Memorable Assignment

While I am not very good at choosing favorites in general, one memorable assignment for me this year was the painting that I did on the novel Slaughterhouse 5, by Kurt Vonnegut. It was the first outside reading project that we'd had for the year, where not everybody was reading the same book, and the first major art project as well. I didn't think that the artwork was exceptional, but I felt that it showed, at least to myself, that I really understood the meaning and message of the story. With certain books, I feel a great sense of understanding once I've finished them, and artwork is a good way for me to express my feelings and mental image of the story onto paper. In addition, the time of year that the project was assigned and due was, as I remember it, quite hectic for me, and so that is reflected as well in my memory of the experience.

I don't paint very often, and so I was quite pleased that my interpretation of the events in the book resulted in a final product that satisfied me. I recall putting many hours of work into first sketching the outline of the painting in pencil, choosing colors to fit the tone and mood of the book and then applying them. The colors contrasted between dark blue, purple and green on one side of the picture to bright red, orange and yellow on the other side, to represent the protagonist Billy Pilgrim's time in the respective locations of the imaginary planet Tralfamadore and the bombing of Dresden on Earth. However, one of the project's greatest values in memorability is that it serves to remind me of the quote that I chose for the painting, and the weight that it holds: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference."