Her 3D version : [link]
Process of making : [link]
Print Available : [link]

Just another experimental pic with few colour contrasts : red, white and green.

This time I want to try the method of starting in grayscale mode first, then insert colours (see the process of making to know what I mean), like many pro 2D artists have done and succeeded. And now I can conclude that that method doesn't work for me .

What inspired me to create this pic were the anthurium flowers (of course) and a song that I happened to hear. The anthurium is said to stand for either hospitability or beauty and elegance. In this case it's the second meaning. The anthurium reminded me of 'that person', while the song (Darn it!!!), with its melancholic melody, recalled the whole experience, which took place during my high school years. It was the saddest time of my life, when I first tasted the first sign of 'love' (that what I called it at that time) and betrayals, from both friends and the one I followed. Among them lied one person - the only one who I compared with the anthurium, for her unreachable sharpness and elegance.

_{She used to be my best friend. She was beautiful, feminine in an Asian way, and very smart. She always topped her class, and in general she was a perfect model that you could scarcely find nowadays. At first, I admired her for that, as she could help me in my studying and discuss and consult with me about everything in this world, with her wisdom. But as time went by, as situations changed, that perfection stole my confidence when getting along with her. Then it stole the hearts of a lot of guys (including the guy I had my first love for. I don't want to remember how he treated me after falling for her). Finally, my upset came to its peak, my anger turned to hatred when that perfection stole even my parents' respect, which made me - their daughter - become despicable in their eyes...}

*Related symbolism : I write these NOT to explain this pic, just to provide you with some info that helps you understand the pic better. It's up to you to take the pic the way you want.

- The girl in this pic wears an ao dai - Vietnamese traditional costume and this pic belongs to my "Girls in Ao dai" series (a section in my gallery). I have to insist this since I don't want it to be mistaken with the Chinese qipao or any related costumes like some viewers did.

- Here's the reason of the white tone covering the pic and the colours of the flowers : In traditional Eastern Asian culture, white is the sad colour. It stands for the dead and pains. That's why the Asian funerals are covered in white and people wear white there. Contrary to white is red. This is clearly seen in Asian movies, as you always find red in any happy parties and events like birthdays for the old, wedding, welcome meetings, etc. Red is the colour of happiness (as well as love in modern time). _{Here's one example : In some Eastern Asian countries we have an annual event to commenmorate our parents (In Vietnam we call it 'Vu Lan' ). Those who still have enough 2 parents wear red roses on their chest. Those who only have either father or mother wear pink roses. Finally, those who are orphans or have no more parents wear white roses.}

- However, in this pic, the white ao dai stands for school, as it's the national uniform of high school female pupils, and is the most recognizable property reminding foreigners of Vietnam. In this case it's because my sad experience took place during my school year time, as I said above.
_{You may ask why the uniform is white while this is the colour of death. Well, we just began to have the pupils wear white uniforms after our country is liberated from the French and American colonialism, which means we had had received some cultural influences from the Western world, including the adaption of the new meanings of white : purity, cleanliness, innocence, childhood, etc and happiness. That's why white uniforms were chosen.}

- The girl is actually the exaggerated version of my friend - the anthurium friend I was talking about. In this pic she is having MY expression.

Photoshop + Tablet. No refs used.
Thank you for all your supports.

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I give permissions to *UnseenArtists, =ColorfulArtClub and *Belle-Art to display this within their galleries.