When going through all these art submissions that we’ve received, this piece especially stood out to me because of how realistic the figure in the piece seemed. From first glance, this painting almost seemed like a picture with an unrealistic background. When inspecting it up close, you can see that it isn’t a picture-perfect portrait but you also see the amount of time and effort it took to make the person, more specifically to make the skin look realistic. This was mostly due to the shadings of the body. This can be an easy way to tell who is skilled and who is novice within this field. First-time artists usually make the shading too sharp or dark so that it far exceeds any term of realism and more into surrealism; even in the field of surrealism, there are instances where the wrong type of shadowing can make or break a piece. The same instance goes for the colors within the skin, both highlights and blushing of the body. No one is ever one shade—the skin is made of of different undertones and uneven textures. Some people have more yellow spots, or blue veins near their eyes, or a rosy nose, and adding these little details shows not only how much dedication this artist has, but also her attention to detail within her pieces.
I would say the other pieces submitted by Figarelli also incorporate the different tones of the skin, though what makes this piece so different is the atmosphere and tone. The background to this piece is bright and colorful, depicting what looks to be a pink sky and white clouds. It’s very simple compared to the person and brings this balance throughout the piece. Generally I’m a fan of work that is balanced well. Sometimes work that has a lot going on without a purpose looks more like a mess than a piece of art. The same goes if a piece had too little detail; for me that artist isn’t showing much dedication to their piece. Bringing that middle not only shows that the artist cares about their piece, but that they mix up certain elements on purpose. The lightness of the background brought along this feeling that the figure is in some sort of dreamland, which goes along with the person sleeping. It also reminds me of Sleeping Beauty, especially the one scene where the princess dances in the clouds, completely full of bliss and calmness. I feel like when looking at it, I’m also in this dream world, where no darkness exists and clouds are more comfortable than the fluffiest pillow in the world. A lot of our pieces deal with either bizarre or dark subjects, and I like how this piece gives the reader a little break and a reminder of the dreamland where we all wish we could be.
My name is Abigail Facundo and I am one of the prose and visual arts editors for Levitate Magazine. I enjoy pieces of work that both entrance me and makes me want to think, to see the second or third or million other stories within one piece.
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