This particular prompt was a bit more challenging than it should have been. I began with the idea of creating an upside down desert landscape that would be visible through the window; however, once I tried executing it, I did not like the look of it at all.

The first thing I decided to do was add the tiled floor to the bottom of the shadow box to make it look more complete.

I then began working on the background. My first attempt began by cutting out vellum paper and attaching it to the back of the window, but it looked awful. I then cut out a piece of clear vellum paper and colored it in with marker. At first I thought it looked nice, but once I put it in the light box, I realized it simply didn’t fit the aesthetic and it looked too smudged.

I then decided I needed a whole new idea, so I decided to create flames in the background with vellum paper. I had liked the way my fire looked for the cave scene (I ended up having to cut out that fire from the piece, which I was bummed out about, so this would be my way of making up for that).

I simply cut different sized and colored pieces of vellum (I chose yellow, orange, and red) and I taped them to the back first to make sure I liked the look. Once I realized I did, I then glued them on. I also opted to glue on a red moon. To make the moon brighter I added three layers of red vellum paper. I also added blood dripping down to give it a creepier touch. For the blood I used a layer of red vellum paper.

The hellish background ended up fitting in with the theme of the light box a lot more than the previous background.

Have you ever had to redo an art piece over and over? Or do you dispose of the piece and start anew?

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