Hello Lovelies! In this post, I’m showing you the ‘Making Of’ my digital artwork ‘Naufragée’. You’ll get to see screenshots of the major work in progress steps, and a timelapse video that shows you the digital editing process from start to finish. I’m also speaking about the artistic thinking process – what is ‘Naufragée‘ meant to express? What inspired me to create that artwork? If that sounds interesting to you, then go ahead and enjoy this post!
‘Naufragée‘ is one of my works with a somewhat disproportionate framing. I seem to have developed a liking for disproportionate frames in recent years. I enjoy creating unusual things…
Other pieces of mine with an unconventional framing where the subjects are intentionally placed ‘too close to the bottom of the frame’ include the pieces with the metal frames that I created between 2019 and 2020: ‘Sally‘, ‘Lisa‘, and ‘Zara‘.
Naufragée is French and means ‘castaway’ – a person who has been shipwrecked and stranded. It’s a female castaway, because the word has an extra ‘e’ at the end…
Before I get more into the artistic thinking process that accompanied the creation of that work, have a look at the timelapse video my ‘Naufragée’ below:
The Making Of 'Naufragée'
Reverse layering
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Work in Progress shots
‘Naufragée’ is one of the images that were already completely finished in my mind before I actually started creating it. And I new the creation process was gonna be fun …and relaxing this time, because ‘Naufragée’ was also one the ‘easier’ images to create.
The one thing I needed first was a simple shot of my outstretched arms. Quickly done. I knew I was not gonna use my face in the angle that I shot it. So I edited it out right from the beginning.
I changed the tone of the image a little bit using Blending Modes in Photoshop (in particular Soft Light). I colored the fingertips and the elbows, and I also took some extra shots of my hands.
Right from the start of my artistic thinking process, I knew I was gonna create a picture with extra hands and fingers in places where they couldn’t be in real life. But that’s the beauty of surreal art – you can let your imagination run and create whatever comes into your mind.
In the WiP screenshot above, you can see that I’ve already cleaned up the upper hand. The lower hand still needs to be edited, as too much of the wrist is showing (but part of it will also be covered by the frame that I’m gonna add).
Here I gave my ‘Naufragée’ a face. It’s my own face as usual, because I love to add a personal note to all my Surreal Stories.
My ‘Naufragée’ just suffered shipwreck; she’s drowning. So I tried my best to produce a facial expression that looks scared, fearful, worried, …
The hair is meant to look like being taken away by the waves – remember, she’s being cast away in the ocean.
I edited the face more to make it ‘her’ face. I changed the eyes a lot, trying to give her a more fearful expression…
One huge part that contributed to the terrified look is the eyebrows. Especially the right one. The arched eyebrow makes a lot for the anxious facial expression.
Here my ‘Naufragée’ is close to completion. I did some more detail work, especially in the face. I worked out the eyes quite a bit: the red at the inner corner of the eyes intensifies the panic in her look.
I also gave her face more depth by highlighting her cheeks and the tip of her nose.
And as you already noticed: there is another finger close to her mouth and a part of the red ribbon has appeared.
Here we go. My ‘Naufragée’ is finished. The pinioning ribbon is complete, fastened to the frame with a bow. She also got a little bow in her hair…
Notice the two teardrops running down her eye? Who would not cry when they are being cast away?
What was the artistic thinking process behind 'Naufragée'?
‘Naufragée‘ is my creative interpretation of becoming shipwrecked in life. Even though a castaway needs to be on board a ship when they are being shipwrecked, drowning and stranding, my interpretation may apply to all situations in life. She’s being carried off by a powerful wave – represented by her floating hair.
You may be shipwrecked in your job, in your relationship, financially, … You may lose someone you love, get lost, feel lost… You may feel like you’re losing the ground under your feet…
But you survive, life goes on.
That's the artistic thinking process behind 'Naufragée'.
In my creative interpretation, I’m using playful – even beautiful, delicate – elements like the ribbon, the bow and the floating hair to illustrate the (seemingly) hopeless situation.
The ribbon – no matter how delicate and beautiful it actually is – seems to pinion her. It’s wrapped around her wrists (see detail close-ups below) and doesn’t let go off her – depicted by the ribbon being tied to the frame with a bow.
She’s drowning, almost completely swallowed by the ocean – represented by the frame that covers almost half of her face.
The many hands and fingers… The hands clinging to her wrist and arm, they have two meanings:
Firstly, they stand for the strength that’s holding her down, keeping her captive, wanting to pull her down into the sea.
Secondly, the hands are she herself trying to find hold somewhere, trying to pull herself up, getting away from the drowning power and finding a safe harbor – like finding a safe place in herself.
The finger by her mouth: she’s hesitant, doesn’t know what to do, where to go… She’s not sure whether she’ll be able to save herself from the sinking ship…
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I hope that this post helped you gain some insights into my creative process and better understand what I meant to express through this work. However, I know that art is subjective and I am always interested in knowing how my viewers perceive my art.
What do you think about this piece? How does it make you feel? What does it mean to you? Please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments. If this piece inspired you to create a new piece of your own, I would love to see it! Post a link in the comments, tag me on Instagram (@ginangiela), or reach out to me directly. Make sure to sign up for my email list below so you don’t miss out on new ‘Making Ofs’ and other cool stuff. ♥
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Naufragée
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