My last two colored pencil drawings, each 22x30" in size, were basically a series of small images that happened to be drawn next to each other on a large sheet of paper, with little interaction between the images.
I did this to emphasize that each "mini-drawing" represented a concrete amount of time (24 hours for "30 Days" and 365/366 days for "28 Years"). I also drew them in an unrealistic grid-like format to play off the idea of a calendar.
Flowers don't grow that way in the wild or in a garden, gathering themselves into single plucked roses ("30 Days"), or pairs of related flower species ("28 Years"). The perspective of those drawings was also altered from realty, like Van Gogh's bedroom with its tilted floor. Rows of flowers would not grow stacked on top of each other the way I drew them. I drew head-on views of each specimen, sacrificing a realistic perspective to further emphasize the calendar grid structure I was using, to refer back to the botanical illustrations I used as reference material, and to ensure that every day (in "30 Days") or year (in "28 Years") got equal billing, without being buried underneath other days or years.
As I worked on those two drawings, I knew I was not done with the large format (or black paper). I wanted to do more drawings, drawings that this time stepped away from the grid format into a slightly more realistic (although still not entirely truthful) composition. I wanted to draw one large bouquet with several different types of flowers, instead of a series of smaller groups.
I came up with a concept for six new colored pencil drawings in this style. Each drawing will have two dozen types of flowers. Though I intend to still use a "flipped up" perspective so that each type of flower is visible and not too hidden behind others (as they would be in a normal bouquet), they will all be in a single large bouquet instead of a collection of smaller ones. I will be using slightly smaller paper (19"x25" in size); it is also a different brand (Canson Mi-Teintes), with more visible texture.
The concept is this:
We humans can be labeled, divided, segregated, and categorized in a myriad of different ways, including (but not limited to) race, gender, sexuality, religion, class, and ability. Often, with these six categories in particular, certain subgroups have been historically/traditionally thought of as "lesser," while other subgroups are thought of as inherently better, stronger, or smarter, and therefore given more opportunities, more privilege, and more power. Of course, that's absolute bullshit - someone does not have more inherent worth than someone else just because they were born with different skin or born into a family subscribing to a different religion or cultural practices. We are all human, and we all matter.
With this presidential administration in particular, it seems that any strides we've made toward acceptance and tolerance in the last several decades are again in jeopardy. Many Americans seem to have forgotten that life is better with more variety, not less, and that no single "variety" of human is better than another.
And so my "Race Bouquet" will show that a beautiful bouquet can be made of all the different races mixed together; my "Sexuality Bouquet" will show the colorful, gorgeous bouquet that can be made when all sexualities are represented; my "Religion Bouquet" will include flowers representing the different religions (and non-religious beliefs) in the world, etc. Bouquets do not blend all varieties together into a melting pot; they are made greater by the sum of their parts, while still showing each beautiful part that makes up the whole.
Tomorrow I will show the beginning of the first drawing in this series - "Race Bouquet (Stronger Together)."
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| "28 Years" - Andrea Arbit - Colored Pencil Drawing on Black Paper - 22"x30" |
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| "30 Days" - Andrea Arbit - Colored Pencil Drawing on Black Paper - 22"x30" |
I did this to emphasize that each "mini-drawing" represented a concrete amount of time (24 hours for "30 Days" and 365/366 days for "28 Years"). I also drew them in an unrealistic grid-like format to play off the idea of a calendar.
Flowers don't grow that way in the wild or in a garden, gathering themselves into single plucked roses ("30 Days"), or pairs of related flower species ("28 Years"). The perspective of those drawings was also altered from realty, like Van Gogh's bedroom with its tilted floor. Rows of flowers would not grow stacked on top of each other the way I drew them. I drew head-on views of each specimen, sacrificing a realistic perspective to further emphasize the calendar grid structure I was using, to refer back to the botanical illustrations I used as reference material, and to ensure that every day (in "30 Days") or year (in "28 Years") got equal billing, without being buried underneath other days or years.
 |
| Vincent Van Gogh - "The Bedroom" |
As I worked on those two drawings, I knew I was not done with the large format (or black paper). I wanted to do more drawings, drawings that this time stepped away from the grid format into a slightly more realistic (although still not entirely truthful) composition. I wanted to draw one large bouquet with several different types of flowers, instead of a series of smaller groups.
I came up with a concept for six new colored pencil drawings in this style. Each drawing will have two dozen types of flowers. Though I intend to still use a "flipped up" perspective so that each type of flower is visible and not too hidden behind others (as they would be in a normal bouquet), they will all be in a single large bouquet instead of a collection of smaller ones. I will be using slightly smaller paper (19"x25" in size); it is also a different brand (Canson Mi-Teintes), with more visible texture.
The concept is this:
We humans can be labeled, divided, segregated, and categorized in a myriad of different ways, including (but not limited to) race, gender, sexuality, religion, class, and ability. Often, with these six categories in particular, certain subgroups have been historically/traditionally thought of as "lesser," while other subgroups are thought of as inherently better, stronger, or smarter, and therefore given more opportunities, more privilege, and more power. Of course, that's absolute bullshit - someone does not have more inherent worth than someone else just because they were born with different skin or born into a family subscribing to a different religion or cultural practices. We are all human, and we all matter.
With this presidential administration in particular, it seems that any strides we've made toward acceptance and tolerance in the last several decades are again in jeopardy. Many Americans seem to have forgotten that life is better with more variety, not less, and that no single "variety" of human is better than another.
And so my "Race Bouquet" will show that a beautiful bouquet can be made of all the different races mixed together; my "Sexuality Bouquet" will show the colorful, gorgeous bouquet that can be made when all sexualities are represented; my "Religion Bouquet" will include flowers representing the different religions (and non-religious beliefs) in the world, etc. Bouquets do not blend all varieties together into a melting pot; they are made greater by the sum of their parts, while still showing each beautiful part that makes up the whole.
Tomorrow I will show the beginning of the first drawing in this series - "Race Bouquet (Stronger Together)."
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