Title: Exhaustion Dimensions: 12"x7" Media: Colored pencil and charcoal pencils.
Artist statement:
For this piece I wanted to display the feeling of overwhelming stress that many teenagers feel. This piece was very personal for me because I relate a lot to these feelings and the overall composition of the piece, feeling like you are just going to break down. This piece consists of a girl, collapsed from exhaustion, crying out over all the things that make her feel this way. I slumped the shoulders of the character and positioned her on her knees with her hands facing out to give this piece a sense of vulnerability. I drew the character with normal clothes on so she would be viewed as an average teenager. Then I put many different emotions and reasons in word form around her, clustering them closer around her head and shoulders to emphasize/create a chaotic weight pushing down on her. I created depth, shading, and form by using countless shades of colors along with their contradicting colors to darken/create more tones of colors. If I were to do this again, I might darken the background more by maybe doing a light wash of gray watercolor paint and making it heavier in some areas than others. I might actually try using a different type of paper because it was really hard to build up the skin tones and shading. Overall, I have come to like the piece and its sentimental value to me.