Sustained Investigation #11

Artist Statement

The main idea behind this artwork was to show a situation where one subject is out of place. I felt like drawing a possum so I created this situation where a possum is hanging from a branch next to two bats. The possum could belong here because it can hang from branches like a bat, but by drawing two bats and only one possum I showed that the possum is out of place. The possum is also posed in a way that is a little more clumsy looking than the bats who have their wings wrapped tightly around themselves.

I started this piece with a pencil drawing before going over the lines of the possum with a fine point pen that I knew wouldn't bleed if I went over it with watercolors. To make the possum stand out more I didn't use pen on the bats, instead I painted them with gouache. I also used gouache for the tree branches and the background. I did a few layers on the branches and leaves to create highlights and shadows. In the background I started at the bottom and started painting up towards the top. The paint got more watery as I went which made the middle and top of the background a lot lighter than the bottom. I thought about going over it with another layer but then I decided that darkening the background would make the bats blend in too much. However, even with the lighter background I thought the bats didn't stand out enough so I outlined them with a white gel pen. I also outlined the possum and added some light color to it with watercolors.

I did some research to see what bats look like hanging upside down so I could get the wings right. I also practiced drawing the possum a few times to get the pose right and figure out if I liked how it looked in pen.