The key is communication - getting the gist

For this exercise I used an article from The Times, Saturday 17 September 2011 - 'Green light for GM wheat trial to tackle aphids'. The UK government has given permission for scientific open-air trials to be carried out on wheat that has been genetically modified to be resistant to aphids.

I read and re-read the article many times searching for the essence. Although the text gave the viewpoints from various angles, it was apparent throughout the report, that most people are apprehensive about genetic modification. I decided to take this angle as the focus for the illustration.


My next step was to get to grips with the imagery - using images found online. As I sketched them to get an understanding of their shape and construction, ideas started to develop.




The first sketched ideas were too literal - I wanted the illustration to have more depth. Using the idea of the 'green light' from the title to represent a chemical glow, the next drawings became too detailed. The article is only short and the illustration needs to be small - small and simple, but thought-provoking.



I hope that the idea I eventually selected as the one that would be worked up for a finished piece conveys the message. It shows a harvest mouse clinging to a stalk of wheat behind chain-link fencing, its eyes glowing green. A small and vulnerable creature, trying to survive in its natural environment. The fence representing entrapment by, or protection from, an intervention with unknown consequences.