[cecil]

Next term we are starting on a new artwork at school. My Art teacher said it is to be based loosely on a self portrait. This is what I've thought up so far:

I will be sitting legs crossed on a lotus flower. My long hair will be blowing in the wind. I will only have a browny half-robe covering lower body/legs and I will be in a deep state of meditation with my eyes closed. The stem of the lotus flower will be coming out of a body of water, under the water there will be a scene which shows many distasteful earthly things; violence, crime, killing, drugs, prostitution, a McDonald's sign (blatant commercialism) etc. It will be very dark and grungy under the water. Back to the image of me, there will be a moth on my forehead; it represents change; transition from an egg to a moth / an earthly human to a divine deity. I want to show the transition with an egg, a grub, a cocoon, then finally the image of me with the moth on my forehead but I don't know how to do this successfully (i want the egg to start at the very bottom of the painting in the earthly body of water). Any ideas? Also I'm wondering what I should put in the background and above my image. Should I have the background as open skies (if so what colour/texture)?

Thanks for any inspiration you might give me .

[digitalghost]

Finish this artwork idea as soon as possible and post it in the message board, I can�t wait to see it!!

[imdaking]

Try having the stages of life in a cascading upwards thingy Such as egg at the bottom and then blah up blah up and then the moth or butterfly at the very top of the cascade overlaying the grunge below but have you and the moth and the lotus in front of it with like a giant moth at the bottom...... i'd draw a pic to show you but... photoshop and painter keep crashin... time to restart ... be back in a bit

[imdaking]

k

go look if you get my drift from da pic.. sorry tablet isn't working now ARGH!
Gotta restart again.. but it can wait... grrr..
http://imdaking.8m.com/circle.jpg

[Isaac Hayes]

What medium will this be on?
It would be most effective on oil on a large canvas. Drawing this and shading I think would be a nightmare hehe. Would be very cool with oil and the colors could represent it well.

I like acrylic for building pictures and most things with specific hard lines and forms, but for detailed landscapes and pictures of people I prefer oil. Plus the acrylic we have at school is crappy cheap kind that doesn't stick worth crap and oxidizes into metalic colors after it dries. But for oil paints we have winzert nuten (spelling?) so thats good.

[Affected]

*Cough*
Windsor & Newton... :P

[cecil]

Thanks for the replies humans. I want the finished piece to be kind of surreal, but not abstract if that makes sense. I want everything organicly interwoven. I haven't really decided if I'm going to make it just acrylics, or mixed media. Did this quick sketch when I came up with an idea that maybe the hand should be holding the cocoon whilst the moth is on the forehead. The big moth was started and I just drew around it - wont be in the final painting. I was tired when I did it so it looks unplanned.