Allergic to Alien Food (Stomach Ache at the Dinner Party)

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While I was brainstorming new ideas for paintings to add to this series, I began thinking that I needed to start focusing more of the paintings on some of the troubles or challenges that the humans in my story might have in fitting into this alien world. I had a drawing in my sketchbook of an alien dinner party with this big dish of food on the table. I initially drew it out with the idea that it would just be interesting to get a closer look at some of the alien food. I figured that I’d have at least one human there as well and that maybe this would be like the human’s first exposure to whatever type of food was being served at this dinner. But when I thought about it, I didn’t feel like this Idea was quite enough. I didn’t feel like it was really adding that much to the series and the story overall considering the work that I’d already done.

Then one night I came up with the idea that maybe the human would try the food, but it wouldn’t sit well with them and they’d have to leave the fun of the party because they were having a (non-life-threatening) allergic reaction to the alien food. I liked the idea because, on the one hand, it accomplished what I said I’d wanted to accomplish at the very beginning in highlighting a way in which a human might have trouble fitting in to this alien world. But in addition to that, I happen to be someone that has a number of food allergies of varying severities myself, so I found this situation to be quite relatable.