American Black History (Final)

American Black History
(I decided on the term black versus African American because it can include people who more closely identify with Mexico or the Caribbean rather than Africa and may be called "black.")
Mixed Media

So, not too long ago I posted about this very project. I shared the final drawing (the step just before this finished piece) and some of the process that got me to that point. You can see how this piece was thought up here.

A Note on Color Choices
 I resolved to make the root, faces and all, a similar color with varying tones to emphasize their connectedness as a root. I chose a slightly orange leaning brown and then accented it with purples and greens that allow the browns to stand out.

Textures
To help give the feeling of a root and tie in the subject matter with the background space I chose to use textured papers both in the background and under the painted faces so that the paint could bring out any embedded fibers from one face to another. This choice increased the piece's atmosphere and emotion. I also included some hatching (a series of parallel lines) with colored pencils to carry a texture throughout the faces. This is simply another incarnation of my mixed media technique.

African American History – Final Drawing

Final Drawing for African American History Illustration
Graphite on Paper

Conception
I played with a few ideas for African American history in the thumbnail stage, but when I hit upon the this descending root shape with many faces the impact of the composition made it clear to me that this was the direction to take the image.

After choosing that composition I knew that for this piece it was key to include likenesses of important figures in African American History, and find a way to meld them together with design interest.

A few thumbnails/comps of the root idea for my
African American History Illustration.

The Final Drawing
The process of selecting the right figures from African American history was tricky, and I am sure many people would not agree with all of my choices. I had to leave out so many important figures. I asked around and got other people's opinions, and I enjoyed researching the history, until I finally landed upon these 15 faces.

I added a couple of ambiguous faces towards the lower half of the root (further back in time) to represent figures in the further past to represent those whom we do not have a recorded likeness. A few of which I choose for both their actions and recognizable faces.

Early Comp/Thumbnail

It is sometimes amazing to me that famous people can have so many photos taken of them, but never quite in the position I need for my composition. Why am I imagining such unusual positions? Silly me. It just makes the challenge of capturing a likeness a bit more spicy. On several of the faces I used a few key images of the person and combined them to create the right angle and expression.

Lastly, I got to play around with the root shapes. Of course, I got reference for roots as well, but the fun part of adding in amorphous elements like roots is that I can play around with line and design the shapes with pretty much free reign.

Upcoming
I will soon be sharing the final illustration here. I finished this piece up with my usual mixed media approach. Lots of textures were employed. So, check back over the next month to see this image fleshed out.