Sustained Investigation #12

shark (fin) soup

6''x9''

colored pencil and acrylic paint on drawing paper

On of the main problems whale sharks face is their fins being used to shark fin soup. Many times, they are caught, their fins are cut off, and then they are thrown back into the ocean. I decided to make the sharks actually swimming in the soup. I think sharks are amazing creatures and it's a shame that so many species are becoming endangered due to people using only a piece of them for food.

I made a composite image in Acorn and then gridded the image itself and the drawing paper. I used that to make a rough sketch and to make sure everything was proportionate. I then used PC916 Canary Yellow, PC903 True Blue, PC923 Crimson Red, and PC908 Grass Green for the bowl. For the shark, I also used True Blue. For the wood in the background, I used PC941 Light Umber. I used white acrylic paint for the spots of the whales because they were too small to do with colored pencil. I tried my best to work on my value and burnishing because that's something I struggle with. If I was going to do something else, I might try to add some text. I wouldn't change the background because I want the bowl and sharks to stand out.