My exam piece for the 'Personal Space' project, painted under exam conditions over three days (May 17th-19th). 15-hour exam, yay x_x But oh my God I am SO proud of this. I haven't used acrylics for anything as detailed as this before, and I've never painted on a canvas as big as this (18"x24") before, but it turned out so much better than I was expecting.

I was exploring the title by looking at how people get absorbed in books, and how it makes them feel as though they're part of the story and so on. I suppose this could be interpreted in a couple of different ways - either the little girl has found a private place to sit and read and is imagining the fairies from the story flying round her, or she's literally been absorbed into the story, and is imagining herself in its world. I haven't quite decided which one I think yet

The landscape is based on a series of photos I took of Gadebridge Park, although its layout is completely made up. The little girl with the book also used photo reference - she's my little cousin Paige, who's five. :3 I've made her model for me so many times over the past couple of months and she hasn't complained once, so I owe her a really big thank you for putting up with me and being so awesome.

I seriously agonised over which category to put this under. I was torn between landscapes and portraits, but in the end chose fantasy because of the fairies. But if it doesn't really belong there let me know and I'll gladly move it. :3

Please full view! The photo's not of awesome sharp quality but the preview still doesn't do it justice!

Image © ME