Congressional Art Competition 2021

Lila Newton
Lifting Off

My artwork “Lifting Off” is a value study using the art of stippling. The image I have created is of a butterfly which seems to be flying off of the page. My work shows the intricate designs of a butterfly’s wings and their beauty. First I graphed a reference photo onto an enlarged sheet of paper. Then I used black ink to create the thousands of tiny dots that are placed within different lengths of each other to illustrate the different values. I’ve always felt that butterflies represent my personality and what I strive to become. I want to grow and evolve into something beautiful, and I don’t want to be kept in a cocoon my whole life. My goals for this piece was to really try and accomplish the drama of realism while still keeping the whimsical, carefree feeling of butterflies. From this piece I have learned how to incorporate dramatic values into my art. I am proud of how my vision came to life. I really wanted to play around with the stippling effect in relation to the shadows of the piece, and I’m really happy with how the contrast is displayed.