In the Face of Adversity

'In the Face of Adversity'

This benevolent bison was so much fun to draw but took a pretty excessive amount of time. I etched onto glass to give the breath between the character and the bison a subtle, ephemeral appearence and it reminds me of a child's warm breath condensing on glass. It was hard to say goodbye to this illustration as it really was a labour of love.. I am ashamed to admit it, but things got emotional, yo! But the original is now living happily in California, lucky thing! If the lovely new owners are reading this, please do send me a snap of Adversity in its new home :)

Also, I've spent a lot of time experimenting with ways to reproduce this image so that it's affordable, yet stays true to the original illustration. I am one hard lady to please when it comes to prints, but I've finally reached the point where I can say that I'm so very happy with how this guy has come out. For those of you who wish to own one, your fine art print will come with a sheet of glass with sandblasted 'breath' when you purchase In the Face of Adversity. The light tends to do all manner of reflecty nonsense on the glass when I try to photograph it, but the image below is a more accurate representation of how said 'breath' looks in reality..all misty and such, not quite as 'vector-ey' looking as the one above.

This lllustration depicts a metaphorical encounter with an insurmountable problem. It deals with subject matter pertaining to an intangible human experience and incorporates symbolism as a method of conveying meaning. The mountains represent resilience, an obstacle to overcome and the refusal to yield. When considering the bison in symbolic terms,  it echoes the same immovable qualities, which contrasts with the small and insignificant little character in the corner. However, the bison’s expression is benevolent instead of threatening, which (hopefully) leads the viewer to question who represents adversity to whom. Hmm? So what are we saying here? Essentially, this artwork is an observation of the relationship between humans and animals and carries an environmental message that points to the threat that mankind poses for the animal kingdom in terms of overhunting and destruction of natural habitat. 

So much for keeping these explanations open-ended..am I spoiling it for you guys by not really leaving the artworks open to your own interpretation, or do you prefer having a bit of a background? I'd love to know..