Donate Life

This was my submission to the 2019 Donate Life Maine High School Poster Contest. I drew an older person handing a paintbrush to a child, with the caption, "Pass on you paintbrush." In the background there are people painting a colorful mural that has the required slogan, "Organ and Tissue Donation." My chosen media were markers, pen, and colored pencils. I used multiple reference photos from the internet to draw the hands, and then added the paintbrush. I then sketched the background and text in pencil before adding color with permanent markers for the large spaces and pen for the smaller spaces. I lastly added blue colored pencil in the background to give a sky tone. I chose to create this work because I wanted to show the value in donating organs and tissue and I also wanted to use bright, but selective color to emphasize different components of the piece. For the most part, my colors were flat, but texture was an important in the grass and the hands. For the grass I obtained the organic texture through pen strokes, and I used pure contour to establish the textures of the two hands.

I chose this composition because I wanted to emphasize the symbolic passing of the paintbrush, but I also needed to incorporate the required slogan. For this reason I put the mural in the middle ground with a horizon line in the background. This piece evolved in that I was initially going to add more people painting the mural, but the composition is somewhat crowded as it is now and I'm glad I decided against adding more.

Through this piece, my goal was to motivate people to become organ donors by displaying the impact that organ donation can have. It is difficult to properly emphasize the life-saving difference that an organ donation can make, so I created a visual metaphor. The older person is handing their paintbrush to the younger person to symbolize that the pieces of life (organs) that go to waste when a person dies can be donated to enable the next generation and allow them to make their mark on society. "Society" is visually represented in the background by the people painting the mural. They work collaboratively to spell out the essential message and by passing on his or her paintbrush, the older person enables the younger person to become part of the effort. I feel that organ and tissue donation is a great opportunity to make a difference in someone's life. I personally became an organ donor when I received my driver's license and am grateful for the opportunity to help people in this way. I think that this piece could be stronger if the composition wasn't so crowded. There is a lot going on, and while every aspect is necessary to help convey my message, I think that I could have benefitted from using a larger space.