Capturing Iridescence

    In my iridescence piece, I plan to show the vivid and rich colors of a Panther Chameleon. This chameleon is native to Madagascar and uses its bright colors to convey emotions, protect itself, and blend in with its surroundings. Personally, I picked this animal because I've always wanted a panther chameleon as a pet. Also, the way the colors blend and clash with one another is very captivating. It keeps your eyes locked on it, studying the many hues as the chameleon changes the pigments of its skin.

COLORED CHAMELEON (1366x768). (n.d.).Retrieved July 31, 2017, fromhttp://www.mrwallpaper.com/view/Colored-Chameleon-1366x768/

   As I was doing these thumbnail sketches, two stuck out to me the most. Numbers five and seven seemed to have the best outcome when drawing the chameleons anatomy and they both are very visually appealing compared to the first ones that were drawn. You can also see how as I got further along that I added more detail with each sketch. Especially, with the last three sketches you can see a difference between the details on the branch and in the chameleons patterns. However, in addition I love the positioning of the chameleon in sketch number 2.

    For this piece, I plan on using primsacolor pencils on black paper to make the colors pop and the iridescence really show. It's also something I've never tried before so I'm very curious as to how it turns out. One way it can effect me negatively is the question of will I be able to shade the piece in a way that makes the iridescence come out? Since, I have never done this before its a risky situation to be in but, its a risk I'm willing to take. Another thing to consider is the colors and what I can do to make this chameleon jump off the page. Because they are vibrantly colored, I'm going to use brighter colors to fill in the patterns, matching their dynamic physique. The vivid colors stick out to the human eye, making the art piece more attractive. Light greens and blues will definitely be essential to making the art effervescent.

    While creating this piece, I did end up making last minute changes but only because it might improve the iridescent aspect of the piece or "filled up" the page to a greater extent. Prime examples of this is when I added more leaves to make the branch seem more lush and the page not so empty. Or to add more iridescence, I used a white gelly roll pen to highlight areas of the panther chameleon, such as the eyes or the multicolored skin. I also used a lot more colors than I expected to use when shading in the piece. I'm proud of the detailing I exhibited throughout the piece.

    Difficulties I found as I was coloring the chameleon was how I was going to make the color blend more and become more vivid. Fortunately, that problem was solved and I discovered even more ways to make the colors pop. Another difficulty I was faced with was adding texture to the spikes and different parts of the body. This was also solved and it taught me how to simplify the process of shading. If I had the chance to alter this piece I would like to change the colors of the tail and have it fade into another shade of orange or red, rather than having it the same color the whole way down. It adds more interest and makes the piece look more whimsical and bubbly.

    To conclude, I would like to give myself a pat on the back for bending the rules a bit and finding another way to capture iridescence. If I had not found this method of creatively conveying iridescence through a chameleon, I might have taken a completely different route and have it lose its meaning half-way through. For example, one of my other ideas was to do a black widow and while that may be cool and edgy, I just had this feeling that it wasn't time for that kind of piece yet. Perhaps, another time in the future will offer an opportunity for a spider. Positive things that I recall from this piece was that coloring it was quite enjoyable and seeing the finished product made me feel satisfied with my work. I'm exceptionally content with how this piece turned out and I can't wait to experiment more with bright colors.