Peer Critique Gildea

Ethan's process involved translating his own sketches into a digital image in photoshop. He used the curve tools and the dodge and burn tool to create the shapes, and he added mountains, lighting and fire into the background with the figure and the eyes. There are elements of realistic / surreal and unrealistic in this piece that are united through the common red color throughout the piece. The main idea behind this piece is that young adults are controlled and manipulated by figures of power - where the eyes are the puppeteer and the puppet is the young adults. The helplessness of the puppet really shows this connection about the control of authority figures over these young adults.

A 2D skill that I think is the most prominent is line. The leading lines of the puppet strings downward and the lines of the fire upward bring the attention to the center of the piece, the puppet. The lightning also comes from the edges and they all meet in the center. This shows movement, especially with the "nature" elements of the lightning striking and the fire burning. There is also a sense of transparency with the fire over the eyes - I can see the eyes coming through the flames. I can also see an emphasis on the emotions in this piece, the fire and the red convey a sense of anger and this connects to the idea of being angry with being manipulated like a puppet. There is balance in this piece with the two symmetrical eyes.