Themed Postcard
Visual Composition
Miami University
ART 171: Narrative and Sequence
For this postcard assignment, I utilized features I learned in Photoshop to create an aesthetically cohesive composition that depicts an aspect of the myth La Llorona (English translation: The Weeping Woman). I originally learned about this myth in one of my Spanish classes and fell in love with it, so I decided to choose this myth to be the subject of my postcard. In the myth, the Weeping Woman ends up spontaneously killing her two children out of anger and jealousy because she believed that her husband loved them more than her. She was so sad after she realized what she had done that she still haunts the river to this day looking for her children's bodies.
Because La Llorona was so sad at the end of the story, I wanted to utilize a monochromatic color scheme and a foggy forest scene to communicate this emotion to the viewer. I used an original image of a creek that I took on western campus and used layer masking techniques to combine it with the foggy forest background. This adds visual depth to the scene. I also chose a serif font with curvy movement to reflect the curved movement of the river/creek bed. This font gives a spooky vibe, which goes well with the monochromatic color scheme and eerie forest atmosphere. Finally, the aura around the figure crouched next to the river guides the viewer's eye towards the left side of the composition and to the figure's posture. It adds a level of emphasis to the piece and to the sadness/fear/spookiness that is being communicated through the entirety of the composition.
Title: Saludos del Río de Lágrimas (Greetings from the River of Tears)
4 x 6", Adobe Photoshop - 72 ppi
Image Credit: Rachel Drone.
