With all the projects that I am suddenly (like many other students) trampled down with, I, too, have lost time to draw for myself. With all the assignments piled up, I have hardly been able to sit and draw for myself.

So, I decided to do so on a calm evening, filled with the excitement of finally giving me time to relax and draw with no pressure. I thought lighting candles, putting music on would be nice, and simply releasing my stress through painting. As I sat on the comfiest of my lounge clothes, I noticed something staring at me- an unfinished project. Not just one I had abandoned due to the loss of spark or one I returned to rework occasionally. It was for an upcoming solo exhibition. I would not have thought much and happily started working on it- but the horrifying realization hit me…

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I have eight days until my exhibition.

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So now I lay on my floor trying to plan how to magically assemble ten artworks for an exhibition in roughly a week. And upon further pondering my dreadful circumstance, I stood and said, “screw it, I’ll do it!”

Well, starting with this, I have yet to name this, but It was inspired by the annual The Great Wall of Honesdale Call for Entry art submission on the concept of “home” that Sue Jenkins (our well-known art professor) sent out last semester, as far as I can remember. I failed to finish it on time (again) due to my schedule, but I still wanted to create my idea of home.

As many others can relate, I found the feeling of home more connected to an emotional bond than a physical space. A home might as well be a broken-down shed if I share it with loved ones. In this colored pencil illustration, I wanted to show an intimate feeling of home, one shared with a partner. And here, it is, in a sense, missed as the person is not present, but their presence is still felt. A connection that stays even without the person being present any longer. The feeling of homestays.

I am someone who likes painting nudes, not in a weird way, but in appreciation of how the human body looks, how moving specific muscles causes it to look different, and just the overall form. I figure not to use clothing on the figure. I instead used fabrics floating around and through. I find them to be a helpful factor in creating a sense of flow on the canvas and a guide to the eye.

The bundle of flowers, together, form the shape of a person and then fade away at the ends. I figured the absence of clothing would hint at a more intimate connection between the two- a space where vulnerability lies for each to reveal comfortably. 

To bring the flowers and figures as one, in harmony through colors, I reflected the colors of each onto another. The blues of the flowers leak into the flesh, and the peach hue finds its way into the flowers. Although I kept the reflective colors at a minimum, I hope they still make the two separate subjects come together as one.

Surprisingly, I reached almost the end of this illustration with some time on hand to finish soon. I will now be cramming the rest within the remaining days. The moral, I suppose, is to refrain from being like me and forgetting deadlines- especially for your exhibition.

Thank you for reading!

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