Over the Edge: A Senior Explorations Amplified Piece by David Courter (2014)

I made my design piece based on a quickwrite inspired by the quote, ''I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center.'' In response to this quote by Kurt Vonnegut, I responded saying that I do not want to stay at the edge, I want to go over. To me, going over the edge means stepping out of my comfort zone to help others who do not feel comforted. The floating landmass in the center of my illustration depicts my comfort zone; it is green and has bright blue skies hanging above it. Over the edge of this land lies the dark, where those I would seek to help are stuck, reaching out asking for help as shown by the hand reaching up. To me this piece represents what it is to be human, both as being in comfort and being in the dark. All of us have been comfortable and all of us have been in the dark, but to be a truly good person is to step out of your comfort zone to comfort those around you.

This piece started as an acrylic painting. The trees and part of the sky were originally painted while I channeled my inner Bob Ross to create the scene with just a few short strokes. Proceeding, I scanned the image and began using an acrylic Photoshop brush to create the rest of the illustration. To create the lava-esque feel of the dark below, I used a filter from Flaming Pear called Flood. I found a font from Dafont and put an excerpt from my poem into the dark section, and I took a picture of a friend's hand to put into Photoshop to be reaching up and grabbing the earth. Finally I applied a canvas texture to give the illustration the feel of a painting.