Symbolic Portrait

For my portrait I have decided to use my aunt as the subject of my work.  I decided on her because throughout her life she his struggled with physical disabilities such as back surgery and MS. At a young age when she told me about her MS I remember crying when she told me about it.  She told me that her hair that I had identified her with wasn't really hers, it was a wig.  She taught me to be strong and never stop believing in yourself no matter if someone tells you that its impossible.

In my portrait to tie all of my symbols together I will make her profile in the corner with her real hair.  There are many childhood stories that she and my mom have told me about her struggle such as stories in the hospital, thing that the doctor's told her, what it was like to be told such horrible things about her physical condition etc.  I wold like to try and make it so that it goes from her past to the present.  Most importantly I would like to try and include many memories I have had with her.

Hamlett Dobbins

I chose this piece as my favorite because of Hamlett's use of words and filling the full two pages.  The dragon has very careful detail and has many colors to shade it.  The pilot steering the dragon is also very detailed.  I think what drew my attention to this piece most was the words.  The words I don't fully understand but I think would have been thought out.  Irony means words that are the opposite of the literal meaning of something else.  So this leads me to believe that "to be whipped without a hint of irony) means that there is no opposition to it.

A question that I would like to ask Hamlett is when a person is looking at his work what kind of mesage does he want to send to his viewers and why.