KRISZTINA CZEGLEDY-NAGY - CLOUDY SKY

Cloudy Sky (2022-23)
Krisztina Czegledy-Nagy, age, school
(plaster and acrylic paint)

I used the night sky and clouds as my inspiration because I really like how the sky can be different colors depending on where you’re standing, how clouds can change colors, the atmosphere, and how stars can stand out in the night sky. I decided to have cotton balls as clouds to show how fluffy they are and small yellow dots as stars to signify their brightness. And I planned to have a darker blue at the top to show how the sky is never really just one color.

I learned that it is always good to have multiple sketches because they allow you to experiment with different designs ans ideas. Furthermore I learned that it is quite useful to have more than one view of your sculpture. The preliminary sketches helped with deciding which type of mask I’d like to make. For the five design characteristics, I utilized stylized more because I tend to prefer more stylized masks than realistic, abstract or exaggerated masks. I sometimes like simple ones but not always.

For the elements of design, I used texture and space. I made space by having the clouds as cotton balls so it would add more depth and a sense of space. I had texture with the clouds and on the mask since the sky is not simply one level or layer. Finally for the principles of design I used contrast by having white clouds and a dark blue sky. My colour scheme had blues, dark purple/violet, black, yellow, light blue and white. I chose the blues (mostly dark ones) and dark purple and violet to represent the dark night sky. I chose the yellow, light blue and white to add contrast and to stand out.

In general, the easiest part of the mask for me to do was painting the mask. I struggled to make my mask smooth enough (but not too smooth so there’d be some texture) as well as painting the mouth/lips was difficult because I had to make it look like lips and I had to have the ends of the mouth/mis as similar as possible. I also had to be extra carfeul when I was painting finer details.

I’m glad I was able to make this project since I got the opportunity to learn how to make a mask. If I were to do this again with the same design, I would add more shades and tones of blue.