Headed North
I wanted to draw something for a cause if you can call it that. I wanted to express some of the horror from the Civil War, specifically for the slaves. I did this by portraying a young fugitive slave trying escape to the North with her master's stolen german shepherd that she had built a relationship with before she ran away with it. The particular scene shows the girl standing with the dog after she has been forced to shoot a Confederate soldier as seen laying on the tree. The girl looks lost and guilty that she has been forced to do this. The tree in the middle of the giant barren piece of land around her is to represent the little bit of hope that still remains within her, but that little bit of hope is a beautiful and powerful thing that is still bursting with life, and the reason she is able to keep moving. Hopefully I was able to show the terrifying reality similar to what many slaves had to deal with. The poor people were forcibly pulled into that world and did nothing to receive the pain that they did.
Anyways, I wanted to draw something with materials I have been using for a majority of my life now. The project started out as just an ebony piece, but the darkness of the charcoal defined features so well and gave the piece more of the feeling I wanted it to have. It also achieved some of the depth I wanted to show, how far out into the flat lands that the girl is. I loved working with the softness of the charcoal as well, especially with the dog. I really want to consider taking up drawing people's pets as a job! The one thing I had trouble with were the clouds. I could not really get a hold of what they should look like for drawing a sunny day, where color was supposed to go with them to define them more. Although that was a problem, I am proud of what I could achieve.
Anyways, I wanted to draw something with materials I have been using for a majority of my life now. The project started out as just an ebony piece, but the darkness of the charcoal defined features so well and gave the piece more of the feeling I wanted it to have. It also achieved some of the depth I wanted to show, how far out into the flat lands that the girl is. I loved working with the softness of the charcoal as well, especially with the dog. I really want to consider taking up drawing people's pets as a job! The one thing I had trouble with were the clouds. I could not really get a hold of what they should look like for drawing a sunny day, where color was supposed to go with them to define them more. Although that was a problem, I am proud of what I could achieve.