Covid-19 Visual Response #1

Covid-19 Visual Response: "Bless the Medics"

Colored Pencils on Drawing Paper

9" x 12"

This painting depicts a woman in the health professions, being given the respect and support she deserves. The people working in the health professions during this pandemic are some of the bravest, and most selfless, of our time. Working nonstop shifts in adverse conditions where even the most standard precautions are skipped to save on skimpy resources requires a lot of bravery and most of all a lot of grit. In this drawing, I wanted to show just how necessary these workers are during this crisis so that people will respect the guidelines and, in turn, respect the workers that suffer the consequences. She has an image of the caduceus over her head, solidifying her identity and bringing a familiar symbol to give the feeling of safety that comes with her. Several hands support a halo behind the woman while others pray and cling to her from below. These "detached hands" signify the support and reverence from people remaining at home. They pray and support her in hopes that she can keep safe their family, lover, neighbor, whomever it may be who has been taken ill during these times. I hope that this shows that people can support by doing what's right and taking a stand at home, protecting themselves and, by extension, showing their respect for those who work tirelessly in hospitals to keep us healthy and alive. For this piece, I tried to utilize the bright colored pencils to capture the bright semblance of hope. I also tried to have a more cartoon based approach to this work instead of realistic because I wanted the liberty to give her more angelic qualities and make her more approachable, especially during these times when the sight of a mask might spark some fear. In the future I'd like to find a way to make the outlining more complete and find out how to work with colored pencils on more textured paper as it was something I struggled with.