final project for a painting class i took last semester. oil on home-stretched canvas. i don't remember the dimensions off the top of my head, but it's in 16x9 format (letterbox).

the assignment's only requirement was the use of a paper bag, with the request to make it creative, but without straying from observational painting (can't draw a pink dragon eating people fries from a paper bag, have to paint what you actually see). i decided to try to create a forest scene by setting up a lot of bags vertically and cropping the image so you don't see their tops. at one point there were about 20 bags all set up, but i reduced them to the ones i thought were essential to setting the scene and providing a sense of depth/perspective. the crumpled bag was either a fallen tree or an old abandoned truck with plant life growing out of it you might see on a hike. after a semester of arbitrary still life, it was important to me to try and throw some kind of narrative/idea in there.

aside from the facts that the painting isn't incredibly detailed (most of it is just blocked in) and the lower left corner still shows bare canvas (i was using it as a grip whenever i had to turn the canvas and ran out of time during finals week), i managed to get an A on it.

i'm astounded by the feats people can accomplish with oil. it's a beautiful medium, though like any, it takes practice. i learned a lot, but i don't think it's something i could do regularly. maybe i just need to do some non-observational painting to really get into it. i definitely see the value of painting from life, but i found myself wanting to do something more original. for now, i must focus on the classes at hand!