My Sketches

1. The Flaming Trees - a picture about trees burning from forest fires which has become a common appearance in certain parts of the world. The world is becoming to hot and literally causing trees to burst into flames. 

• Black - represents trees (blown into shape using a straw)
• Red, orange and yellow - represents fire (flicked onto paper using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Elements - lines, shape, volume, value, texture and colour are present. 
• Principles - unity, repetition, focal point, emphasis, rhythm are present.

The Flaming Trees

2. The Streaks of the Sun - a picture about the beams of the sun. Shows how it burns bright at the origins and then fades towards the end indicating death.

• Red, orange and yellow - represents the sun beams (streaked across canvas using a paint brush)
• Black - represents its dying (streaked across canvas using a paint brush on top of other colours to show more emphasis)
• Elements - lines, shape, texture, colour, space, value are present.
• Principles - unity, repetition,  focal point, emphasis, rhythm are present.

The Streaks of the Sun

3. The Circle of Life - a picture about the life and death of birds. Shown through the birds perched on the trees surrounded by life, then birds lying at the bottom surrounded by soil.

• Black - represents trees (drawn as lines using a paint brush), represents birds (drawn as circles on trees using a paint brush)
• Shades of greens - represents leaves and life (flicked onto canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Shades of browns - represents dirt, ground, soil (flicked onto canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Yellow - represents beaks on the birds (drawn using a paint brush)
• Elements - lines, shape, space, texture, colour, value are present.
• Principles - unity, repetition, rhythm are present.

The Circle of Life

4. The Shaded Sun Beams - a picture about the sun. Shows how the sun cannot be seen clearly due to air pollution which is shading the sun rays. 

• Red, orange, and yellow - represents the sun (drawn using a paint brush in circles with yellow being the inner most circle and red the outer)
• Black - represents the air pollution that is clouding the sun (flicked onto canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Elements - shape, space, value, texture, colour are present.
• Principles - unity, repetition. focal point, emphasis are present.

The Shaded Sun Beams

5. The Flame of a Tree - a picture about the burning desire to live of a tree. The flame within the tree is burning with such passion that it wants to live, and not be cut down or burnt alive.

• Black - represent the tree (drawn using a marker pen)
• Red - represents outline of flames (drawn using a marker pen)
• Red, orange and yellow - represents the burning flame of the tree (coloured using colour pencils, yellow on the innermost side and red on the outer side)
• Elements - lines, shape, space, value, texture, colour are present.
• Principles - repetition, focal point, emphasis are present.

The Flame of a Tree

6. The Glittering Night Sky - a picture showing the stars up in the night sky. Shows the beauty of stars on a clear sky which is a very rare sight in most places. 

• Black - represents the night sky (drawn using a paint brush across the entire canvas)
• White - represents the stars (flicked onto canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Elements - lines, shape, space, value, texture, colour are present.
• Principles - repetition, unity, rhythm are present.

The Glittering Night Sky

7. The Cycle of a Tree - a picture showing the life cycle of a tree. It shows how a tree undergoes birth, life and ends with death, meaning that no matter what, everything dies in the end and that is a beautiful thing. 

• Black - represents tree (drawn using a paint brush)
• Shades of green - represents the birth and life of the tree (flicked onto canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Red, orange and yellow - represents the death of the tree (flicked onto canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Elements - lines, shape, space, value, texture, colour are present.
• Principles - unity, repetition, focal point, emphasis, rhythm are present.

The Cycle of a Tree

8. Our Morning Sky - a picture to show the morning sky seen from space. It shows the brightness of our sky and how powerful the sunshine is. 

• Blue and green - represents the earth (drawn using a paint brush)
• Red, orange and yellow - represents the sun rays (flicked onto canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Elements - shape, space, value, texture, colour are present.
• Principles - unity, repetition, focal point, emphasis, rhythm are present.

Our Morning Sky

9. The Streaks of the Ocean - a picture that shows about the flow of the ocean. It shows the ocean flow, how it’s strong and breaks towards the end, because of dirt and pollution.

• Shades of blue and white - represents water (streaked across canvas using a paint brush)
• Black - represents dirt and pollution (streaked across canvas using a paint brush on top of other colours to show more emphasis)
• Elements - lines, shape, texture, colour, space, value are present.
• Principles - unity, repetition,  focal point, emphasis, rhythm are present.

The Streaks of the Ocean

10. The Life and Death of Plants - a picture to show the growth of a plant. How it is born and lives and dies in the end.

• Brown - represents the living trees (blown into shape using a straw)
• Black - represents the dead trees (drawn using a paint brush)
• Shades of green - represents the life, leaves of trees (blown into shape using a straw)
• Elements - lines, shape, space, colour, texture are present.
• Principles - unity, repetition, rhythm are present.

The Life and Death of Plants

11. The Disappearing Act of Ice Caps - a picture that shows the ice caps melting due to global warming which is causing the water levels to rise as well as causing more pollution.

• White - represents the ice caps (drawn using a paint brush)
• Darker blue - represents the water (drawn using a paint brush)
• Lighter blue - represents the sky (drawn using a paint brush)
• Black - represents pollution in the water (flicked across canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Red, orange and yellow - represents global warming in the sky which is causing the ice caps to melt (flicked across canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Elements - shape, space, value, texture, colour are present.
• Principles - unity, repetition, focal point, emphasis, rhythm are present.

The Disappearing Act of Ice Caps

12. The Oils of Water - a picture that shows the spilling of oil into the ocean which causes water pollution. 

• Shades of blue - represent the ocean (drawn using a paint brush across entire canvas with the darker shades on top and lighter shades at the bottom)
• Brown and yellow - represents the oil spillage (flicked across canvas using a paint brush and toothpick as well as blown using a straw) 
• Elements - value, texture, colour, space are present.
• Principles - repetition, unity, rhythm are present.

The Oils of Water

13. The Greyish Clouds of Death - a picture to show the clouds in the sky being shading by air pollution to the point that the clouds seem like death cause it can cause acid rain.

• White - represents the cloud (drawn using a paint brush being pressed down repetitively in to shapes)
• Dark blue - represents outline of clouds (drawn using a paint brush being pressed down repetitively in to shapes)
• Light blue - represent sky (drawn using a paint brush across entire canvas with shades of white blended in)
• Black and grey - represents the air pollution that is causing the clouds to be clouds of death (flicked across canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Elements - line, shape, value, texture, space, colour are present.
• Principles - unity, repetition, rhythm, focal point, emphasis are present.

The Greyish Clouds of Death

14. The Dying Life of the Ocean - a picture that shows the fishes in the ocean dying slowly due to water pollution.

• Shades of blue and white - represents the ocean (drawn using a paint brush across entire canvas with the lighter shades on top and darker shades at the bottom)
• Black - represents the fish (shapes drawn using a paint brush)
• Black and grey - represents the water pollution (flicked across entire canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Elements - line, shape, space, value, texture, colour are present.
• Principles - unity, repetition, rhythm are present.

The Dying Life of the Ocean

15. The Morning Sky vs The Night Sky - a picture that shows the morning sky shining with sun rays versus the night sky reflected in water. 

• Red - represent the morning sky (drawn using a paint brush)
• Orange and yellow - represents the sun rays (flicked across the canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Blue - represents water and the night sky reflected on it (drawn using a paint brush with shades of white blended on top of it)
• Black - represents the night (flicked across the canvas using a paint brush and toothpick plus the middle star drawn using a paint brush)
• Elements - line, shape, space, value, texture, colour are present.
• Principles - unity, repetition, rhythm, focal point, emphasis are present.

The Morning Sky vs The Night Sky

16. The Screams of Trees - a picture that shows a tree being burned but the flames give the impression of screams. This means that the trees are screaming for the burning to stop.

• Black - represents dead tree (drawn using a marker pen by streaking it up and down to form shapes)
• Dark orange, light orange, red, pink and yellow - represents the flames (drawn using marker pen by streaking it up and down to form short loop shapes, alternated to show variation of colour)
• Green - represents leaves falling (drawn using a marker pen, downward motion from the ends of the branches to indicate leaves falling)
• Elements - lines, shape, space, value, colour are present.
• Principles - unity, repetition, rhythm, focal point, emphasis are present.

The Screams of Trees

17. Leaves and Water - a picture to show the life of trees as well as the life of the roots getting water from the ground. 

• Black - represents the trees (blown into shape using a straw)
• Shades of green - represents the leaves and life of trees (flicked across canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Shades of blue - represents the water used by trees to grow (flicked across canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Elements - lines, shape, space, value, texture, colour are present.
• Principles - unity, repetition, rhythm, focal point, emphasis are present.

Leaves and Water

18. The Smiling Moon - a picture to show a smiling moon in the night sky with the stars shining brightly. It’s to show that the moon is happy with where it is and loves being where it is.

• Black - represent the night sky (drawn using a paint brush across the entire canvas)
• Grey - represents the craters on the surface of the moon in the shape of a smiling face (drawn using a paint brush)
• White - represents the moon (drawn using a paint brush), represents the stars shining (flicked across canvas using a paint brush and toothpick)
• Elements - line, shape, space, value, texture, colour are present.
• Principles - unity, repetition, focal point, emphasis, rhythm are present.  

The Smiling Moon

My Inspiration

Introduction

The concept I picked for my HAA102 class was environmental. The reason why I picked it was because I feel it is important. All I have to do is look out my window and I can see evidence of environmental problems. I have always been fascinated with nature since I was a child. As I have grown up, I have noticed the changes occurring to the earth because of humans’ greed and lust for power. The earth is dying. Everyone knows it. It has been shown to us through various movies like The Inconvenient Truth, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012, and series like Terra Nova. Yet, everyone will always say that they are just movies and that nothing will ever happen to us.

 What they don’t seems to realise is that even though it may not happen now, it may still happen to the younger generations. Especially if we keep going on at the rate we are going. One day, whether we like it or not, whether we believe God made the Earth, or The Big Bang, Mother Nature is going to fight back with great vengeance. At that point, the only people we can blame are ourselves. The fact that we knew this was happening yet we kept procrastinating thinking it would never happen to us caused it. To me the concept is easy; someone always has to win the lottery. Whether it’s my generation or the one after that and so on, someone ALWAYS has to win.

Problem Statement

                The question is NOT IF the end of days is going to happen but WHEN? The problem is that we, as humans, consider ourselves as the smartest species on the face of this earth, but along with that, we have also become the most arrogant species on the face of this earth. We have developed a way of life of taking what we WANT not what we NEED. This will be the downfall of us all.

The signs of climate changes are occurring all over the world. From the melting polar ice caps to catastrophic weather and threatened ecosystems, not only is climate change real, scientists agree that humans are influencing climate change with our production of greenhouse gases. Pure Water is in short supply. Our global reserves of drinkable water are a fraction of 1% and 1 in 5 humans does not have access to potable (safe) water. Many people do not realize that strife has already broken out in some stressed regions. Many species on earth have become endangered species because humans love to hunt. I fear that the younger generations may not even get a chance to see real Siberian tigers, or dodo birds. What most people don’t realise is that when an indicator species becomes threatened, endangered, or worse, extinct, this means an entire ecosystem faces collapse.

Purpose

            The purpose for my artwork was to try to capture a few of the issues that are happening to our planet. My main focus was on the destruction of nature but also the beauty of our planet. I didn’t want to completely focus on the negative part of environmental issues but also the positive. I wanted to show that despite everything we have done to our planet, if we try now, we have a better chance of saving it rather than waiting for the point of no return.