A2

Theme
I began this project with the theme of smoke. Like water, smoke is a substance whose shape is dictated by its environment. On a windy day, smoke will blow across the sky, disappearing from our eyes or drawing our attention to a forest fire far away. On a still day, it will linger and swirl in the wind, slowly dispersing. Another concept that intrigued me was the connotation of smoke in our world. When we think of smoke it is in a negative context - smoke signals fire, which in turn signals destruction, especially in the arid climate of LA. I wanted to explore both the destructive nature of smoke, as well as its converse positive benefits. Smoke can also signify sustenance - without it, we would not be able to have a barbeque with family and friends or bonfires.

Balance

Here destruction of smoke is shown, specifically in a house fire. Rather than show the typical image of smoke streaming out of a window, I wanted to show the ambiguity of the situation, with a ladder leading into the nothingness and confusion within. To keep the eye from singling onto a single point, I distributed all elements of the scene equally and kept all the lines a similar width.

Repetition

This is my piece for repetition, one of the two in which I looked at the positives that can come from smoke. Though the most obvious use of repetition is in the parallel lines from the barbeque grill, I also tried to incorporate not so obvious repetitions. Rather than choose to depict the boxy barbeques used most often today, I chose an older style round one and repeated the circular shapes within, as well as keeping the same thin lines in the smoke.

Movement

Here, I chose to show the negatives of smoke, with a car broken down on the side of the road. Showing smoke moving was an obviously easy task, but I wanted to lead the eye another way as well. When you look at a broken down car, the eye moves from the source (the engine) to the lingering smoke. Looking at the image now, I think that I oversimplified it and I think there should have been more detail shown.

Emphasis & Economy

Again, another positive depiction of smoke, with a pot steaming, perhaps ready for someone to throw in pasta. This turned out different than my original sketch, because in the end I chose to insert the black patch, to emphasize the contrast between the heavy metal of the pot and the airy quality of the smoke and the light coming through the window.



Together