BEARTRAP

It was around this time that I began to notice that I was making the same decisions in almost every painting. Not for stylistic purposes, but through a lack of skill and a limited visual library. Asking my friend T for advice, he gave me a fashion term I still use when looking for reference. Techwear. I’d describe it as a sorta futuristic cyberpunk kind of aesthetic, but pulled to the modern day and made practical. This is the first piece I made with that word in my dictionary. I looked up extensive reference for style and color, and tried to make a character that didn’t follow it perfectly, but became a transitional piece between my usual style and this brand new one. I went with a bright yellow jumpsuit with a hood, and futuristic techy looking blue lines running across it. Finally, for some added flare, I threw a bear trap around his neck. His expression reads to me like ‘Yeah, I’m wearing a bear trap and you’re still the weird one.’ and that brings me much joy. I’m happy with this piece but do think I could have, and should have pushed it further. Still, there’s a lot here I took into my general skillset and mental library.