The first assignment from the art class was a drawing for a coloring book.
In the class, we, students, discussed the collective theme of the coloring book, and we decided it to be "Mythology and Humanity - Then and Now." It needed to be broad so that it can give us a wide range of interpretations. Along the theme, each of us created three thumbnails with own concepts about the theme. They were then developed and elaborated into a drawing on a letter-sized paper.
(I used to draw a comic when was a teen. It was nice to feel that time again.)
To me, mythology directly links to Greek/Roman gods and goddesses, especially goddesses of harvest and fertility, which are very basic things for survival. Probably it's because of my paper for "Art and ancient mythology" class I took in 2015 was about Inanna (Ishtar) who is the goddess of love, fertility, and war (later). It's very interesting to see the evolution of her characteristics along the society's change. I love Mesopotamia.
16 students are taking this art class, 4 people are adults. I was the only one who linked the theme to ancient mythology. Others talked about a modern myth like the figure of strong women or a perfect wife/husband, fictional stories, and propaganda. I have never thought of these as mythology but they would be, depends on a person's interpretations and perception. Interesting.
What I tried to express on my drawing was Demeter's then and now.
(It's a drawing for a coloring book, so white areas are needed.)
Ancient Greek/Roman people prayed Demeter for enough food, which is symbolized with wheat/grains. Today, we have advanced agricultural technologies such as machinery, chemicals, and GMOs; instead of depending on Demeter, humans control the food production - so the world is on our hand. However, Demeter or gods and goddesses are created by humans. The human eye on the background symbolizes that our world is controlled or limited by our concepts about the world. I think these can fulfill "Mythology," "Humanity," and "Now and Then" as the title describes.
The criticism that I received from the professor was about the wheat drawn on the middle part. It looks like clones of wheat are lining up, it needs more depth. I agree. I was still happy with his comment "the composition is excellent."
In the class, we, students, discussed the collective theme of the coloring book, and we decided it to be "Mythology and Humanity - Then and Now." It needed to be broad so that it can give us a wide range of interpretations. Along the theme, each of us created three thumbnails with own concepts about the theme. They were then developed and elaborated into a drawing on a letter-sized paper.
(I used to draw a comic when was a teen. It was nice to feel that time again.)
To me, mythology directly links to Greek/Roman gods and goddesses, especially goddesses of harvest and fertility, which are very basic things for survival. Probably it's because of my paper for "Art and ancient mythology" class I took in 2015 was about Inanna (Ishtar) who is the goddess of love, fertility, and war (later). It's very interesting to see the evolution of her characteristics along the society's change. I love Mesopotamia.
16 students are taking this art class, 4 people are adults. I was the only one who linked the theme to ancient mythology. Others talked about a modern myth like the figure of strong women or a perfect wife/husband, fictional stories, and propaganda. I have never thought of these as mythology but they would be, depends on a person's interpretations and perception. Interesting.
What I tried to express on my drawing was Demeter's then and now.
(It's a drawing for a coloring book, so white areas are needed.)
Ancient Greek/Roman people prayed Demeter for enough food, which is symbolized with wheat/grains. Today, we have advanced agricultural technologies such as machinery, chemicals, and GMOs; instead of depending on Demeter, humans control the food production - so the world is on our hand. However, Demeter or gods and goddesses are created by humans. The human eye on the background symbolizes that our world is controlled or limited by our concepts about the world. I think these can fulfill "Mythology," "Humanity," and "Now and Then" as the title describes.
The criticism that I received from the professor was about the wheat drawn on the middle part. It looks like clones of wheat are lining up, it needs more depth. I agree. I was still happy with his comment "the composition is excellent."