"The new phenomenon of global coral bleaching events is caused by ocean warming (93% of climate change heat is absorbed by the ocean). Corals are unable to cope with today’s prolonged peaks in temperatures and water acidity levels – they simply haven’t been able to adapt to the higher temperature and pollutant levels of the ocean. Although reefs represent less than 0.1 percent of the world’s ocean floor, they help support approximately 25 percent of all marine species."
I wanted to reference the flowing organic forms of Mucha's work, so chose a female subject for this piece. I also considered the surrealist works I had previously studied. Compiling the pose out of stock photography references I first sketched the shape of the woman and then began to embellish with coral reef structure. By planning with a sketch first I was able to get a more complete compositional idea and really consider the emotions I wanted to capture. Although I really liked my composition and the way the piece was arranged, I felt that the expression was slightly off, not only was the nose and lower portion of the face too long but this gave the woman a disdainful appearance which was not what I was after. I wanted an air of melancholy and regret in my piece, as I was aiming to personify the struggle of the reefs in a very literal format and illustrate the issues this problem causes.
Then I began laying out my canvas. I restricted my colour palettes for the main body to pale pinks and blues, using these to increase depth and shading instead of plain white and black. I really liked how this looked and found that it provided a much warmer, stylised tonal range. With a black shaded background I began outlining the work in a dark teal. Using this outline across the whole design, which is lighter than the darkest colour is another technique I noticed in Mucha's work, as he used single colour linework to border, add detail and outline (see right). I think this worked really effectively to pull the multiple complex areas of details in my painting together into a single cohesive artwork. Establishing this house style for the entire piece gave my work additional individuality and made it stand out noticeably.
In this final painting I softened the features after looking at my drawn plan. The pose I chose worked very effectively, as it conveyed a dialogue between the reef woman and the animals which depend on her. This interdependency is the key focus of my campaign point for this design; "although reefs
represent less than 0.1 percent of the world’s ocean floor, they help
support approximately 25 percent of all marine species". With one hand she turns away a pair of clownfish from their homes in once healthy anemones, and with the other she grasps her own cracked, bleached shoulder, demonstrating her shame and upset at having no longer being able to sustain the lives which once flourished. A darkened, polluted tear stains one cheek, her head is slightly raised to suggest she was once vibrant and powerful but now that strength crumbles into melancholic. I used real coral species to make up her headdress, however muted many of the tones slightly to give them a slightly dusky, faded appearence.
I was really pleased with the finish of this piece, as not only did it expand on lots of themes I had only partially developed until now but also it was one of the most detailed works I had ever attempted. I found working to high detail in very contrasting colours to be very therapeutic in terms of process, however I think the most effective parts of this piece are the block colour outline/detailing and limited colour palettes for the skin tone. The blending between pink and blue across the skin is haunting, and adds to the pallid complexion in a way which is increasingly effective because of the message I am communicating.
As I had initially planned this painting as a design which could be then translated into a wall mural, I also thought I could try photoshopping my work onto a blank wall space, just to give a realistic idea of exactly how it would look on a massive architectural canvas. The building I found laid on 8 Water Street in Liverpool featuring a beautiful blank side wall as well as some very nautical looking sixties concrete architecture. I thought this picture was perfect not only for the size and asymmetric wall space offered, but also because of the oceanic style of the building, with almost submarine esque portholes lined along the outside.
I was really impressed with how this final prototype came out. The design translated brilliantly onto a larger setting, and maintained all of its visual integrity even on a supersized scale. The message was still well conveyed, and I think if I was ever to actually paint it at this scale some areas of minute detail, which were hard to achieve on canvas, could actually be made even more detailed when made larger. The only change I would make would be obviously fitting my design to the specific shape of the wall. An asymmetric wall in this sense was a lot more visually interesting however I only had a standard rectangular canvas to create the initial design on, yet if I was making a design for a specific wall in particular I would shape it accordingly.
It definitely got me thinking about muralism and how changing the scale of a piece affects it's effectiveness. The sadness and message highlighted in my piece feels a lot more imminent when towering over a whole street. It also made me realise the power of public domain artwork; as a small painting in a gallery my work would be lucky to catch the attention of every single person who browses past, but on the streets there is no way anyone could overlook this work as a mural. In this way I could spread my message so much further and really put my work into the hands of the people.
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