Donate Life

Donate Life

9 x 11 In

Gouache

This is my Donate Life project. I created this piece for the Donate Life competition to encourage people to donate their tissue and organs. When brainstorming an idea I wanted to do something pretty that would give a happier spin on the topic so I decided to do horses running, something people like to see pictures of. I created the horses to be running in a line so it would be like they are racing each other. Then, based on the image I thought of I decided to use the phrase, "Win your last race Consider organ and tissue donation".

I made this work with gouache, beginning with a rough sketch in graphite and working in layers with the paint to create the color/ shapes I wanted. I wanted the piece to remain very clean so I used a color block/shading/dotting combination throughout the piece.

When I was researching some inspiration for the piece I looked into lots of trees and considered how to make the grass a lot because I think it is important to have the detailed horses in a fitting environment that has its own detail. I also revises the horses quite a bit because it can be hard to get the proportions right with their legs especially for me, as well as their necks and backs so they took a bit for me to be happy with them. I chose to make the background a solid ombre of orange and yellow to keep the focus on the horses but set them in an area with plenty of space for me to write my quote as well as in pretty scenery.