Day 2: Sutton

Lots of progress was made today. My morning was dedicated to completing the safari shadow box design. I practiced making each layer a different shade of grey to resemble what the box might look like with the LEDs in the back. I got rid of most of the strokes and used pathfinder to unite the elements in each layer. I made a copy of each artboard to layer on the side so I could visualize my final product. Some of the most significant elements I added were a jaguar staring at the viewer in the front, a line of eight elephants, and detail in the water. I am planning on giving this box to my grandmother for her birthday because she had organized our trip to Africa and the eight elephants represent her eight grandchildren. One challenge I faced to day was trying to get the right perspective/depth on the water. I think it looks much better today than it did yesterday but I still feel like there is something missing. I will brainstorm tonight. For the sun, I am going to do the technique similar to what Mr. Grisbee did and then glue on the birds in formation.

I finished the morning with nearly six completed layers. I still would like to make more edits and maybe add something else near the water, but this is what I have for today:

In the afternoon, I worked a little longer on my shadow box and then, near the end of the day, moved on to my underwater diorama. I decided on 8" by 8" dimensions. I drew the blob using the curved pen and attached it to my half-inch frame. I then added a turtle and some detailing on the side. This layer is far from finished but this is all I could accomplish today. The red line is what will become my second layer (I traced the blob on this artboard and will now add it to a new artboard). 

Overall, I felt very accomplished today and am proud of how much progress I made on my shadow box. I am excited (and terrified) to see it once it has been printed. Mr. Grisbee talked to us at the end of the day about cutting slits in the bottom of some of the layers to let more light through. I am considering this idea but also ind of like how the front is dramatically darker. Will probably have the definitive answer tomorrow!