To be honest, I’ve been a bit distracted by other assignments this week. I made sure to set aside enough time to accomplish some tasks for this assignment, but I feel guilty for not supporting Brett’s cause enough. I feel a lot of emotional responsibility to make the world a better place, but unfortunately have disabling conditions that hold me back from doing everything I wish I could do (maybe it’s my Catholic upbringing haha).
I briefly attended class to check the requirements for the presentation, but ultimately, I couldn’t stick around the whole time. I’ve been having a bad brain time, so listening is not my forte with the bees buzzing in my skull.
The first of two pieces I did this week was the bushman illustration. If given the opportunity, I would probably keep working on this for over a week, but unfortunately, I have to practice some level of self-care — meaning limiting this project to one full day of work.
I started by collecting a moodboard of native plants Brett has planted in his Miyawaki forests. I then collected another moodboard of settler artwork to get a better idea of how to illustrate the image. I did an initial sketch on my iPad of the layout of the image before transferring it to my computer into my favourite art program. From this point, it was a lot of painting.
Overall, I’m fairly satisfied with my final image. I feel that having Brett as the “settler” in this piece is subversive to the style of art. Settler artwork often illustrated men colonising the Australian landscape that didn’t rightfully belong to them. To me, looking at that period of art, the heroism in those images feels unwarranted. However, in this image, Brett’s hero stance is warranted. Instead of cutting down trees, he’s planting them and reinvigorating the ecosystem.
There are parts of the image I wish I could improve more, but don’t have the mental capacity or time to do. I’m happy with how I painted the trees since it’s been a while since I’ve drawn in this style. I’m always happy to experiment. I just really hope that it helps Brett.
The other illustration that I did this week is of the Kauri Pine in the same style as my wattle piece. It makes me want to go back to my wattle piece because I feel like the linework in this one is way better (watch me go back to the wattle and re-do it even though I have 13 other images to complete). I think it’s really pretty!
-Ollie
