My name is Caitlyn Fitzgerald, and I’m a senior at Chantilly High School. I’ll be attending SCAD to major in 2D animation after graduating. 

My portfolio focuses on what it feels like to be out of touch with reality. I wanted to explore the idea of involuntary escapism through a series of illustrations. I first began with a hand-drawn background based on a real location in my life done with Posca Paint markers. I chose this medium for two reasons; the limited range of colors pushed me to experiment with each piece’s color palette to create something unique, and it helped push creating a more abstract environment. To contrast my colorful backgrounds and stylized locations, I opted to render the subject of each piece in a more realistic grey tone style. I believe the contrast between the subject and background emphasizes this feeling of being out of place. In my third piece, I experimented with the idea of introducing other subjects in contrasting styles to help show the lack of connection between the black and white subject and her surroundings.