It's not a KFC chicken, it's the ATS chicken, 'cause everything looks better in American Tribal Style (if you don't know it, google it and enjoy all the beauty of the dance and costumes ;)
This drawing was done with pen and colored pencil. I wanted to create a self-portrait that could also serve as a profile picture for my art accounts. My other self-portraits tend to be realistic, so I decided to try and depict myself in my own illustrative style instead. My artistic influences for this piece include tattoo styles, pinup art, and art nouveau as well as inspiration taken from some of my favorite portrait artists, Sargent and Rockwell.
The amaranthus are commonly used as symbols of eternity/immortality due to its ability to retain its color for a long time after dying/cut off". I thought that this phenomenon represents "hope" more than the more common meaning of "devotion/undying love". Having hope keeps us alive during difficult periods where we are cut off from the things that typically motivates us, whether it be financial resources, loved ones, etc., and I tried to convey this by juxtaposing the vibrant colours of the flowers (symbolizing hope and life) with the grayscale tone of the statue (symbolizing death and brokenness).
I never knew doodle bombing was a thing until I joined Doodle Addicts. I recently got Sketchbook for iPad. Started playing with the photo import feature and began doodling over the image. I picked a photo that would make me happy every time I opened the file.
Life is hard enough already without anyone else having a say in it. But when you are judged by the world so constantly, you learn to shut yourself out... you fake a smile, but deep down inside you just wanted to be appreciated...
