Project 2: You Are My Sunshine

Lyrics:

The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken,
And I hung my head and cried.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away.

I'll always love you and make you happy
If you will only say the same
But if you leave me and love another
You'll regret it all someday.

You told me once, dear, you really loved me
And no one could come between
But now you've left me to love another
You have shattered all of my dreams.

For this project, I worked with oil color on canvas board (6x8"). I wanted to experiment more with color, so I only used French Ultramarine, Cadmium Red and Cadmium Yellow. With this piece, I wanted to convey emotion, both with the subject and the colors. It's called "You Were My Sunshine."
My jumping off point was the emotion I got from listening to the song -- a longing, a sadness. I took lyrics that hit me the hardest, and illustrated them through a single figure. Originally, I wanted to utilize a monochrome palette, using only shades of indigo to convey that sadness. However, I thought it would be more dynamic if I added the yellow to represent the sunshine. I wanted to show that the sunshine was fading, and it was only touching him on the slightest of spots. The sunshine does not reach where his heart or his face are, and I think that could show that his sunshine has gone away and shattered all his dreams.