Hello, hard to believe we are almost at the holiday season! With that in mind, I am nearing my finals for my third Fall semester! I attend Marywood University. Furthermore, I am majoring in Illustration in the Marywood University Art Department.

Currently, I am taking probably one of my favorite classes thus far in my college career. That being, Advance Drawing! So far, this class forced me out of my comfort zone. Experimenting with new materials, exploring art history, and trying new techniques.

For the class’s third assignment, we were assigned with the project to illustrate injustice, ignorance, and/or intolerance. This was an interesting task. It forced us to give our piece a distinctive purpose and message.

Purpose of My Piece:

Something that continues to “irk” me in America is society’s ignorant usage of artificial dyes in our everyday food products. Candy, chips, drinks, etc. include artificial dyes for the mere purpose of color. There is scientific evidence highlighting the negative effects artificial dyes have our bodies; such as, hyperactivity and potentially… cancer. Moreover, many countries already banned usage of the dyes. For instance, I was on a family trip to Italy, and many snacks American were less saturated. This was due to safe usage of natural dye found in plants. Nonetheless, companies continue with their ignorant implementation of the artificial dye.

For my project I wanted to symbolically illustrate the harm and ignorance of artificial dye. I highlighted the color red. Because Red 40 is the notorious artificial dye found in many food products and beverages. The Red M&M represents a bullet hole. Also, I placed Swedish Fish around the “blood drip” to tie the usage of artificial dyes across many companies.

My Piece:

WRAP UP:

Overall, It was insightful experimenting with new concepts and ideas when completing this project. I look forward to the rest of the semester…especially winter break.

• Stay Spooky, Santo 🎃