CHOICES begins with "How do we get there?"

June 19, 2020

CHOICES

As the dominating race, our species affects every aspect of the natural world we are part of. In consequence, some of the choices we make create chain reactions that have changed the world, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively.

This series of pastel artworks explores some of these choices many people make daily in the hopes of inspiring thoughtful consideration and understanding of the domino effect our choices necessitate.

HOW DO WE GET THERE?

This first piece explores our choice of transportation. Choosing our vehicle influences the choice of where we live, how much we pollute, and how much freedom we have. Cars became a class symbol, and a desired item in the 1940s. Eighty years later, most of the population still regards them the same way. This piece is meant as a reflection of a choice that often seems automatic when we are growing up.

This piece was started last summer (2019) in a smaller format without creating any thumbnails to explore the compositional posibilities. Unsurprisingly, it did not work out the way I wanted it to and, two months later, ended starting over from scratch. (lesson learned)

Here's a picture of the scrapped version.

After swallowing my pride, and spending way too much time trying to make this work, I started over with thumbnail sketches.

I quickly dropped the idea of having a car be the center of interest, and went back to the cyclist. I like giving myself new challenges with every piece. This is the first piece utilizing a three-point perspective construction. I also created two different lighting scenarios, overcast on the city side (dull), and bright sunlight on the forest side (bright).

I'm using a light brown pastel for the line drawing. I've discovered that the pastel doesn't cover graphite very well. This colour can easily blend or be erased if necessary.

Add caption

Blending blacks, greys, and whites with the colours gave me the dull coloured city I was looking for.

Add caption

Once I started on the cyclist, I chose to blend colours to create the light and shadow (light orange and dark blue). This changed the colour dynamic of the piece and made the cyclist pop. I also had to change the head construction. When adding the colour, I realised that the facial proportions were way off. I referenced Andrew Loomis to help me correct my mistake.

Add caption

Symbolic of the feelings of freedom and serenity, curved lines coming from the bluish-gray sky, envelope the cyclist and produce a transition to the much brighter blue sky on the right. This created a movement path for the insects coming to life from her hair and dress. Continuing the bicycle wheel and path beyond the frame adds to the sense of liberty.

Add caption

To give the forest more depth, I layered textures of straight lines (trunks and larger branches) and scribbly shapes (branches and leaves) starting in light blues in the distance and gradually becoming the local colours as I make my way to the foreground. This produced an atmospheric perspective effect.