Sketchbook D

 

Baobab tree landscape done via grid

Assignment 3

 Sketches:

Final Portrait:

Inspiration and creative process:

These three artists, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Yayoi Kusama, and Egon Schiele were my main inspirations in the creative process behind my self-portrait. I did not want to go so literal in creating a self-portrait, as a drawn image of my face can only tell you so much about my character and it does not leave as much room for the type of self-expression I favor.

I wanted my self-portrait to paint a picture of me, not in the blatant “this is what I look like” way, but in an artistic interpretation of who I am as a person type of way. I knew from the get-go I wanted to replicate Basquiat’s heavy-handed linework, and use of unnatural symbols such as text boxes and star-like shapes. I also wanted to include the vagueness of Kusama’s face, as it only gives the impression of her looks, not a direct line. I also enjoyed Schiele’s emphasis on the face and hands, leaving the clothing much less detailed. I decided to add the things that I enjoyed from these artists to my own work in graphite on paper and drew myself. I decided to add my nervous system as a second entity in the drawing, to represent the fact I am a very logic-driven person, but also because the fact I have neurological issues plays a major role in my life, and is a huge part of me as a person as it affects everything I do. My face is drawn vaguely, as my most recognizable traits aren’t really my face, but my skunk-colored hair and large glasses.

Assignment 2

 Minky fabric drawn on paper with vine charcoal.

Sketchbook C

 For this sketch, I drew 12 items: a candle, a tanned rabbit fur scrap, a slab of raw stone, and a small collection of crystals, both in raw and carved forms. Here is my reference items in roughly the same view as they were drawn:

And here are the resulting sketches:

I chose these items as they all have a wide variety of ways of reflecting light and developing shadow, which would aid in developing their positive and negative space, as well as layering the objects on one another. 

Personal 1

 This is some personal artwork I did today. I don't know why I felt like sharing this one rather than my other works, perhaps it's just because it's a very open and honest piece. I won't delve into my intentions and emotions behind it, but feel free to interpret it as you will.

This is HB graphite, soft pastel, and acrylic on 14x17 inch paper.

Sketchbook B

 I'll be honest, I have no clue if I did this exercise right, but I really like my work this time. Mostly because I did it while hanging out with my mom, and we had fun with it.

This is my mirror self-portrait. I've been sick as a dog, so I look a mess, but honestly, that's why I like this self-portrait so much. It's honest. I struggle with self-image, as do many, and drawing what you see in the mirror can be a strange experience emotionally.

Here is an item special to me, my Poplio Pokemon plushie. I grew up playing Pokemon, so anything related to it brings me back to my youth and puts a smile on my face.

Here is my food still life. Carrots, butter, an orange, and a grapefruit. It was genuinely the only items in my fridge that arent leftovers of some kind. A kind reminder that I should probably go grocery shopping.

Assignment 1

 I'd like to start this entry by wishing everyone a happy valentines day. I hope yours was lovely. I unfortunately almost went to the hospital today, after a few weeks of medical complications, but I'll leave that at that. Let's get into the assignment. Here are my sketches, in order of amount of time allotted:

I will be honest in saying I'm not particularly proud of any of these, and I was physically incapable of doing 9 and 10 minutes standing, so those pieces are missing. There was a large time gap between the 7 and 8-minute drawings, as I stopped at the 7 minutes drawing the day before I got Covid. Ever since I had gotten Covid, it has been worsening other issues for me and has been emotionally taxing. This gives me a fondness for my 8-minute sketch of my dearly loved cat. The sketches before I fell ill were very run-of-the-mill, clean, and technical, whereas my 8-minute drawing felt much more loose and personal. The longer I stood to draw, the more it started to hurt, and I found comfort in my cat's dreamy resting face. My lines have more character and emotion behind them, and though they strayed from proper technique, I'm much happier with the product that is 8 than the rest. Maybe it's just me being proud I was able to push through how awful I feel in order to make something. I'm not certain, but now I will get onto more "technical" critiques, rather than just my feeling. I believe as time went on, my lines got much heavier from repeatedly passing the same spots, which is a flaw I managed to correct a bit in my 6,7, and 8. I can tell my inner cartoonist is struggling with not drawing chunky lines and doing cell shading, as those are what come to me naturally. I think I did a decent job with silhouettes and shapes, but my shading and texture work could use some improvement and practice.

I hope these are what was being looked for, I will be honest that I struggled with directions. I should have reached out and asked for help, but it is late for that now. I will do better next time.

I hope in a few posts I'm in good health, and you guys will be able to see proper performance out of me. Have a lovely week.