4 images

by Rui-na yan

Shanghai High School International Division

All My Friends are Empty

This watercolor piece is based on David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and it depicts the loneliness the song originally contained. The psychedelic colors and empty spacesuits surrounding the singular man display the drug trip and dizziness of the music, and the feeling like sinking into an abyss when you realize your loneliness.

Portrait of My Room before I Fall Asleep

Due to constantly moving around in my childhood, I always had a deep desire to paint my room—the one thing I had full control of no matter where I moved—in an attempt to record it down as one might write down an important, passing thought before they forget it. Attempts to capture all the posters, mess piles, and stacked up worksheets never ended well or felt accurate. But, through minimal contours, shades of gray for the room, and coloring of the outside window in bright yellow – reminiscent of the never-fully-dark nights in Shanghai— I was able to leave just enough to memory and also fully capture the essence of the room.

SS Portrait

This gouache portrait of Sebastian Stan captures the actor caught in the shadows. Covered in dark colors and shades, it explores human expression and features. I experimented with using the gouache medium for the first time in this study of colors.

GG Portrait

Actress Gal Gadot acts as the model for this watercolor painting. This piece exaggerates the warm hues of the original reference and I played around with the complimentary yellow and purples while trying to retain a realistic depiction of her.