Stars and Stripes

The assignment for this project was to use the elements and principles of design exhibited in the American flag to create an original version of the flag. The elements incorporated include line, shape, and color and the principles included are balance, contrast, pattern, and unity. For my materials I chose marker on paper.

To create this piece I first sketched the outlines of the stripes with a ruler, along with the stars, using a homemade stencil. I then filled in the empty space with color. My project evolved in that I initially colored with colored pencil, but I later decided to go over it in marker because the colored pencil was too light and the marker made the colors more bright, creating better contrast.

I chose this design for my piece by first thinking of symbols of the United States of America. The bald eagle is an important symbol that I chose and I decided to create a flag with the stars and stripes positioned to resemble our national bird. I used the numbers of stars and stripes the same way they're used on the American flag: thirteen stripes to represent the original thirteen colonies and fifty stars to represent each of the fifty states. The arrangement obviously represents the bald eagle which is a symbol of power and of freedom for our country. This piece relates to my life because it is my own representation of a symbol for the U.S. where I'm a citizen. I think this piece could be stronger if the blue background was more solid in color. Also, my intent with the large star on the eagle's head was to make it look like an open beak and I think the piece would be strong had I been more successful with this.

The most challenging (and time-consuming) part of this piece was filling the background in with marker one line at a time in an effort to make the blue color as solid as possible. In this piece I am most proud of the idea because that was the focus of the project. I am also happy with how the stripes came out, I think they look very even and the coloration is solid. This work shows my strength as an artist in my ability to effectively select and incorporate specific elements and principles of design into a piece. It shows my weakness in failed experimentation creating the beak and in the background which isn't as solid as I would like.