This is a self portrait was supposed to use symbolism and other such tools in the painting, so onto explaining the meaning of this image. It's pretty much about the
anxiety I was dealing with when I was a senior in college, with graduation looming in May and all the stress of stepping out into the so-called real world.
It's also about how towards the end of my college career I figured out that I would have much preferred to be an illustration major instead of a computer graphics major,
but I was too far along to change that or else I would have had to probably go to school for at least another year, which at the time I had no desire to do.
That's why you get the pixelated background (computer graphics) versus the old fashioned flower pattern (illustration). The flower pattern was inspired by a print
on the inside of an old envelope that I have. That and the border, which is art nouveau inspired, reflect my interest in illustration from the 1940's and earlier,
Japanese woodblock prints and patterns, art nouveau, and other older illustration styles.

This oil painting is 32" by 36" and at the time it was finished it was the largest painting I've ever made. It was completed in November of 2003.

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