Stars & Stripes
11.5 x 9.5in
For this project I wanted to do something that had a deeper meaning because I first interpreted the project as representative to America because of the theme of stars and stripes. I decided I wanted to have more of a general idea or meaning for my artwork to convey, I decided to draw a person and have a hand with red and white stripes to show how people’s opinions are silenced and not heard well if the do not fit into “social norms” or exactly fit the mold that society has cast. I added the American flag in the background just to reiterate the theme of stars and stripes. I thought this was a really good opportunity to draw something that held a deep meaning. I have not really tried drawing anything too realistic so far in this course so I decided to take a more realistic approach for my artwork. I chose to draw a girl for my person because I think that among the many people’s opinions that are ignored, that women are often not heard or are just ignored.
I used toned paper and started off with my background. For my background it was just the American flag so I used red white and blue colored pencils. I really worked hard on the background to get richer colors. For the hand I also used red and white colored pencil, but I did not want the colors to be as rich, wanted them to be more transparent so some of the details of the hand would still be visible. For the person I just used graphite and tried to get a good range of value. For the eyes of the person I used blue colored pencil along with the tears. In the eyes it is sort of hard to see, but the reflected light is in the shape of a star.
I used colored pencils in one of my previous projects and thought the would match the theme of my artwork well. I started off with the background and slowly moved towards the person. At first I was not sure if I wanted to use gel pen or another material for the person, but I decided to used pencil so I could get more value. When I first started the project I was not sure what I was going to do with the background, but then I decided to make it into the American flag. Also, I originally was not going to add the stripes to the hand over the person’s mouth, but I thought it might look cool and add to the stars and stripes theme. Finally, I decided to do the reflected light of the person’s eyes in the shape of a star at the last minute to add more stars in a creative way. I think I could definitely add more value to the person and more detail. I think that with more shading and more details that the person could have the potential to look more realistic. Also, with better shading and adding highlights and shadows I could make some of the person’s features more 3D looking.