Materials: colored pencil on mixed media paper

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Process: I knew that I wanted to create a piece centered around the holidays to tie into my thesis about nostalgia. Once I decided to draw a kitchen, I started by sketching the idea using a two-point perspective. I used parts of the piece, such as gifts, and the reflection of the Christmas tree, to hint at the setting. Throughout this project, I became much more familiar with colored pencils, and how to make their color stand out.

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Ideas: Christmas and family holidays can be a very nostalgic topic. As my thesis is surrounding nostalgia, and what aspects of a nostalgic setting make it that way, I wanted to pick specific parts of the piece broken, or off-putting. Smoke from the stove, the broken plate, the spilt wine glass in the reflection, and the lack of people, except a Grandma sleeping in the background, were how I tried to make the piece feel eerie.

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Citation: For this piece, I referenced the paintings of Justin Duffus, who captures the eerie nostalgia I'm aiming for in my inquiry. Specifically, I looked at his 2016 collection "Eating Cake and Dying". Some of these pieces are pictured below.