Sustained Investigation #3

Artist Statement:

Originally, my Sustained Investigation #3 was going to be some sort of drawing or painting of a Cardinal. However, there were so many birds that I hadn't done that I wanted to do a collage of all of them, so to speak. When I saw the Maine Atlas sitting in my art class, I decided that I wanted to used it as the surface for my art. My grandparents live on this map, and it is a place in Maine that I enjoy visiting. They also like birds, so this was a tribute to them. I go kayaking with my Papa and we look for loons, which is probably why I chose to make it the most featured in this piece.

The materials I used for this were pretty straightforward. I sketched everything out in pencil first, then finalized it with a fine-tipped pen or a Sharpie marker. For a surface, I chose atlas or map paper that I found in art class.

After I decided I wanted to do many birds (in total I did ten) for this artwork, I had to decide how I wanted to show them all at once. I was inspired by bird charts that I have sometimes seen, showing a bunch of birds on a poster fitting near each other. I did not decide to draw the birds to scale. I also thought that this formation would work well with the map that it would be drawn on. I then decided my favorite and most popular birds of Maine so that it was relatable and enjoyable for me. I then sketched all of the birds out in pencil. After I had done this, I went over all of them with fine tipped pens or Sharpies. I tried to alter some features to give the birds more personality or life. Finally, I labeled each species of bird.