What's the Point?

The title for this piece is "What's the Point?". During the process of trying to come up for a final sketch, I went through several ideas. Some of which included a brain because they make people sharp and allow us to make points. I also thought about just using a plain rose since they have thorns on their stems. I chose to do a skull with vines covered in thorns wrapped around it. I chose this piece because of the contrast. The contrast is shown by having various shades of black for the shadow on the skull. Contrast is also shown by having the roses represent life, while the skull represents death.

 The medium I chose to work with was charcoal. I found charcoal easier to create value on the skull. A risk I took with this piece was adding red pastel on the roses. The message I am conveying with this piece is that life can be found in the darkest places. It is shown by having the roses grow around and out of the skull's eye.