Recently in my 2D class--surprisingly a difficult intro-level course in my program--we were posed the task of incorporating illustration clippings into a unified whole. I love this sort of project, partially because I love illustrations, but the idea of using India ink both expressively and technically in the same piece is daunting.
I figured I'd get the expressive down first, because no one wants to mess up tedious hatching with a single splash or other mistake. To get the clean borders I used a thinner brush loaded with water, and then filled in the spaces with moisture before adding ink. Sometimes you can tastefully apply ink in one area to achieve a spectrum of value, but most of the time, you have to let it do its own thing. It's similar to water color in that respect.
The linear is next! More coming soon.
What better symbol for beauty than the mythical mermaid? She is graceful and mysterious, the ideal woman in many ways (except maybe for the fish tail.) But even then, the metaphor goes deeper. A lot of us feel like we're inside of a fishbowl, beating the glass in hopes of getting out. Women are trapped by beauty standards, either by their success to meet them or their failure. The results are that they are gawked at, or stuffed away on a shelf, hidden from view.
This drawing captures that idea. We normally think of mermaids as life-size creatures, but I wanted to go miniature to liken her to some sort of fairy in a jar still beautiful and to emphasize the diminution she unjustly experiences, both at the hands of others and herself. The mason jar familiarizes the scene, as well as the open cabinet. It's as if a mad scientist keeps beauty as a little pet that he really does not care for, and she is doing all she can to get out.
