For this piece my two main ideas were a giraffe with a pulley system with gears for the circulatory system going from the heart to the brain and a bird with wings like an old airplane. I chose the giraffe because I thought it would be more intricate and more interesting to look at. I also liked the giraffe's composition because it stretches across the page and is the main focus. I thought that using pen for the gears and colored pencil for the giraffe with distinguish/separate the mechanical and natural aspects of the giraffe.
I started this piece by sketching out the outline of the giraffe and its heart, brain, and where the "circulatory system" would go. After that I stippled the gears, because I thought that it might be difficult to draw with pen on top of the waxy pencil. After I finished with the gears, I went on to shade the rest of the giraffe with colored pencils. I originally wasn't planning on putting leaves in the giraffe's mouth, but then I decided to do it because I thought it would some contrast to the piece and make it more interesting to look at. After doing that, I shaded in the background with a blue sky and sandy ground. I left the face for last, because I really wanted to show the giraffe's eye but also needed to show the brain so that the circulatory system was complete, and I didn't know how to show both at the same time.
Even though it was tedious, I did enjoy stippling the gears, but one of the problems I had was that they started to blend together, but I was able to make some of them darker to differentiate. I had a really hard time figuring out how to integrate the natural and mechanical aspects of the giraffe and whether to blend them or leave it separate for contrast as well. However I think I was able to do it well by putting the giraffe spots lightly over the mechanical aspects of the piece. It was also difficult for me to figure out how to portray the heart and the brain without it looking out of place because I wanted them to be red and look anatomical. My compromise to this was by adding spots on top of them. My favorite part of this piece is the leaves in his mouth and the gears.
If I were to do it again, I would add more value to the spots on the giraffe, and make the pen on the mechanical part more bold. I also wish that it looked more like the skin was going over the internal parts of the giraffe rather than like they were sticking out. If I had had more time, I would have also liked to do a more detailed background with maybe a few trees in the distance. Overall, I think it portrays what I had imagined in my head, but it isn't my favorite piece.
I started this piece by sketching out the outline of the giraffe and its heart, brain, and where the "circulatory system" would go. After that I stippled the gears, because I thought that it might be difficult to draw with pen on top of the waxy pencil. After I finished with the gears, I went on to shade the rest of the giraffe with colored pencils. I originally wasn't planning on putting leaves in the giraffe's mouth, but then I decided to do it because I thought it would some contrast to the piece and make it more interesting to look at. After doing that, I shaded in the background with a blue sky and sandy ground. I left the face for last, because I really wanted to show the giraffe's eye but also needed to show the brain so that the circulatory system was complete, and I didn't know how to show both at the same time.
Even though it was tedious, I did enjoy stippling the gears, but one of the problems I had was that they started to blend together, but I was able to make some of them darker to differentiate. I had a really hard time figuring out how to integrate the natural and mechanical aspects of the giraffe and whether to blend them or leave it separate for contrast as well. However I think I was able to do it well by putting the giraffe spots lightly over the mechanical aspects of the piece. It was also difficult for me to figure out how to portray the heart and the brain without it looking out of place because I wanted them to be red and look anatomical. My compromise to this was by adding spots on top of them. My favorite part of this piece is the leaves in his mouth and the gears.
If I were to do it again, I would add more value to the spots on the giraffe, and make the pen on the mechanical part more bold. I also wish that it looked more like the skin was going over the internal parts of the giraffe rather than like they were sticking out. If I had had more time, I would have also liked to do a more detailed background with maybe a few trees in the distance. Overall, I think it portrays what I had imagined in my head, but it isn't my favorite piece.