Mixed Media Project

                                                        Mixed Media Project - The Lost Fairy

Tissue paper, water color paint, acrylic paint, chalk pastels, glitter, colored pencil, and charcoal

Painting the hook

Adding the fairy and the eye

Final

            Did you use a source for inspiration, then combine it with your own ideas to make it original?
The source I used for inspiration was from Disney's adaption of Peter Pan. I decided to change it up completely and added a different twist to it. In the movie, Tinkerbell had blonde hair, a small green dress, and was captured by Captain Hook. (I am going to go into full details later about why I painted a faded hook and a feminine eye.) I Google imaged some pictures of human eyes and fairies. I changed up the colors and mix and matched hair styles for the fairy.
           Did you learn new techniques or processes as part of the work for this project?
A new technique that I learned to use was tissue paper. Although we used it once at the way beginning of the semester, I finally grasped a fuller understanding of it. I mixed two different colors together, such as yellow and green, to represent the original Tinkerbell colors. I also learned in the other mixed media project that we did was that you can crumple the tissue paper up, wet it, and let it dry crumpled onto the paper. It creates a cool texture and variety to your artwork.
            What is this artwork intended to say?
First I'm going to explain the symbolism in my composition. Like I said earlier, I decided to make the table yellow and green to represent Tinkerbell's original colors. I painted my version of Tinkerbell trapped in a jar just like she was captured by Captain Hook. This time she is captured by a girl, hence the feminine looking eye. I decided to paint a faded Hook to show that this scene reminds the fairy of her previous experiences with being captivated.  The little box with glowing pieces of coins represents Captain Hooks love for treasure since he was a pirate.
Sometimes I feel as if I am the fairy in the situation. I feel like I'm trapped inside a jar with someone controlling me, and I need to be freed. 
             Did you try something that you weren’t sure about as part of this project?
I wasn't sure about how I was going to make the hook fade into the background or the eye blend in with everything. The acrylic paint was hard to cover up with tissue paper and water color. I then realized that the chalk pastel can make anything look blurry, so I colored over the hook. I felt like the hook was well faded into the background. I didn't want it to fade so that it wasn't able to be seen. I also wasn't sure about what to do with a random eye floating in the sky. So then I took my chalk pastel that matched as close to the paint as possible and colored in the background.
           Did you ask another student for feedback during your work process?
I asked one of my classmates a few questions during this project. I asked her how I could fade the hook into the background, but she didn't have an answer for that. I also asked her how I could make the eyelashes skinny and not incredibly think. She said that I could use my charcoal pencil to draw some of the lashes. It worked; it made some of the lashes skinny and realistic looking. Lastly, I asked her if I should paint the face or just cover it up with glitter, since she is a fairy, and she liked the glitter idea.
           How did you respond to challenges that occurred as you worked?
I didn't really come up with many challenges, as this project was a breeze for me. The only big challenge that I had to face was time. We only had a week to work on this project, and I usually take eight hours on each project. I was absent one of the days so I had to take it home and work on it. That was one of the main difficulties I had to go through. 
           Did you consider how ideas would work before you tried them?
All of my thumbnails for this project were the same things but I placed each object in different places. I also positioned the fairy differently in every thumbnail to see which one I liked best. I had some where she was touching the glass or tapping on it trying to get out. I also had some where she was sitting up against the glass worried. I finally came to the conclusion that I actually liked her huddled in a ball confused and scared. I also planned out where I would place the hook. At first it was just going to be the fairy and the hook, but then I wanted to change the story completely. I decided to add the eye to say that she was captured again but by a little girl.
          Did you find inspiration from another artist or culture?
I found inspiration for the story of my artwork from the movie Peter Pan. I then found more images that inspired me for what eye color I should paint, or what the fairy should look like. Every picture of a fairy looked completely unique. They all had different hair styles, hair colors, faces, skin colors, dress types, and even dress colors. Every fairy had a different set of wings. Some of the fairies glowed or sparkled, and some of them didn't. I mixed a lot of the different sources that I found and put them all together.