7. Stars and Stripes Design

Describe: For this piece we were instructed to create a ‘new’ united states flag; using the components of stripes, patriotic colors (red, white, blue), and stars. I first sketched out my design in pencil, before going back in with watercolor. After that I decided that i needed a bit of contrast against the colors, so I decided to outline the design in black ink. In this piece, I wanted to go for a traditional feel, taking inspiration from some 4th of July banners I’d seen when I use to live in wiscasset. Color played a major part during my time working on this, since red, white and blue are such patriotic colors referencing to america. Because of this, I tried to make each of the colors as pigmented as possible. Line and shape also were used hugely in this piece, clearing seen in the stripes and stars.

Analyze: This piece is hard to pick Composition Rules & Techniques out of, since it's such a simple piece. I had come up with many ideas and sketches in the beginning of this project, but in the end I came back to my most traditional piece. Something that did change from the first draft of this was the amount of stars I was including. At first I had only decided on one star, right in the middle of the blue. But in the end, when I saw that I could fit more in, I just went with it.

Evaluate :If I were to change this piece in anyway, I would chose a more pigmented paint; probably acrylic. I think the water color came out fine, and I think it balances well with everything else, but I would've liked to see the red and blue brighter; something to really grab your attention.