Mermaid

Appropriation

 For my appropriation project I was originally planning to pick an artist and do an illustration in the style of their work. I have recently been watching a lot of old films so I thought i'd use an old film as one of my themes, instead of using somebody elses style i decided to keep to my own and just use the film subject matter as the appropriation.

I chose to use the Wizard of Oz as my chosen film. It was always a favorite of mine as a child and has lots of interesting aspects to draw.

The illustration is of Dorothy, the main character. I feel she is a vulnerable character, she is a young girl away from her home and is a well loved character a lot of people have grown up with. There are two main witches in the story: the good witch and the bad witch. I have drawn the bad witch on the left side like the devil on her shoulder and the good witch on the right like a guardian angel. 

The emerald city which is behind Dorothy i have drawn a penis shaped tower as a subliminal messages to represent the gay references and metaphors throughout the wizard of oz film. 'Friends of Dorothy' is a known phrase to associate with somebody who is homosexual which originates from the film. It is also discussed that the whole journey of Dorothy coming out of her reality a boring sepia world and embarking on this colourful experience for her and her friends to find out who they really are is a metaphor for somebody coming out of the closet. 

 

 I decided to do a rainbow screenprint as an association to the song 'Over the rainbow' used in the film also as a reference to the gay pride logo.

^Final prints.

^I have also scanned in my picture and started to colour it in photoshop.