Sustained Investigation #2

The focus of my sustained investigation is upon storytelling through pictures, with each piece adding to the narrative of a lone traveler and his burro. I am particularly attached to this character and enjoy creating images of the desert—somewhere I have never been. I myself have never travelled extensively, restricted by lack of funds but not by interest. This investigation has come to mirror my own daydreams of adventure, through bright colorful landscapes. I also tried to challenge myself by including a burro character that had to be featured in nearly every piece, forcing me to learn how to draw horse-like animals.

If anything, I feel like I need to make this story more meaningful to me, so that the pieces are more powerful and important. Planning out things that mean a lot to me I find difficult, and most symbolise and deep meaning develops during the actual creation of the piece. Through Shadowless Land is focused on moving the story along, showing the character and his burro traveling through the desert that lay ahead of them in Purple Mountains Majesty.

I created this piece using graphite, Micron technical pens, Prismacolor colored pencils and watercolors. I started by laying the borders out, before making a paper mask of the mountains and laying in the sky with watercolors and salt. Next I put down some green for the mountains and finished the watercolors with a light brown on the desert. Next I jumped over to colored pencils to do the mountains, focusing on flat hazy colors, before using a brown technical pen for the mesa and a black technical pen to outline the man, burro and cactus in the foreground. Next I layed down bright oranges and faded yellows for the desert, using an aqua for the shadows, and making the cactus jump out with a splash of bright green. Lastly, I used a white colored pencil to really blend the mountains in.