Identify one piece in your portfolio that you are most passionate about, tell us the story behind it

SYRACUSE SUPPLEMENTAL essay

Prompt:
Identify one piece in your portfolio that you are most passionate about and tell us the story behind it. 300 words max

Before you critique anything, I have two questions. It asks me to tell the story behind it so should my essay be on what the story is? For this one, I wrote about my process, so I don't know if that exactly counts as the story behind it. Here is my essay, and please let me know if anything is wrong, and I know my tense is wrong.

It was the beginning of October when my family and I decided to go on a weekly trip to our local grocery store. The second I walked in the door, I saw how there was a towering pile of pumpkin varieties. They ranged from tiny green gourds to gigantic pearl-white pumpkins. In an instant, the sight of the pumpkins gave me an idea of a possible artistic piece.

Without any brainstorming sketches, I immediately began working on the final piece. Halloween was around the corner, so I added a twist into my drawings by incorporating witches, mummies, ghosts, and all the other traditional Halloween characters. My illustration will minimize the space, but it will still retain a communal feeling. The use of color was important, because not only does my illustration need to be wary of the use of shapes, the color composition greatly impacts the balance of the piece. Through my illustrations, I always loved the idea of making my audience examine all the details I have integrated. Like how one of the Skeleton's missing bone or the Witch's black cat is hidden somewhere difficult to point out. Once I finished the drawing, I couldn't be more proud of how the colors all pieced together and how even though it was a time-consuming piece of illustration, I was glad I went grocery shopping with my family. I finished my piece titling it "Mounds of Gourds" because of how each pumpkin is stacked upon each other, in a playful and witty composition.

Hannah, every painting has a story. The Mona Lisa depicts the story of a shy woman with a beautiful secret hidden within her eyes. While other say it is a self-portrait of the author. The painting of Napoleon with his hand tucked into his uniform is said to tell the story of indigestion (I'm kidding!). Every painting has a story behind it. The inspiration behind the model is often the most interesting part of the presentation.

The inspiration behind the painting is not well told. That is the story that the prompt is asking you to tell. What was it about the pumpkins that gave you the idea to paint the piece? What ran through your mind as you looked at the pumpkins on sale. What memories did it evoke? How did that translate into the final piece? To drive the story home, you could tell an anecdote or two about what people who saw your painting said about it and what sort of stories it created for them to tell. You could close the essay with that reference.

The essay is not focused on your procedure, it is focused on your story. That is what you have to talk about. The idea is to give the reviewer an idea as to what sort of visuals tend to inspire you. The interest of the essay does not include the procedure at this time.