Piece Explanation

This piece represents the rarity of Ehlers Danlos, through the Zebra, which is an official EDS mascot. Living with a chronic illness Is not "black and white", meaning while I do not always feel or look sick or disabled, I still have a chronic illness. The stripes of a Zebra are not the same, people with EDS have similar but different symptoms and conditions. It also means I do not let chronic illness take over my life. You can not tell what a person's life with a chronic illness is like just by looking at them. All Zebras may look alike, but they are not, same can be said with me and other EDS people.

Art Style

I wanted to show my skills through the positive and negative space in the shading and background. I also wanted to show depth and the texture of the zebra's stripes. To achieve this, I only shaded in the white parts. I decided to make the background a divided gradient, because it tied the theme together and makes the viewer focus on the Zebra itself more. I think the techniques I used brought the piece to life.