The Real Gateway Drug

I picked this subject because I thought it would give me an interesting color palette to work with. I knew I wanted a palette that was deep and muted, and a picture of a cigarette was able to give me the right shades of browns and grays to work with. It gave the perfect feeling for this picture.

The uses of Gestalt theory are very subtle, but I feel like they still work. There is use of proximity as you put the head and the neck together, as well as in the differentiation between the paper, cigarette and face. The elements of proximity create a really simple but interesting feeling, giving the picture a really clean feeling overall.

Alongside the use of continuation in the letters on the bottom of the strip, there is also a really subtle use of figure/ground that you might notice after looking for a minute right where the man's lips are - you might notice a keyhole being unlocked by the cigarette. Once you catch that, it opens up a whole new meaning to the picture.

The inspiration for this piece comes from an insight gained by a friend. I wanted to take an opportunity to raise awareness of the "real gateway drug."