From Nothing to Something

An artist is the true epitome of creating something out of nothing. Regardless of whatever your craft may be, whether a painter, dancer, musician, woodworker, architect, or etc., you understand the necessary energy required to translate your mental notes into the physical world. But for those individuals who are not in tune with their artistic abilities, I do not think they understand or realize how much time, effort, patience, and persistence the creative process takes from idea to existence.

On April 9th, 2015, this is what my painting titled “Chandra Barbie Masterpiece” looked like.

This was my very first fashion model sketch. The initial motive for this sketch was to present it as one of the portfolio submissions in the VCUarts application, but moments after creating it I came to the realization that I had not the slightest idea about any of the other elements. What in the world would she wear? Where, exactly, was she standing? What type of designer could I see myself as? With these questions and several others running through my mind, I kept the sketch beside my bed so that every night I went to bed and every morning I woke up, it was right there just in case a wave of inspiration came over me.

The portfolio deadline was April 15th. Even though I had already met the required number of submissions, I was aiming to add this fashion sketch as another medium to “demonstrate my potential to develop a diverse skill set,” in the words of VCUarts. It goes without saying that when the deadline approached, the design was nowhere near complete so the portfolio was submitted without it. For the next two months as I awaited VCU’s decision, my mind was more intrigued with creating the details of the painting than my acceptance to the school. Acceptance decisions were to be received by June 1st, and once I received my letter it clearly stated that my performance was not up to their standards. Not completely disappointed, I thought to myself, “Ok cool. What’s my next step?”

Two weeks later, my younger sister, who was a soon to be senior at the time, was out of school for the summer so we were able spend more time together. Our bonding time usually involves watching television, talking junk, and plenty of laughing, on the days we decide to come out of our rooms. On one of those days, a marathon of Say Yes to the Dress was on, which is one of our favorite shows. A few episodes into the marathon, it suddenly hit me! A bridal gown, I would love to design a bridal gown! Now that I knew what direction I was headed in, all I had to determine was her exact location, which took no time at all. One of my VCUart submissions was the scenery of the canals of Venice in soft pastel, so I figured I would recreate that backdrop and execute it ten times better, at dusk, in the medium I was more familiar with, acrylic.

That night, I browsed Google, found more images to cross-reference with my existing drawing and sketched until the morning. I am a night owl when it comes to my art. Once I have my mental picture, I am fixated on my work for hours and nothing else in the world matters. Plus, the rest of the world is usually sleep so that quietness is beyond golden. Over the course of the following week, I drafted the background and designed the gown. Then it was ready for painting.

Still looking to continue my education, I only worked on the painting for the next month before I redirected my attention to preparing another college portfolio. This time around I was applying to the fashion design program at The Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. Stepping completely out of my comfort zone from August 2015 to January 2016, much of my focus was on the FIT portfolio, but in my down time I kept my eyes on the painting, critiquing my progress and observing where I could make improvements. After conquering the challenge of that portfolio, I was locked on completing my creation.

Every day, I worked on this canvas, whether it was reflection of my progress, studying my next detail, or actual painting. Although I did take pictures of my the process, I sadly did not keep any of them because I by no means imagined I would be sharing them. But on the morning of January 1st, 2017, I finally signed my work of art.

It was not my original plan to incorporate as much detail as I did, but the more I painted, the more I began to lean towards a realistic twist. I am very proud of this piece, hands down because it taught me something about myself. No matter how minimal I attempt to be, details are why I love being an artist.

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