#8- Mixed Media Landscape

If you couldn't tell by now, I kind of like mixed media. And too be honest, I wasn't thrilled about the idea of a landscape painting. The last time I completed a landscape was freshmen year in Art 1 and I was a little intimidated. I knew I wanted to challenge myself and tackle a landscape again and I knew that I wanted to represent a place that was really special to me. I had visited just a couple months before a reservation in the mountains of North Carolina that was absolutely beautiful. However, the landscape around me was not what inspired me, it was who I was there with. I visited with my grandparents who I am really close with. I knew I wanted to display the beauty of the mountains as well as the bond I have with my grandparents with this painting. I began looking through photographs that I had of the day and didn't feel that any of my pictures captured the location well enough. I decided to try something completely out of the box and not what you would expect for a landscape but would capture what I loved about the place.

I gathered a few photographs that I had and had really intriguing colors in them and photo copied them onto paper. I then did an acrylic photo transfer onto the canvas in strategic places. The transfer gave a really cool effect to the photographs that I decided to play to my advantage. I didn't really have a plan for what I was going to do on top of the photographs so, what else do you do? You start painting.

I began placing layers upon layers of paint until I achieved an image I was really excited about. I liked how it looked, however it was missing something important, the meaning behind it. I decided to paint an image of my grandmother and myself on top of the photo transfer collage. Not having a plan was intimidating at first but once I got inspired, I was really happy with the outcome.

It is amazing to me when I look back at the landscape from freshmen year I have and then look at this painting. Freshmen year I distinctly remember wanting my painting to look professional and perfect and getting super frustrated when I didn't get that outcome. While three additional levels of art classes have definitely improved my skills, I think the greatest thing I have learned is how to come into my own style and turn a piece into my own. This piece really showed me that and I am excited with how I can take that new inspiration and confidence into my future projects.