SW12

= Cold Fire =



**Media:** Watercolor, PRIMA Ballpoint pen, Sharpie, Masking Fluid **Size**:55.5 cm x 75 cm (w x h) **Month of completion**: October 2012 media type="custom" key="21429138" This piece is a development from my previous piece, studio work 11. This piece is based on the mayan dragon, and is a mix of cultural style with my style. When I started out this piece was weak and needed improvement in several areas like white space and organization of hieroglyphs. I improved on that piece by increasing the size of my dragon as well as the dragons head, creating dimension by adding mountains at the bottom and allowing the dragon to circle them. I included complementary colors like orange and blue into the fire. The colors in the fire are not fire like, they are more of cool colors and that is why the piece is named Cold Fire.
 * Description: **

For this piece I wanted to incorporate the mayan dragon and use the same media I used previously to connect it to the previous piece (SW11). I was influenced by the mayan dragon. I researched the name of the dragon, how it looked and listed all the details that I need to incorporate into my piece. I used watercolor, a sharpie, and masking fluid. I experimented with scales on the dragon even though the mayan dragon does not have scales. I decided to add scales to add form, depth, and dimension to the dragons body. I used watercolor for the fire the dragons breathing, mountains, and the dragons body. I used masking paint for mayan hieroglyphics on the top right. I think for this project I responded to a huge volume of criticism, and advice from my teacher, mother, and fellow students. The advice and criticism was very useful and helped me figure out what was wrong with my trials and where I should go/how I should create it in order to get my message across correctly. I think the weaknesses in this piece include the mountains and the background color. I think the background color should be a little bit darker. The mountains are done a bit poor in my opinion since they do not show ice. Instead, they look like pyramids because they have defined edges. I think there are 2 strengths in this piece. The first strength is how I designed the fire to look like fire, and was able to make a good mix of color on top. The second strength is how the dragon has form and dimension with its color and scales. Next project, I'm thinking of using watercolor again. I have an idea for a storyboard for my SW14 so I could turn that storyboard into a painting of itself or pick the best 3 frames of that storyboard and create a triptych that would hint to an upcoming piece/story.
 * Analysis: **
 * What were the artistic and/or cultural influences for this project? Who/what influenced either the composition and/or the style. **
 * What materials/media/processes did you use and or experiment with, and how? **
 * How do you think you have responded to advice and criticism during this project (and during the term), both from fellow students and the teacher. Did you actively seek advice? If so, was it useful? **
 * Clearly explain the weaknesses/areas for improvement - **
 * Clearly explain the strengths of the piece – **
 * What could you take through to the next project and develop further? This could be anything, from a technique to an idea, not necessarily just the theme. **