Snapshot #1: Appropriation

1. Artists create original art.

My dad is an engineer for Caterpillar and when I was younger I always thought it was funny that the huge dirt-moving equipment the company produces is named after such a small creature. So I guess my original idea came from then and I wanted to add on to it and make it come to life. 

 I decided that combining the two very different objects would be a fun way to depict appropriation. As I brainstormed how to do this, I came up with idea of making the caterpillar itself into the machine. It would be painted Caterpillar yellow and out fitted similarly to how a machine would be. I wanted to put the caterpillar on tracks and to add a bulldozer-like attachment to the front of it. I decided to use a track type tractor as my model. I then planned to put the caterpillar to work - operating as a machine would, except on a much smaller level. Instead of moving trees and logs the caterpillar will be moving blades of grass.

2. Artists take risks.

When I originally started brainstorming for this project I planned to simply paint the scene on a canvas. However, as my idea evolved, I decided that I wanted to make the caterpillar more 3-D. So I am going to attach a foam sphere as the final body segment for the caterpillar, which will attach to the canvas. Also, I am going to fashion the attachment for the caterpillar out of metal and figure out a way to make 3-D tracks. I'm not experienced with mixed media, so figuring out how to make everything look proportional as well as how to affix the materials to the canvas will be a new experience. 

3. Artists reflect.

The first step I took to begin this project was to paint my canvas a dark green to form the background. However, after  that, I was unsure what steps to take. I painted a practice version in my sketchbook and realized I hadn't decided where the light was coming from in the picture. It also became evident that I had to add more drastic shading to the blades of grass to give them the curved look I desired. I also stepped back and analyzed where I wanted the light to come from and where that would cause shadows to fall.

After I worked on figuring out the shading, I also added the tracks and front attachment the caterpillar to get a better idea of what that would look like.