Color - Earth Day

This portrait was made with chalk pastel on a large panel of wood spray-painted black. It depicts a figure hunched over in despair. Although the physical form of the figure is important to conveying emotion, the color scheme of this drawing is equally, if not more important.  As Lupton says, "“Color can convey a mood, describe reality, or codify information.” I took that statement and ran with it, using saturated color tom to carry the emotion of the work. Towards the bottom, the figure fades in to negative black space. The majority of the figure is composed in varying shades of blue, in keeping with the melancholic nature. However, the top of the figure is cast in a warm light. The yellows and oranges strike a strong contrast with the blues as they are complementary. This presents a shift in the emotional value towards the top - what may the bright warm light represent? Hope? Without a clear source, it could be anything - perhaps something more sinister? Afterall, the figure is still surrounded in black above. 

Rather than just using color from the chalk, I decided to use the actual original wood. I scrubbed away the black paint using a wet rag to give a mild but textured mist appearance, like steam or smoke caught in sunlight rising off the back of the figure. I was really happy with how this part came out, as I was happy to give the original physical medium life in this work.