Concentration #2

Honey, run.

4" x 4"

Charcoal, Chalk pastel, Conte

Honey running down the trees,

streams of golden light flow.

Air breathes in and out through the wind.

Groaning and sighing they sway

the trees of night and day.

Little creatures fly away from their grasp,

Leaves rattling down the long fall.

Honey, running down the trees,

Light turns into red flames.

They gasp for the breath of wind.

Snapping and crackling they fall,

the trees of night and day.

Little creatures fly away from their death

Leaves burning down the lone ground.

For this piece I used a poem I created last year and decided to make a piece to go along with it. I chose to focus on the last line of the poem and transform it into a piece of artwork. I felt that by using the last line of the poem, it would force the audience to read through the whole thing in order to connect it with the art. I also believe that many of the lines in this poem have strong imagery that would make a great piece of art, but the last line and the piece of art go along with the message that the poem has.

I started with the idea that I would draw a leaf on fire a it directly pertain to the line I was focused on. I used toned paper for the first time as I felt it would add a natural tone to my piece and I wanted to experiment with new tools. I sketched the shape I needed the leaf to be. Then I went in and drew the flames in the piece. For this piece I used chalk pastel and charcoal to get the earth tones that I want and to be able to blend easily. For the background I blended a mix of gray, black, and red for a solid piece then bordered the leaf with some conte that I blended in in order to distinguish the leaf from the dark background.