Your Choice Assignment: Trading Cards

Hello everybody,

I apologize for neglecting this blog up until now, but one of my New Year's Resolutions is to update it regularly and put up more posts! This assignment was to choose either creating four artist trading cards, or do a non-objective piece of art <both of these assignments have to be done with silhouettes and must convey a strong message about an important issue in society>. I chose to create the artist trading cards and convey a message about endangered species<For all those who think these look like Pokemon or Yugioh cards, you are mistaken. Artist trading cards are miniature interpretations of a famous artist's work>.

   The idea behind the trading cards I created was that more and more species are becoming endangered, but this issue is not prevalent in many peoples' lives. The works of art that I chose (Lady With an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci, Whistler's Mother by James Whistler, The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough, and Girl With a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer) are all very famous; I decided to turn the humans in each work into endangered animals. Whistler's Mother became Whistler's Great White Shark, Lady with an Ermine became Black-footed Ferret with a Lady, The Blue Boy became The Blue Markhor, and Girl with a Pearl Earring became Hawaiian Crow with a Pearl Earring. In doing this, I felt the importance of endangered animals would increase the strangeness of the trading cards would create a lasting impression in viewers' minds. Not only that, but the composition is recognizable since the only thing different from the original paintings is the fact that the subjects are all animals.

    In order to complete this assignment, I had to screen print my designs onto pieces of thick paper without the works ending up unprofessional. The hardest part of this assignment was the screen printing; making sure there were no smudges or there was enough ink. Sometimes I had too much ink, and that would cause the ink to bleed in some areas. Another tricky part was cutting out the template to place on the silk screen. I had to make sure everything was connected to the rest of the paper or else it would just fall out. Also, I had to get rid of a lot of details that were in the paintings because otherwise screen printing would not be possible. Pieces would have ripped or stuck together. I had never screen printing before but it was quite interesting to learn and use. If done properly, it is useful when making multiple copies of something.

   One thing I really liked about the finished product was the crisp edges and the spookiness of the trading cards. The fact that they all had to be silhouetted means that the animals dressed in clothes are at first glance eerie <and sometimes unrecognizable>. Because of the fact that they are silhouettes, the animals are a bit tricky to recognize <I do not mind this because it makes the viewer think about the artwork and wonder what the message behind it is>. All in all, I am happy how it turned out.