Intermediate Watercolor: Project #5 (The Final)

For our final project, we could basically do whatever we want to, but it had to be on a full sheet of paper. Full sheets are 22 x 30 inches. I remember when I painted a full sheet for the first time last year, I was absolutely intimidated by all that space, but now I don't want to do anything smaller! This was my first time using hot press paper, which is very smooth in comparison to the slightly rugged cold press paper. It was pretty easy to work with, and I had fun blending colors and creating textures on it. I also added a little bit of micron pen to some areas.

My inspiration for this painting quite possibly came from reading fairy tales to Lilah, and also watching Frozen over a dozen times thanks to Lilah. I felt a strong fantasy element and I also wanted to do something a little macabre. Instead of being made of bricks, I thought it would be interesting to use faces instead.

If you turn the painting upside down, you can see that there is an entrance to a world below. I spent what felt like forever trying to come up with what would be at the bottom of the painting. I am kind of glad that I went with what I did, because I think it is complementary to the rest of the painting.

Is the girl in the tower held there against her will, or is she making herself a victim and keeping herself there? I think that's what I am having a hard time figuring out. What do you think?