Acrylic on Canvas | 9 inch x 12 inch | 2021
01. Background
On August 2021, my leader broke the news about my friend. She was in category 4 and her lungs were 50-70% infected by Covid viruses. I was sad because there were two possibilities, which is her recovering or passing on. Furthermore, few weeks before the news, my doctor friend checked on my family (on non-related Covid) matters. He said, “Don’t come to the hospital unless you have a heart attack.”
Inspired by the song Wires by Athlete, I created this artwork with a glimmer of hope despite the gloomy news.
02. Approach
The lyrics in Wires depicts the harrowing experience of Joel Potts had when his daughter was in the hospital. I decided to call this painting HFNC, which stands for High Flow Nasal Cannula. This equipment is used for Covid patients who have respiratory problems. While Wires speaks of my emotions, but I have to contextualise the medical equipment based on the current situation.
As I was filled with sadness, I went to Unsplash and Pexels to find for a suitable photo for my reference to paint. I particularly liked the window photo by Sven Brandsma.
03. Challenges
I try to do my artworks in one day, but this took three days. I had to spread this work to a few days to complete it.
Day 1
I started out with the base colours, which are the background, chair and vase. As it was the based colours, the painting looks like a mess of empty colours.
I started out with the base colours, which are the background, chair and vase. As it was the based colours, the painting looks like a mess of empty colours.
Day 2
Once the base colours dried, I added more details to the leaves and chair.
Once the base colours dried, I added more details to the leaves and chair.
Day 3
The windows were the hardest to do because of the tree, lighting and shadows. Despite being the hardest to paint, I gained so much satisfaction from painting the windows.
The windows were the hardest to do because of the tree, lighting and shadows. Despite being the hardest to paint, I gained so much satisfaction from painting the windows.
Once the windows were done, I continued adding details such as lighting and shadows to the rest of the painting.
04. Final Thoughts
There is beauty in taking time to paint. I managed to process the sadness of the bad news and possibly a loss of a friend.
My friend was discharged after 23 days, and I am thankful that she is now recovered well.
