So, as I have for the last couple of years, I once again have a year-end art dump of school work. However, this year is a bit different as the only art class I undertook this semester was portfolio development, which is basically the final art class they expect you to take. In this class we had the entire semester to work on our capstone project, in which you're supposed to draw or paint whatever you like, but its meant to be a representation on what you, as an artist, are interested in as far as style, medium and statement.
I chose to do a series of paintings revolving around the theme of insecurities. I started doing paintings about myself, but found that limiting, so I eventually started interviewing various people I know to do paintings about their insecurities (on a voluntary basis, of course). With this, I asked what their insecurity was, what words they associate with that insecurity (it could be words describing it or words that come to mind during such a situation) as well as an image that comes to mind when they think about this insecurity.
The paintings were all pained primarily with a palette knife, here I laid the paint on thickly, then used a small brush to manipulate the texture of the paint, to 'write' in the words that were given. I gave them more of an abstract feeling to it because, in most cases, insecurities are more vague in nature. A lot of the interviewees couldn't clearly state what they insecure about, but could simply describe how they felt and in what situations this feeling would arise.
I actually sort of started this series earlier in the year with the painting Give up, which was a vent picture initially that I actually hid from everyone. Since, well, it's about my own insecurity of being a failure as an artist. I ended up showing it to my professor in the beginning of the year and explained what my idea for the series was and he basically convinced me to make my capstone project about it. Which, really, was good. Cuz I don't know if I would have actually done these or have been brave enough to show them to everyone without that. I actually had a lot of panic attacks just thinking about showing 'em to the rest of the class when I started in the beginning of the semester, but by this point, after working on them at school and getting feedback and everything, it doesn't really bother me at all. So, I'm showing them off EVERWHERE.
Instead of posting individual links, I'm making it easy: Here's all the paintings in one convenient folder on dA. If you're curious about any given painting and what it's about, feel free to ask, as there's no description. Or, if you want to take a shot in the dark, feel free to do that, too. Maybe you'll be right, maybe you'll be way off base, but that's part of the fun with these pieces. I could seriously talk all day about these things, if you give me the chance.
