9x6 Ratty Picnic
Artist Statement
we were given a 9x6 piece of paper with a drop of ink somewhere near the center. The idea of this project was to create art out of something that could be seen as an accident or an "oops." I wasn't sure what I could make out of such a strange shape, in a kind of inconvenient spot. I then noticed how the shapes connected in a way, and how it reminded me of a rat.
When I finally came up with this idea I used a pencil to sketch out the based idea of what I wanted the piece to look like. I wasn't sure what to do with the background until I thought about how rats like cheese and cheese is food which reminded me of a picnic. I used various-sized bushes to paint this piece with acrylic paint. I used a larger brush for the red squares, grass, and cheese board. Then I used a smaller brush to add the cheese and rat limbs. Finally, I used the back of my paintbrush to do the flowers and rat eyes. After I finished the painting process I used a marker for outlining to outline the raw edges and then used it to make ants over the paint that dripped, which I think contributed to the purpose of a beautiful oops art piece.
For this piece, I wanted to make it something fun, and colorful because school starting was stressful. The piece gave me time to just sit and work on something that could ground me, and something relaxing. I like how bright the acrylic looks, and the saturation of the colors for more simple artwork.