Flying through Water

This piece was created for an assignment in Intermediate Painting, a course I took as an undergraduate student at Juniata College.

This assignment was extremely unconventional in comparison with the other assignments of the course. Our only two guidelines were as follows: First, to pour a large quantity of several paint colors on the canvas-board, then use a pottery-wheel-like device to spin it and make the paint spread outwards. Second, once the "spin-art" dried, to pour an additional mix of paint colors, and manipulate the canvas-board so that it flowed around the composition. We were encouraged to add additional details and illustrations on top of it, but there were no requirements or guidelines for that portion of the assignment.

I chose to use a mix of white, oranges, and yellows for the spin-art, in an attempt to create an effect resembling radiant light. For the second paint mix, I chose a mix of blues to portray a stream of water. The figures are all traced contours of a photo of myself that I took specifically for this project; I wanted to appear as though I was "flying" through the water. The subject matter didn't have any particularly deep meaning; rather, I wanted to include a variety of motifs that I am fond of using in my art.