Project 4, as a whole, I wanted to depict both the innocent ambitions in her mind and the sad reality that is her environment. I wanted the pieces to have contrast, so the pieces honestly reflected her life.
When I read the excerpt, the flamingo motif really stuck with me, I felt that I could use this as a way to communicate calmness, freedom and a whimsical aspect, because of the colors that are associated with the flamingo. I cropped an image of a flamingo and dragged it into illustrator and image traced it. I copy and pasted the flamingo so I could focus on drawing with the mouse different parts of the body and then later, layered each part. I composed a linear diagonal pattern with the hand drawn flamingo and hand drawn stars.
In contrast to the vivid hues in the wallpaper, I made Madeline’s self portrait with pencil and charcoal. Framing the subject, I chose to draw a vintage inspired vanity mirror to maintain Madeline’s ambitions and foreshadow the potentials of her stardom. The phonograph is placed on the right bottom corner of the frame, releasing smoke into the air to depict the spirit of her mother and the impact she left on her daughter. The minimalism of this piece and the gradient adds a mysterious tone. I originally intended on this piece to be in color and I think it would have been more successful, I feel that I could have better portrayed the environment of the apartment. Although with the details and both the pieces together, the viewer does get a sense of who Madeline is.
