acrylic, watercolor, pen, and white gel pen
“Red Shooting Star” | 18” x 24” | Acrylic and Posca pens
“Slipping” | 11” x 18” | Watercolor, colored pencils, and white gel pen
“Wilting” | 18” x 24” | Watercolor, modeling paste, pen, and white gel pen
“Sea Buffalo” | 20” x 18” | Oil on canvas
“Looming” | 14” x 14” | Mixed-media collage
“Lurking” | 18” x 12” | Mixed-media
“Breaking Through” | 20” x 18” | Acrylic
“Space Cat” | 12” x 12” | Watercolor, ink, pen, and salt
“Island Cat” | 12” x 12” | Watercolor, ink, pen, and salt
“Sherlock Cat” | 12” x 12” | Watercolor, ink, pen, and salt
Follow my Instagram: @nina_profolio
Artist website: https://saplingstudios.weebly.com/
Artist website: https://saplingstudios.weebly.com/