Great Whites
This week I had my crit and the image that struck the most discussion was the collage piece of the grizzly bear with a doily outline framing it's face. The deer piece seemed less successful which made me think about how the simpler compositions could be more effective. I found the crit and discussion very useful for helping with themes and ideas I would like to continue with, as just before it I had started to hit a wall when it came to thinking of where to go and what to expand on.
Two interesting themes that came up were expression and personality. In my plans to make animal-endorsing artwork, these aspects seem to be quite important in getting the viewer interested. For example, the doily- bear piece came across more passive and humorous in the crit, giving across an idea of making the bear a friendly, 'cute' animal and attempting to mask it's dangerous aggressive nature. When I tried to apply this to a great white shark (being another large dangerous animal) and seen it isolated on the wall rather than in my studio space, it didn't have the same effect. Instead, the other students at the crit pointed out the open-mouthed expression makes the shark look distressed and trapped by the doily frame.
Ideas since the crit I want to work on are physicality and textures, compositions and whether the portrait style 'headshots' are more effective or the full bodies. I enjoy working in pencil but it is a slow method so I have since tried pen and soft pastel. I liked the texture of the pen on the pigeon feathers pictured below and although the soft pastels were annoyingly messy and not easy to control, I think the sharks look more whole and finished than the pen shark. I also think I improved at creating a slightly gentler, friendlier shark with the second attempt at the doily shark with a closed mouth, although I don't know if I prefer that. I also tried manipulating the doily another way which I think represents old-fashioned neck ruffles or a costume which could be another use for delicate features I might incorporate in my future work.
