Enduring Through The Pain

(acrylic paint, prismacolor)
Every time I take a look at this piece, I'm like WOW!!! I did that with my own hands, the image out of my own head, the message out of my own mouth, the emotion out of my own heart. Before I go into all the reasons for the color scheme, I have to explain what this picture means. My original idea was that he was supposed to be trapped in a box, the whole shape of the picture is the box. However, the box is symbolic, meaning in this case that he is trapped in a place or world where he does not want to be but has no choice but only to endure the rage, the pain, the immense suffering, and depression, almost leading to madness. He puts his hands up in order to back away from and try to resist some of the pain beating down on him. This suffering is represented by the vibrant red background, which reminiscent of blood. On the background, what looks like scratches are actually "splashes" and brush strokes of orange like flames which symbolizes the burning emotions of his agony. The barbed wire symbolizes the persistent torment which implies ongoing frustration. In contrast, the blues and greens of his hoodie and jeans indicate the deep internal calmness despite the misery and anguish that he faces. The foreshortening technique used here (the reason why his head is so relatively small) let me focus on the energy and emotion being expressed through the colors instead of focusing on facial distinctions. Last, but most certainly not least, the Japanese characters are Kanji characters meaning "Endurance" or "Perseverance". This is my favorite piece.