Fish Out of Water, Kelsey Tice Nicholson

Medium: Digital

This piece was an assignment for my Photoshop course with instructor, Sonya Shannon. Throughout the course, my understanding of color developed and grew, until I wanted my pieces filled with bright colors that instantly evoke a specific feeling.

For this piece, I wanted to explore what would happen when layering different-colored fish over each other, contrasted against a background that strongly favored one color—in this case, magenta. I drew on my experience with nightlife and how it can be overwhelming with the many lights and sounds, making me feel like a “fish out of water,” which led me to creating the fish girl in the piece. At the beginning of the design process, I had a very clear vision of what I wanted the piece to achieve and look like, and the methods I had learned in class fit perfectly into my vision. The final piece holds a plethora of movement, color, and atmosphere to a common feeling.