I Have to Go

In my painting I Have to Go, I created a scene of a young woman rushing to put her shoes on as she gets ready to leave the house. Inspired by the coming of age of young women like myself, I wanted to portray a scene that represents the messy mind of a girl who is flustered yet bored of the constant struggles of girlhood. She has messy hair and a wrinkled dress, and her makeup looks splotchy. I wanted to create an ominous feeling with the darkness of the open door behind the girl and her inky, straggly black hair. Her position is vulnerable, with her crouched in an awkward position, still not comfortable in her body and the clothing she is wearing. Although her position is expressive, her face is very flat as if the girl is contemplating why she is doing all this in the first place. Although each element operates very specifically, I still wanted the viewer to capture the ominous feeling just by looking at it, even without knowing the backstory behind each of my decisions.