This is another page from Art Journal 52 2014. The prompt was building character. Some artists followed the prompt into actually designing a cartoon-like figure or an avatar for the more computer adept. I went on a another inward journey using watercolor pencils and ink to express my ideas.
The face in the lower left corner represents me. I was willing to sort of start my life over and became a college student when my children went to college. The face is the face I saw staring at me from the rear view mirror as I commuted to classes each day. I did a lot of driving since I found myself alone following that yellow brick road.
I thought about what character is.What are the traits that make up character. There are both the good and the bad. I thought about what positive traits I would like or maybe already have to make up my character. Bad traits are banished ASAP to the garbage can located on the right side of the page.
My road has been pretty long and maybe a bit hard. Building character is a tough uphill adventure. We arrive with a pretty clean slate. Experiences, family, friends and strangers all add to the character we build along the journey. I love fairy tales so my adventure follows a yellow brick road that climbs a mountain. Going to the top of the mountain takes persistence. Along the way traits are added and tucked into cracks, crevices and places along that yellow brick road. Take a closer look at the full page above and check out the detail examples too.
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| An inventive free spirit goes on to another adventure flying high into the sky. |
