Goddess | Posted: Nov. 11, 2016, 1:42 a.m.

Media: Watercolor, pen, color pencils, and whiteout on watercolor paper

Time: ~1.5 hours

My high school art teacher always urged us to work with different media and build up our artistic breadth.

I became excited when it came time for us to work with watercolor paints. During elementary school summers, I used watercolors to paint landscapes from family photos.

After working with watercolors for the first time in six or seven years, I realized that I had a rosy view of the media. Glancing at the painting staring back at me, I noticed the colors on the model's face were too diluted. I couldn't build up the contrast that the painting needed in order to mimic reality. I had also applied too much water to the paper, and it started to wrinkle even though it was taped down to prevent that very thing from happening.

When my art teacher announced that our next assignment was to work a canvas/paper with watercolor before finding shapes and layering on top with another media, such as pen or pencil, I became nervous.

I was dubious of my ability to work this way. Firstly, I was not very skilled at using watercolors. Secondly, I usually like to have an image in my head before I start a piece. I was scared I'd waste several pieces of watercolor paper before I liked the random blobs I had painted.

Surprisingly, I ended up loving the technique. Once I started delicately working the paper with watercolor, I made an active effort to not to apply too much water. I also purposefully worked with complementary colors to naturally build contrast. To create different effects, I held the brush at different angles when applying the watercolor to the canvas.

Coming back to the paper after the watercolor dried, I looked for shapes. I saw shadows and tendrils of hair throughout the painting. When I looked closer, I could imagine the outline of a face on the left side of the paper.

As I may have mentioned earlier, I am big on symbolism, especially within my more completed pieces.

While I'm not a fan of AWOLNATION, I used to listen to their song "Kill Your Heroes" pretty often. The song resonated with me at the time. The lyrics "Never let your fear decide your fate. I say you kill your heroes and fly, fly, baby, don't cry" were particularly empowering.

I basically interpreted these lyrics as

Don't become someone else because you're too scared to be yourself. Break down all these walls you have around yourself that tell you to be someone else. It's okay to look up to other people, but don't follow their exact footsteps. Pave your own path. Embrace your inner beauty, namely your personality. Just be the best you can be everyday.

The goddess in this painting represents that inner beauty. This painting captures the moment when she sheds the dark water that concealed her and reveals her true self.