Illustration:
1973 vs. 2022acrylic and gouache on illustration board
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As a woman growing up in the united states, I've always had to face the struggle of being dictated by a man. From the age of five people would tell me to cover up because my shoulders or mid drift was distracting. Even on those hot summer days, in school, I wasn't allowed to wear a tank top. Now even though I'm seventeen nothing really has changed. Now that I'm seventeen, the supreme court is trying to overturn such an important law in the history of women's rights and it breaks my heart.
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Inspiration:
For this piece I was inspired by the Roe versus Wade case of 1973. Roe Versus Wade was a landmark decision in which the supreme court had ruled that the restriction of woman's rights to abortion was unconstitutional. Jane Roe´s real name is Norma McCorvey. In 1967, McCorvey became pregnant with her third child and wanted to get an abortion. Although the Laws in Texas only stated that an abortion could only be legally executed if the mothers life was in danger. McCorvery was referred to feminist lawyers Linda Coffee and Linda Weddington. They had been looking for the perfect candidate to fight the unconstitutional abortion law. During their fight for the law to get overturned McCorvey had given birth again and had placed that baby up fro adoption as well. In 1973, the state of Texas appealed and the supreme court ruled that during the first trimester of pregnancy, a pregnant woman would have the right to have an abortion ¨Free of interference from the state¨. Now nearly 50 years later, The supreme court has voted to overturn Roe versus wade. One would think that now in 2022 things would be different and moving forward. But, it just seems as if it were going back in time. For my stylistic choice of my piece, I decided to take a look at USSR propaganda posters. I like the way they us block in the color and their words to get their point across.
Experimentation:
I began painting My illustration board with my Windsor and newton gauche paint. The gouache paint that I used came in tubes so I took some out and mixed it with water. I still wanted it to have the maximum opacity it could so I didn't add too much water, just enough so that the paint glid over the board easily. Once I had my first layer of gouache done and dried, I went in with my second layer so it wouldn't be so patchy. But, when i started adding the second layer of gouache it began to lift up my original layer and it got crumbly and weird. By the time I tried to fix it, I had run out of the colors of gouache I was using and had to switch to acrylic. The red acrylic paint worked just fine and I liked the shade of red the acrylic paint was instead of the gouache. Although, the blue acrylic paint was giving me some issues. The paint was oddly thick so I tried mixing some water into it to thin it out. That helped a little bit, but, It didn't make too much of a difference. The blue acrylic paint dried and began to crack.
Planning:
When I first began thinking about what I wanted to create for this project my mind was blank. But when the news about Roe Versus Wade resurfaced, I became inspired. I began researching Roe versus Wade and some of the history behind it. I also began looking at USSR propaganda posters to find inspiration for my layout and style.
Process:
I began my process with lots and lots of research. I found out the background of Roe versus Wade and the background of USSR Propaganda posters. I created my planning sketches and used them to layout my final pieces. I began with my ̈´Then¨ Piece. I used a paper plate to sketch a circle on the bottom left hand corner of the illustration board. Inside that circle I wrote the words in bubble letters ¨Keep abortion legal¨ I painted the words in white and outlined them with black. The rest of the circle was filled in with blue and outlined with black as well. I took a picture I had of Jane Roe (Norma McCorvey) and made a negative space sketch of her face and arm in the upper right of the board. I went over my outline with black India ink. Then, I moved onto the rest of the background. I initially painted it with a crimson gouache paint in a few layers but I didn't like the look of it and went over it with an apple red acrylic paint instead. When I painted the background, I lost sort of the opacity of the ink in my drawing of Roe and i just decided to make my lines thicker so I went over it again with some more ink.
Next, I worked on my "Now" piece. For this one, I looked up some pictures from the recent protests happening due to plan t overturn the Roe versus wade law. I chose the photo of a woman wearing a black crop top and had "Not your body" written across her chest and stomach. I outlined her body from her neck down and painted her skin in that same apple red acrylic paint from the first illustration and used black India ink to fill in the woman's legs with black and shirt. I used a white paint pen to fill in the words on her body and a black paint marker to outline them and really make them pop. Now in 2022, the right to abortion is no longer just seen as a woman´s right, there are trans masculine men and non-binary that have a uterus too. So in the blue background I wrote ¨abortion is a human right¨.
Critique:
There are a lot of similarities and differences between my own artwork and my inspiration. In USSR propaganda art, the colors that are generally seen are reds and yellows and tans. I used a lot of red in both of my illustrations. And in my research, I noticed that a lot of pro-abortion protest signs that blue is a color that was well represented. Another thing I was inspired by USSR propaganda art was the blocking of the colors. And you can definitely notice my connection to the protest picture I chose and took inspiration from.
Reflection:
I really liked my idea behind this piece. And I would consider myself a feminist as well. Today in 2022, women´s rights have been a hot topic. If I were to redo this project in the future, I would do more experimentation with the paint I would use so that it would´nt end up looking crackly and uneven. I liked my overall composition of this piece.
Connecting To The Act:
1. Clearly explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration upon your artwork?
- I can identify the cause and effect relationship between my inspiration upon my artwork because of the debate of whether the landmark decision of roe versus wade should be overturned came up in recent news, I thought it would be appropriate to bring that topic into my work.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
. The overall approach the author has regarding the topic of my inspiration is that abortion is a human right, not something to be controlled by the cis-gendered white men of the supreme court.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
-I've come to the generalization that women and anybody else with a uterus will have to fight for our rights until the end of time. We are more than a uterus.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspiration research?
- The central idea around my inspiration research was to find sources that supported my ideals which is pro-choice.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the bases of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
- I've come to the conclusion that women and anybody with a uterus need to rise up against the injustices that have been brought upon us.
- I can identify the cause and effect relationship between my inspiration upon my artwork because of the debate of whether the landmark decision of roe versus wade should be overturned came up in recent news, I thought it would be appropriate to bring that topic into my work.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
. The overall approach the author has regarding the topic of my inspiration is that abortion is a human right, not something to be controlled by the cis-gendered white men of the supreme court.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
-I've come to the generalization that women and anybody else with a uterus will have to fight for our rights until the end of time. We are more than a uterus.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspiration research?
- The central idea around my inspiration research was to find sources that supported my ideals which is pro-choice.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the bases of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
- I've come to the conclusion that women and anybody with a uterus need to rise up against the injustices that have been brought upon us.
Bibliography:
“Norma McCorvey.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Norma-McCorvey.