Watercolor Self-Portrait "Behind deals it All"

This was the first major watercolor piece of my high school art career, and was completed my freshmen year (2017-2018) over the course of roughly 25 hours. It was an experimental piece, I wanted to challenge myself to capture as much detail as possible with the difficult medium while still being able to express the theme effectively. The main figure is resting on the top of a large pool of dark, mysterious water, filled with setbacks, social pressure, and dysfunctional families, clawing at her, and attempting to fill her warm heart with fear and rage. It had happened before, she had been terrified of the life she lived (the blue, faded portions represent past, dead veins), but she had matured now, she had her eyes on the future, and understood what she had to endure to secure it (hence the glasses with a silent, night city). This piece was entered into my local district's 2018-2019 VASE Art Competition and scored a perfect 60/60, winning me a VASE medal! I was actually really surprised by this because it was my deals first year competing, and had a wonderful, very compassionate judge who gave me lots of great advice on how to better manage/detail my piece for future competitions.