Final Piece # 2
Materials: For the title, I chose “Don’t Fear the Rot” which will be explained in my visual/conceptual section. The materials I used were primarily my sketchbook and colored pencils because I wanted at least one of my final pieces to showcase the growth of my drawing skill (meager as that growth is).
Complimentary Color: The complementary color combinations I chose were the oranges and blues of the mushrooms as they grow out of the deer skull. With the skull as a mostly white (but slightly yellowish) base, I think it makes the colors of the mushrooms compliment each other and pop out more.
Inspiration from a classmate: I chose Ally’s midterm project as an inspiration. Her use of a skull as a vase was very nice. Conceptually it’s great when you think about it as life growing from death, which is primarily the feeling I wanted to replicate.
4.Visual and Conceptual Goals: The visual feeling I wanted to convey was the idea of vibrant life springing from death. With the various colored mushrooms springing from the skull, and even the pink and violet mushrooms growing out of the ground. I tried my best to make the skull look as realistic as possible by looking up a few tutorials, and even colored the edges yellow to make it look more natural. My goal was to get the skull to look as grounded as possible while the mushrooms got to be more vibrant and fantastical.
Conceptually, mushrooms are typically associated with rot and decay. But even so, they can still be a beautiful form of life. The concept I wanted to tackle is nature and the circle of life, where even though things die, other lifeforms in the ecosystem benefit from that and I think it’s beautiful. So even if a deer dies in the woods, these mushrooms could still thrive by using that as nutrients. So even if some people find it gross, there’s no need to “fear the rot” which is where I got my title. It’s normal for things to rot, and beautiful things can spring from that.
Thank you for the inspiration, @allyhebert!












