Freestyle Academy proudly presents

The Keys to My World: A Junior Self-Portrait Illustration by Elizabeth Halliday (2012)

In my personal illustration, I am exploring the side of me that has extreme wanderlust, a strong desire to wander or travel and explore the world, which is represented by the globe. I also had the globe show the other continents, not just focusing on North America; I have an extreme yearning to get off of this continent and the free myself from the stigma that surrounds it by traveling all over the world. The second aspect of my illustration is a hand reaching out, held back by shackles. This represents my desire-- but inability-- to leave. There's something always holding me back from just packing up and driving off-- whether it be school, outside activities, or just my slight hesitation to venture off into the unknown.

For this illustration, I used bright colors for the globe, making it contrast against the black background. I made the hand a lighter hue as well. I then drew the shackles with a dark color to contrast the lightness of the globe and hopeful hand. I wanted to use perspective and balance with the placement of the hand versus the globe, almost making it look like the audience could be the person reaching out for the globe as well. My original sketch had a girl shackled to a wall reaching for a globe. However, that seemed too complicated: plus I would have to hide the girl in shadows. However this ultimately led to my final product, which I am extremely proud of. I feel it shows my true desires simply, yet thoughtfully and ultimately will allow more people to relate to the piece without the specifics of a person and the complexities that were my original idea.
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