In the Middle Ages, it was believed that when food was scarce, a pelican would use her beak to pierce her own breast so that her blood could serve as nourishment for her young. Stained-glass images of a pelican piercing herself are often found in churches (a great many in Scotland, it seems), where the depictions of the pelican symbolize Christ's sacrifice. An alternate story, which I don't like nearly as much, is that the pelican first kills off her young, and then uses her blood to resurrect them.
When I first saw this week's topic, I didn't know what to think. Sacrifice. Dang. I had no idea what to draw. I wondered if I'd be able to participate at all. I'm not a fan of gore, and I wasn't really inspired to sketch a religious scene. So, being the dork that I am, I hit the books. As soon as I came across the symbolic meaning of pelicans, my lips instantly curled up into a smile. I had my concept.
In creating this piece, the medium I used was soft pastel. I had initially wanted to do a stained-glass type piece by cutting linoleum (which I still think would be really interesting), but I wasn't able to gather the necessary materials. Also, when my eyes fell on my pastel set, I basically picked up a pastel stick and started sketching. And since I started, I might as well finish, right?
The species of pelican in my piece is the brown pelican, pelecanus occidentalis. (Random Fact: The Eastern Brown Pelican is the state bird of Louisiana.) I have to admit, I had a mishap with the background. I pretty much freaked out when my clumsy hands smudged some black into my blue skies. So I rubbed it. Bad idea. Took me waaaay longer than it should have to correct. But mishaps aside, I'm quite pleased with the finished product.
I debated whether to add a few drops of blood on the mother pelican's chest or not. Yes I should. Then again, maybe not. Yes. No. Yes. No. ARGH! So I decided to leave the blood drops off for the moment, and see if anyone has an opinion/suggestion about this. Either that, or I'll take another look at it a couple a week or two later, and then decide for sure.
I had an ilustration professor who said to me once 'Don't assume your viewing audience is ignorant. Give them credit for having a sophisticated sense of visual language-let them work a bit- and trust them to 'get it'. I think your illustration is powerful, and lovely, just as it is. I really enjoyed reading about how you chose your subject matter for this challenge. Well done!
Posted by: Christeen | July 20, 2006 at 12:34 AM
beautiful illo!
Posted by: alina | July 20, 2006 at 01:40 AM
This is just lovely, both conceptually and artistically. I particularly love the feathers on the wing of the mother pelican, they are beautifully done! Thank you for sharing your process, too. And seeking inspiration from any source, be it book or otherwise, is never dorky!! :-)
Posted by: Beth | July 20, 2006 at 09:07 AM
I also like the feathers! Nice take on the subject.
Posted by: String | July 20, 2006 at 02:27 PM
http://www.bagsales.org/ hat's ok, I feel behind too! So we can just be "late" together! LOL 2 amineko cats!?!?! Jeez lady, you're crafty lightning!
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