Stars and Stripes

Reflection

In Behind the Flag, I was tasked with creating a piece of artwork based on the elements used in the American flag. This would be color, contrast, unity, pattern, and value, among a few others. In creating this project, I hoped to show a less pretty side of the U.S, which is the incarceration system. The people are placed behind the stripes, interwoven in some of them as if they were jail bars. The U.S. incarcerated many more people (disproportionately people of color) than other countries. Also, we have the highest rates of incarcerating children, and are of the few countries to put 11 year olds in jail. Here in Maine we have a center like this, called Long Creek. This jail sets children up to fail, and does not help them improve at all. I do plan on redoing this project because I believe it is a really good prompt, I just needed to focus on it earlier so I could better develop my idea.

The only materials that I used for this piece were paper, and glue. If you are being specific with the paper, I used an illustration board as the background, origami paper for the red and blue, and construction paper for the black. I enjoyed working with paper, and seeing the way the different papers handled themselves. I can definitely see working with an illustration board again, as I really like the struriness it has.

I made a lot of practice sketches of this project. At first it was simply coming up with the idea, but then I had to actually figure out how to execute it. I didn’t really know how to draw the human silhouette, so I looked at a few images and practiced a little on Photoshop and on paper. I tried breaking down the human form into different shapes which kind of worked. I experimented a lot with who was wearing the piece. The pieces of paper on the outside (the triangles) were a last minute addition, which I feel somehow brought the piece together a little more. I am interested to see where this piece goes when I revise.