Week 9 - Day 1 & 2 Print/Matt

My element is Vanadium. Its symbol is "V", and its atomic number is 23. Vanadium is a metal that is found in space, but very rarely. It can be isolated artificially, which causes it to become oxidized. A man discovered it in Mexico in 1801. He found it in a metal that also had lead with it and discovered that it was new. It wasn't until 1867 that the element was gotten alone in its purest form. By reducing vanadium chloride, the metal could be produced in mass amounts. It was used in building race cars and metal tools. It is sometimes also found in meteorites with a lot of different mineral forms. 

The fact that it is found in meteorites caught my attention. I knew I wanted to surround my print's focus on a meteorite. I also learned though that they are found by using a spectrometer, a tool that bends light to see metals. They're often used in astronomy to analyze the makeup of stars and spot these meteorites. Light coming from the sun and other stars aids this process. That is why there is a lens around my meteorite. 

My original sketch looked a lot like the final here. I started with the lens so I could have a centered and balanced print. Then, I made the shape of a meteorite to show it. The whole thing felt a bit empty, so I added more detail in the lens, including stars to symbolize their light that is used in the identification of the vanadium meteorites. Since I had to include its symbol and atomic number, I thought that the number could sit on the outside of the lens. That was fine, so I tried doing the same with the letter. The symmetry was a little cluttered and unnerving. I found that having the symbol taking up a larger space and going into the lens brought the whole thing together. 

If I did this again, I would make the atomic number a little smaller. I may have paid more attention to the detail within the details too. This could result in a more realistic meteorite. 

My favorite part of this whole thing was identifying the positive and negative space. Originally, there was more negative space. Since we are in space though, hence the meteorite theme, I wanted it to be darker. Having so much darkness in the image was satisfying.