Game Night

My art piece, "Family Game Night", captures the coziness and complexity of a game night in my family. The piece is made with ink pen, gouache, acrylic, and pastel. The central part of the artwork depicts the aforementioned game night. The members of my family (even my dog!) sit at the dinner table, playing cards. Everyone maintains a calm composure, but the ghostly figures behind them reveal their true feelings - triumph, calculation, despair.

I chose to paint the real people with ink pen and gouache, and shaded the background of the central portion of my piece with a dark blue. I focused on using ink pen shading and limited my use of color in order to create a stark value contrast, emphasizing the excitement, anticipation, and tension in the scene. However, I painted the "real emotions" of each person much differently. I tried to capture the feel of a negative photo by painting in shades of blue and reversing the shadows and highlights, helping make the figures more ethereal. The bright wheel of colors circulating around the edge of the painting further contributes to this emotional, complex setting.

My art piece reveals the togetherness of family. In our family, games are not just a fun activity, but also a way to bond with each other. Nothing can bring us together like a little friendly competition, and that feeling is exactly what my painting aims to capture. No matter whether we are winning or losing, triumphant or despairing, enjoying a board game as a family brings us together.