Zarina Situmorang

Moscow, Russia, Hope, oil, 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8")

My Inspiration

My family believed that you need to have a special, natural-born talent to become an artist. Well, I didn’t have it. Hope is what motivated me to go against other people’s opinion in my desire to become an artist. And the light of hope was the only thing that guided me through the dark days of despair. I wanted to create this painting as a symbol of hope so it will be a reminder to keep up the light in the heart.

My Design Strategy

My strategy was led by the shape of the canvas. I wanted to emphasize it. A circle in a circle? Why not! I rejected the idea of the portrait immediately because the grain of the canvas was too large. At that moment I already painted 19 hands for another artwork and, apparently, couldn’t stop. When I need to come up with an idea, I usually walk, think and go through the options until I find an idea that will make me jump from my chair, run to my husband and start describing: “Imagine a canvas, a dark background, two hands together and they glow from the inside! And this picture is called Hope!” If it happens, then everything will be fine.

My Working Process

I always start with a color sketch. Life taught me—if I don’t make a small sketch right away, then later I’ll feel the pain. I’m not the fastest learner so I had to throw away a couple of paintings before the importance of color sketches hit me. Its goal is to establish the relationship between values and colors. No details, as if you are looking at the painting from far away. The next step is to move to canvas. Firstly, I take a big brush and do a rough layer showing the future painting in general. The second layer; I do everything that I can wet on wet, adding details and overpainting the bottom layer. The last stage is to add some corrections where needed.

Finalist

Contact Details

Email: zarinasitumorang@gmail.com Instagram: @zarinasart