FAIQA RAZA

Sun and Moon (2023)
Faiqa Raza, 16, Waterloo Collegiate Institute
(acrylic on canvas)

Throughout the process of making this piece, I learned how much I enjoyed painting something completely different to my usual style, and gained that I will definitely paint more in this style moving forward. I learned to make good use of blending techniques as well as mixing accurate colors.

The piece depicts the sun and moon in a personified form, wrapped in a tight embrace. With no real human features like hair, eyes or any kind of expression, it allows the viewer to see it how they wish and how they personally relate to it. The idea is the nature of a hug, an embrace that can mean so many different things based on context, and the beauty of this piece is that the context is personal to the viewer’s story.

The reason for the sun and moon aspect is because of the way they work together in a more literal aspect of nature. The moon reflects the sun’s light, providing us with some light during the night, and the sun takes over during the day, which also gives the size more meaning, not only literally but because the sun is in a sense the anchor for the moon.

I tried to convey nature in two different ways through this piece, one in a more literal way and one in a way that matters to me emotionally. I used a very different style for this artwork than I usually do. The actual shapes and figures are very simple, with the flames on the sun and the stars in the background giving it more interest. This made it so that I had to rely on painting techniques to make the piece more interesting rather than how I usually make more detailed drawings to follow beforehand. I used stippling as well as some dry brushing to make the craters in the moon, splattering paint for the stars in the background, and lots of blending for the flames around the sun. Using some of these techniques was challenging without an outline because of fear of messing up, but the use of an outline would take away from the organic feel of the painting and meaning. Another challenge was making the craters in the moon look realistic, and not making them look like random dark spots. I overcame the issue with painting the craters by using stippling and dry brushing, and overall the rest of the project went pretty well. I love the way the concept comes through and how all the details came together in the end, and on top of that I also enjoyed the process of painting and found it therapeutic.

Texture is a very big element of design in this piece and seen a lot because of the use of stippling, and the details of the flame, as well as value for the same reasons. Space is another dominant element as I made it so that the sun and moon took up enough space, but left a good amount of negative space as well.

As for principles there is very clear emphasis on the sun and moon being the main part of the piece, as well as contrast between the colors of the planet compared to the black background. The piece also gives a sense of unity, another principle, with the way everything in both the meaning and the actual work is a piece of it that comes together to make the entire artwork. If I were to do this project again I would spend less time doing preliminary work, and more time doing the actual painting. I would also not let the fear of ruining things stop me from trying different techniques sooner. Overall I’m very happy with how it went.