This piece, entitled “the price for relief,” is really only a study of shape, layout and perspective. We were limited to the use of black marker on white paper for this project. This was meant to force us into thinking only about the image and how people respond emotionally to shape and line. I decided to go with the human skull because I had seen an interesting piece from Mexico where a female artist (her name escapes me) painted a checkerboard pattern on an actual skull for the day of the dead. I found it interesting at the time and the concept worked really well for this project, plus I knew it would be technically challenging for me. So I went with it. Another aspect of this piece that we had to take into account was layout. This is the arrangement of the images and how they, together bring emphasis to a certain part of that image. In this piece the emphasis is actually on the point of the finger, rather than the skull itself. The skull is obviously an integral part of the image as a whole, but it’s the fingertip that tells the story.

So what does all this imagery actually mean? What am I trying to say? Well, I’ll tell you. The medieval halo represents sainthood. The word “wart” and the emphasis placed on the fingertip, means he has a wart on his finger and the only saint who had a wart on his finger (that we “know”), was St. John. The word “relief,” the layout and even the subtle expression on the face of the skull is an homage to all the advertising we’re inundated with every day from the drug companies. Finally the skull itself means death. Now what does all this mean as a whole? What am I trying to say? Well, I’ve always found it humorous that within every advertisement for a drug, there is as well a list of side effects that the announcer has to read. What makes it even more hilarious to me, is that the side effects are often worse than the original problem. I personally don’t think it’s worth getting more sleep at night, if it’s going to give me a heart attack. By the way, the images below are a group of sketches I drew up in preparation for this piece.