My Stencil

The stencil I chose for the cover of my sketchbook is Blue Nude II painted by Matisse:

At first, I had chosen a simple poppy flower because I thought it would look cool on the cover. But after I saw Blue I thought it would look better on the cover. The reason for this being that the original painting already has a stencil-like quality because the it is actually constructed from painted paper cutouts that would translate well into the physical stencil I would be making. Not only was this a better choice for my stencil because it would look better on the cover but because of what this painting means to me.

To me this work represents a woman who is vulnerable and strong at the same time. I feel like a lot of the time women are forced to chose between being strong or being vulnerable, with the latter being equated with weakness. But this work for me means that being vulnerable is not a weakness but a strength. The woman in the painting is nude but she is not exposed. Thus her vulnerability comes from being obviously nude, but her strength is that she is not literally exposed she is only her silhouette. Having this work on the cover of my sketchbook will be a continual reminder throughout the quarter that I can be strong and vulnerable at the same time, and that the vulnerability I experience is not weakness.