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Description
"The ancient Greek word for element (stoicheion) literally meant "syllable", the basic unit from which a word is formed."---Wikipedia "Classical Element"

Air is the element most life is dependant on. The need for air is less universal than that for water, but for most life humans encounter, it's no less critical. Our perception of air is, however, greatly flawed. We think of a room full of nothing but air as "empty", when in reality it holds something closer in nature to water than a vacuum. Sound, song, speech...without air there is no hearing. When we blame the weather for something, in reality we are blaming air, and its currents and contents. We see the wind as a gentle breeze, and choose to forget that a tornado is nothing but air.

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I know I said Earth was next, but air had more inspiration behind it.

I had a whole lot of fun with this piece, and like just about everything else, I learned a lot from it. The birds were probably the most fun AND the most difficult. It was VERY hard painting feathers that didn't look like they were stiff cardboard. I figured it out, obviously, but...it was very interesting.

Symbolism (such as it is):

-The Colors- The obvious choice for air, white, would have been too boring for a full out picture. I kept white/blue to the costume and went with yellow instead to balance out the set.
-the woman. I always felt that air and water were more feminine. More flexible, quicker to change. Lighter, in a way. Her skin-tone has more to do with what I wanted to practice than any specific thing. I'm OK at lilly-white skin, so it's time to move on to the other variaties of human epidermis.
-The costume: Soft, gentle, silky flowy things, with an Isadore Duncan style scarf. Perfect for air. I also tried to work in the colors we associate with air--pale, pastel things--as well as use it to get some contrasting color.
-The birds--it's air. You have to have birds. I chose canadian geese because...well, they just fit. They have a lot of warm tones, and migratory geese are some of the most "athletic" birds out there. That goose-flight V is pretty iconic, actually. They were actually a lot of fun, and I was suprised at how many colors it took to get realistic shading out of them.
-clouds--thunderheads, representing Air's not-so-peaceful aspects, while still keeping things light, and dare I say, airy.

Description
"The ancient Greek word for element (stoicheion) literally meant "syllable", the basic unit from which a word is formed."---Wikipedia "Classical Element"

Air is the element most life is dependant on. The need for air is less universal than that for water, but for most life humans encounter, it's no less critical. Our perception of air is, however, greatly flawed. We think of a room full of nothing but air as "empty", when in reality it holds something closer in nature to water than a vacuum. Sound, song, speech...without air there is no hearing. When we blame the weather for something, in reality we are blaming air, and its currents and contents. We see the wind as a gentle breeze, and choose to forget that a tornado is nothing but air.

---------------------------------

I know I said Earth was next, but air had more inspiration behind it.

I had a whole lot of fun with this piece, and like just about everything else, I learned a lot from it. The birds were probably the most fun AND the most difficult. It was VERY hard painting feathers that didn't look like they were stiff cardboard. I figured it out, obviously, but...it was very interesting.

Symbolism (such as it is):

-The Colors- The obvious choice for air, white, would have been too boring for a full out picture. I kept white/blue to the costume and went with yellow instead to balance out the set.
-the woman. I always felt that air and water were more feminine. More flexible, quicker to change. Lighter, in a way. Her skin-tone has more to do with what I wanted to practice than any specific thing. I'm OK at lilly-white skin, so it's time to move on to the other variaties of human epidermis.
-The costume: Soft, gentle, silky flowy things, with an Isadore Duncan style scarf. Perfect for air. I also tried to work in the colors we associate with air--pale, pastel things--as well as use it to get some contrasting color.
-The birds--it's air. You have to have birds. I chose canadian geese because...well, they just fit. They have a lot of warm tones, and migratory geese are some of the most "athletic" birds out there. That goose-flight V is pretty iconic, actually. They were actually a lot of fun, and I was suprised at how many colors it took to get realistic shading out of them.
-clouds--thunderheads, representing Air's not-so-peaceful aspects, while still keeping things light, and dare I say, airy.