Pen

Title, 2022

Ink and Watercolour on Paper

The goal of this project was to create a self portrait and bring our my lived experience into my artwork. To inspire myself I began looking through photographs of myself from childhood to the present. Collecting photos throughout my memories and life. I found myself drawn to the photographs where I was eating food. These made me reflect on some of my best memories I had the pleasure of creating. These chosen moments captured my love of traveling, connections to my family and friends, relaxation, comfort, and celebration. I absolutely love trying new things and always have. This reminded me of my childhood where my grandmother would give my brother and me 25 cents if we tried something. This was her successful attempt at enticing us to try foods children normally would not want to try but would potentially like the taste of. For this portrait, I wanted to recapture these moments bringing a focus to the food. It was an intimate and pleasurable experience as I decided to draw them in my sketchbook as if I was doodling. This created comfort and relaxation just as if I was in some of those moments again. I drew four ink pen drawings and used watercolour to colour the food. This emphasized and gave dimension to the work to really show that it is about the food in the memories. I also wanted to stay true to how I work. The best work I create is by simply going straight into just drawing, sculpting, or just making anything. I think that the photographs, experiences, and methods all created an amazing, and happy project for myself. I enjoy the linework, the soft colours, and the overall mood and look of each of the works.