A Loving Gesture, 2018

This project was done both traditionally and digitally, but the bulk of it is oil on canvas. In grayscale, I painted a figure in distress based off some reference photos I shot of myself. I then abstracted the environment to create an illusion of black bars closing in on the figure. I wanted to contrast the gloomy feeling of the painting with a digitally manipulated photograph of an arm reaching down to offer help to the suffering character. I wanted there to be a strong sense of contrast at every level of this piece. Suffering juxtaposed with hope, surrealism juxtaposed with realism, etc.