Beth Ellison - ‘Light’

The theme I chose was ‘light’, which was pretty broad, but I particularly wanted to focus on reflections and the manipulation of light in art. Personally, I really like the way shiny objects and glass can be portrayed through painting and I thought I could challenge myself with this theme.

I think my favourite piece is probably my painting of a close up, crushed Diet Coke can. I closely followed the reference to pick out all the colours and reflections, however I like the way the overall effect actually looks quite abstracted. 

Through doing my coursework I realised that you can really make a painting of anything, even if it is essentially ‘rubbish’. It can still be effective if you consider how the composition is set up and the way you incorporate elements such as light and shadow.

I like art mainly for the way it can be whatever you want it to be, and it is so subjective. I don’t necessarily think it needs to have meaning behind it all the time as I appreciate art if it just looks nice on the wall or makes a space more interesting.

After A-levels I’m planning to have a year out and then go to uni to do an Art degree, although I‘m always changing my mind! I know I definitely want to continue painting and drawing but I’d also like to try out some new methods of art and design and see where it leads.