Appropriation Project

George Bellows, Men of the Docks, 1912

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Layout \ Planning

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Process Photos

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Speedpaint

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This illustration is one of many in my sustained investigation, which follows the question "How can one find order amongst chaos."When learning about appropriation, I wanted to choose an artist who shared a similar ideal of showing the "grit" and "grossness" of life. Bellows was known for his bold depictions of New York City, which depicted the working class's crudity and chaos. His art depicted not what was commonly seen as beauty, but quite the opposite. I used the character design I had created for this set of illustrations, which is accompanied by a black cat, which throughout the story can be viewed as a symbol of hope, or reason to keep going and find self-improvement.

As for the technical aspect, I decided to go with a more painterly feel to embrace the fact that Bellows was primarily an oil painter. What I changed were the figures walking along the support beams and adding details that make it look like my "version" of the illustration takes place in a different time period. By adding radio towers and telephone poles, and brightening up the city in the background as if it has grown over time.