Utagawa Hiroshige (36 Views of Mount Fugi)

As I researched my sustained investigation, I found Utagawa Hiroshige. His works largely involve scenes of nature and I kept him in mind to create my work.

 

RESEARCH

 In an article I read by Xun Zhou, I found that deforestation can increase air pollution. While the two seemed unrelated at first, the process of taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen in plants is highly important to reducing air pollution. Meanwhile 15 Billion trees are cut down every year. Making this piece I also thought of The Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.

 

REFLECTION (written documentation of process)
Similar to my last piece, I wanted to represent a man-made change to the environment. I realized that I had depicted the creation of smog through factories, etc. in my last piece, but I was eager to show how deforestation can worsen air pollution. I did so by including chopped trees and heavy smoke by the city. The birds are flying away (a small nod to Silent Spring). The most important part of this piece was the people. I wanted everyone to be walking towards the smoke-blanketed city, except for one. He is the viewer, who is taking a moment to observe. In his observation he becomes more curious about nature and pauses his approach to the city.

IDEA DEVELOPMENT

Cow's Skull Red, White , Blue (1931)
Georgia O' Keefe East River #1

I really loved these two pieces I found in a book of Georgia O' Keefe's work. I flipped through many of her designs to select works that would benefit my Sustained Investigation. 

 

RESEARCH

The U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System, reports that, "Air pollutants can harm ecological resources, including water quality, soils, plants and animals. Ozone, for example, causes foliar injury and reduced growth in some sensitive plant species as shown in the picture below. Atmospheric deposition of sulfur and nitrogen compounds can cause significant ecosystem effects such as acidification, eutrophication, and changes in soil and water chemistry. Acidification of soils, lakes and streams can result in changes in community structure, biodiversity, reproduction, and decomposition." Smog can have serious affects on our environment, yet everyday we take part in small actions that contribute to the large amounts of pollutants our communities produce. 

 

REFLECTION (written documentation of process)
While doing research for my Sustained Investigation, I remembered back to books I had during my childhood of Georgia O' Keefe's biography. While the reading sounds dense, it was presented in a manner that really appealed to me as a child growing up in the South West region. I found a book in the library documenting all of her work and began to flip through it. In doing so, I read about her experience in the South West and how she experienced a drought and later came across many bleached bones. I felt like her experience is one that signals the effects of an unhealthy climate, the affects of Smog can pollute water systems and create an uncomfortable environment for wildlife. I began to sketch the bleached skull on top of what was a sketch of one of her East River paintings. I also thought the color choices matched really well. I had planned on using only water-color as she did for many of her paintings, but in order to layer the background of the East River Painting I had to experiment with using acrylic paint. The skull and silhouettes are entirely watercolor.

drawing. Such as these:

Recently a girl in my grade bought a fish, which made me think back to when my mom and I were picking fish for our tank at home. The glaring thought of rows of fish in plastic bags ready to be bought and sold was impossible not to include in my investigation. 

RESEARCH

 While I've researched that keeping a fish in a plastic bag isn't harmful to it, I began to ponder why we put fish in plastic bags and if they necessarily belong there. The process goes something like this, the fish are bred and live in a tank until they are purchased to live in another tank. It's a somewhat pitiful lifestyle for fish that come from a species which could populate coral reefs and greater parts of the ocean. 

 

REFLECTION (written documentation of process)

I really liked working with watercolor in my last piece, and granted that I was painting water I decided to roll with it. The watercolor wash worked really well to paint the plastic bag and then another smaller one worked to emphasize the water. Originally I was just going to paint a goldfish, but as I thought about my concept more, I wanted to showcase a fish that people would associate with the ocean and not a tank, so I chose a Caribbean lion fish. I had to go back in with white acrylic paint to make all of the fine lines in the fish more apparent. Then Mr. Abreu comes to class one day with a new set of water color pencils and I couldn't resist using a lot of vibrant colors to emphasize the fish, the water, and the outsides of the bag. When I was finished with the bag and everything inside of it, the background was blank and the piece looked flat. I went back in and created a watercolor wash around it using multiple watercolor pencils to contrast the blue of the bag and bring the bag forward in the composition.