I was so excited to be able to paint what I heard. Usually I just listen to a song and paint  the everything I hear in terms of colors I feel and see, and frequencies. But this time I went for more of a realistic picture I saw in my head. The song I listened to was “La Baie” covered by Clara Luciani. I saw a scene at night in France where it was dark with glimmers of random lights of purple and yellow where a girl had her head into titled up at an odd angle. My watercolor ended up becoming more abstract, but I will talk more about that later.

 

When drawing the composition: I used this neck as a reference to draw the girl looking up. I did not draw the entire face and started to fracksome of it off as if she was dissolving into the errie and mysterious lights floating around her. I had hands that were like flower petals and leaves come out of her, as if there was something in her that was releasing into the air but also connecting her which is why there are holes with stuff coming out of her

When doing the watercolor I tried to depict the colors and let them flow a lot by using the wet on wet technique. I used greens and blues to contrast the yellow and purple too. The yellow in the purple represents the lights, the green is like more of an organic plant feel, and the red and gold is like intoxication and danger in a way.

I was going to go over some parts with a micron pen to make more of the features realistic, but then I thought that would take a way from the free flowing affect. It would of created another affect too, and I would of liked it, but now when have adding the photos I am glad I choose to experiment without relying on the micron lines to paint more of the picture. My roommates said they say various things, and not a face.We were joking that the piece was like a mishmash of inkblot tests.  They saw different things from each other, and its cool cause we all feel different connections. We all interpret uniquely, and that is special!

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Contact sheet: all these photos I took and I thought that these colors and application of textures  would mesh well with the watercolor’s aesthetic.

All these photos I took, and I wanted to keep it that way to create a personal making element instead of using other people’s pictures from the internet.

 

 

The feet on the street:

• I used the fill and opaque settings to manipulate how much the color would show through.
• This fit the theme of a night in urban France that I imagined and I wanted it to be hidden swirling in the back of her mind. That is why it looks hidden.

The ocean/tidepool pictures:

• For this layer I cut out the background and sky for two of the pictures.
• I used the fill and opaque settings to manipulate how much the color would show through.
• The water and rock formation texture can add an interesting effect of the idea of dried watercolor but wet water combining. Also, the one of my friend creates a paradoxical world element and the grass creates a juxtaposition. I did not realize till when trying to find an example of the song, that it was a cover song. The original song was done by Metronomy titled: “The Bay”. In this video it has a lot of the ocean, and I already knew the song had to do with the bay but it was just a coincidence because I did not add the ocean pictures for that reason. Also when seeing the video it reminded me of some of the beaches where I live. The pictures I took of the beach add an element of home to me, but these beaches don’t fully remind me of the beach in the video.

Pastels:

• For this layer I cut out the background.
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  How I was going to complete the piece, but then did not because Alaiyo challenged me add more.

  I wanted to created a cool texture and effect as if they were laid on top of the picture and someone was creating and working on the composition. Showing how the mind continuously works, and the frequencies of sound is everywhere whether we can or cannot hear it or feel it.

Bacteria:

• For this layer I cut out the background and some elements.
• I used the fill and opaque settings to manipulate how much the color would show through.
• These pictures are from bacteria I painted last semester. It reminded me of the effect of the splatters I did when water coloring. I thought it would be cool to add into the piece since it was like something was overtaking the girl and the girl was contributing to that. Bacteria does that same thing. We contribute, but it also gets a grasp on to us, and can spread. The red bacteria was transferred onto a cloth, and I thought that texture was cool to add. I overlaid it on the holes I made on the girl, with the blue petri dish on top. I also put it in the corner of the composition and on top of the pastels to create the spreading effect. Pastels hold into the skin and spread as well. Therefore I thought it was fitting. The blue bacteria was while Iwas in the process of painting it. I thought it would be cool to show the idea of containment, breaking, spreading, and moving. I overlaid the dish on top of the girl’s face, and positioned it so that some of the things coming out of her looked like it was coming out of some of the cracks in the goo within the dish. I also eliminated the dish and just had the blue bacteria to show it fully out onto the collarbone of the skin and not in the dish anymore.

The final piece:

 

I enjoyed this project a lot it was really fun and a good way how to use layers and the tools on Photoshop. I wish Photoshop had more of a command Z usage like Illustrator does, but it is personally good to learn to not get used to the luxury of command Z to become more patient with technological applications. I tried and desired between using or not to use to the fill and brush tools, but I realized that because I wanted the composition to blend together instead of look like a more obvious collage that it needed to be minimalist. I am glad I got to blend an imaginary vision that somehow altered to fit some of my personal connections to the ocean.