Personally, my culture did not play a big role when I was in the midst of working on my artwork. Although I consider myself as an amateur when it comes to art, I believe that if you let your emotions and inspirations guide you, you would be able to produce a fine piece of art. This will make your piece of art original, as it would have come from deep within yourself. What led me to create such a morbid and dark artwork is my emotions and how I was feeling at the time. Everybody, one time or the other, will fell as though they have been let down and disappointed by others, including the ones they love. Those feelings would include loneliness, and the yearn for support and guidance. At many times, we get the support we need, but once in a while; we would be left alone in the world, having to fend off our miseries by ourselves. That is exactly what I had in mind when I was creating my piece of art. I wanted the girl to depict a helpless teenager, who is yearning for support because the world has shunned her away completely. This in fact, removes all the color and vibrancy in her life, leaving her world looking black and white. The reason why the girl in my drawing is looking down is due to disbelief. She is utterly shocked by how the people that she thought that she could count on have left her to fend for herself. She saw the dark side of things; the side she thought and wished never existed. I feel that conveying this message is important is because, it would be unhealthy to bottle up your feelings and emotions inside of you; and since it is difficult to express it in words, it could be best displayed in the form of art. I tried to make my artwork convey all of these messages, making sure that the morbidity of the piece is highlighted.
To achieve this gruesome effect, I solely used the color black, which emphasized the dark mood and ambiance that comes with this drawing. The color black is usually associated with darkness and morbidity; therefore I thought that it was most appropriate. I also deliberately left some parts of the drawing white, to signify emptiness. The girl in the drawing is supposed to feel empty inside, and she is thus reaching out to attain fulfillment. However, I intended to show that she does not see any signs of fulfillment, and therefore I made sure that it is not shown in the drawing. When others tried to interpret my artwork, they had the same general idea I had in mind. They associated it to sadness, morbidity and disappointment. I was pleasantly surprised that someone actually recognized that the girl in the picture shows the feeling of disappointment, and thus I think that my artwork has effectively conveyed the message I intended it to portray. I think that the use of the color black and the way the girl’s face stoops downwards helped people recognize the message that I am trying to convey faster.
I think that art is the subjective intuition for knowledge, and it transfers an artist’s knowledge of something to the person who tries to interpret it. Every piece of art is created through the knowledge of something, be it objective or subjective. For example, in an artistic way, a skilled craftsman would have a purpose and message in mind and he adapts and molds materials to fulfill this end. If he is to succeed in conveying his message, he needs to develop his expertise. There is a kind of craftsmanship and intelligence at work in the practice of his art. Whether a ship builder or weaver, he applies his practical knowhow, virtuosity, and talent in fashioning objects that he is creating, and he draws upon general principles which he applies to concrete cases. Moreover, art can help a person develop their critical senses. It could give a person an intuition for forming judgments and trying to decipher what the artwork is trying to portray. Knowledge provided by art is very distinct, as it deals with having a good sense of judgment and interpretation. In conclusion, there is no one true definition of art. Art is valued differently, depending on the individual. Different individuals have different views as to what art is; and as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
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