Paint-ing Update

I’ve had lots of catching up to do since I first began the project, but through the hardship, I think I’ve found my footing. When I first started this project, I was so sure I knew what I wanted the series to be about. I didn’t know what I wanted to make, but I knew what I wanted to convey. Looking back, I don’t think I thought this through enough. I wasn’t ready to tackle a subject like this, not at school at least. People I know are looking at this and not realizing I’m talking about current events and it’s frustrating, but in a way I think it proves my point. The reactions of those around me fit the topic, and everyone is oblivious. Does this further prove that I’m insignificant, or is this a misinterpretation. I guess what I’m trying to say is that mentally, I’m not ready for the answer. I’m making the project anyways, in the name of deeply conceptual art!

As for the painting itself, I think it’s pretty! Pretty, and boring! I posted a video of my process on Tiktok and one comment I received mentioned the translucent butterfly wings. This filled me with joy because my mission was accomplished! If I a stranger can look at what I painted and point out one of the most vital parts of the painting, I’m doing something right. Now, when I say it’s boring, I meant that...welll..it’s a painting. Literally just a pretty landscape. I never intended for this to be “it”, I just needed a foundation. From here, I plan to add fiber arts elements to the painting, such as embroidered and felted flowers. This will connect my next element to the piece, which will be 3D butterflies, and prevent this from remaining a boring landscape painting with butterflies on it. The paint itself, which is gouache paint, was really fun to work with. Halfway through my process, I gained access to a huge selection of colors, including glittery ones. The glittery paint was exactly what I was looking for, so my confidence in the painting went up from there. I enjoyed the erasable quality of it and the acrylic like finish. By the end of everything I was finally having fun.

I came across a digital series about this same feeling of insignificance and the inability to “belong” while scrolling through Instagram and absolutely lost it. The idea was tackled in a different way, a more creative way, and it pushed me to do better.

This artist also used the idea of “transparency” in their work. The artist goes by “mememe or @mememe_ii on Instagram. Their approach to painting, using flat and graphic coloring, reminds me of my own in this series. It’s comforting. It also makes me want to stick to a certain color scheme in a better way. Their approach to the topic is a bit less discrete. Dreary colors convey dreary emotion, whereas I’m masking my subject more with peaceful imagery and pastel colors. I need to take this and run with it, I’ve gotta push myself more! Needless to say, I’m a but more inspired now. Next I take on the construction of my 3D butterflies.

please check out the artist! www.inprnt.com/gallery/mememe_ii/

Update:

This is partially referenced in my "Hearfelt Felt" post but I'll address the updates I made to this piece as well. My classmates and teacher suggested I add some 3D elements to my painting to connect the series more and to prevent this from being a simple landscape. Though the glittery gouache connected some aspects and added some ~flavor~, it was generally agreed that I needed to push myself beyond the paint itself in this piece. In the end, I decided to french knot some felted flowers onto the edge of my piece. It took much longer than expected just to do this, so I had to stop here and move onto the next parts of my series. In the future, I'd like to continue to add details to the landscape as my classmates suggested and I'd also like to refine the figure in the corner so it looks less out of place. This will be on my own time, though. My time in class was limited and I wanted to make sure that I'd have time to finish my other two projects.