Artist Statements
Title: Prominent Beauty (Portrait)
This piece is called Prominent Beauty and it is a portrait of Keira Knightley. This piece tries to capture her eye-catching features such as her prominent cheekbones. In this portrait, I used value to try to show emphasis on these features.
I began the picture by using a graph to map out the facial structure and features. I used Daler Rowney pencils to sketch the head, hair, and eyes first. I worked on each part one at a time, taking the time to add details and trying to shade right to show texture. When I worked on the hair, I used different levels of shading to show contrast depending on the lighting.
I chose Keira Knightley as a model for the portrait project because I wanted to try drawing someone I thought represented absolute beauty. In the picture, she is looking directly at the viewer and smiling for a photo. The camera only cares about her looks and not what might be going on inside her head, and her eyes reflect this.
My goals as an artist are to reflect deeper meaning to the viewer, not explicitly, but implied, and also to sharpen my skills so I can accomplish great feats of art. This piece helped me reach those goals because it gave me something to focus my attention on and work hard to finish.
From this piece, I learned a great deal about drawing specific facial features, I learned about many different techniques used in art, and it taught me a lot about drawing, in general. This final result is not what I imagined when I started the portrait, but it is what I expected to accomplish with my lack of experience. This portrait will influence my future artwork because it will be a reference to look to and something to remember when my skills take me further.
Title: Anticipating Quill (Cross Contour)
I call this piece "Anticipating Quill", because the quill in the picture represents a love for writing or storytelling, and as it is sitting in the ink bottle it waits to be put to paper and tell its tale. I used lines in the feather to show texture and value to create contrast in the quill. For the shadow of the quill, I stippled instead of using cross-contour lines to create contrast in the piece. Also, I used value in the shadow to show how the feather got thinner and so it's shadow.
For my media, I used two different black pens, one with a thinner end for the cross-contour lines and another with a thicker end for stippling in the shadow. With the quill, I drew more and darker lines around the outside of the feather to emphasize where the light was shining from and created highlights around the center of the quill using less lines.
I was inspired by a personal connection to writing and literature, as well as taking the expression "the pen is mightier than the sword" more literally. In this piece, I tried to convey a sense of simplicity and elegance through something small yet powerful. The quill is beautiful and underestimated, and it sits in an ink bottle waiting to prove its worth.
My goal as an artist is to convey symbolism and beauty through even the smallest objects, and I think this project was the perfect match to help me complete that goal. This quill represents much more than just an archaic writing tool. This represents power in the written word, and strength in small things often overlooked or underestimated.
This piece taught me that I'm better at cross-contouring than I originally thought. It will influence my future works because I will focus on small yet meaningful things instead of overwhelming and sometimes frivolous projects. This project turned out almost exactly as I first imagined, and I am very happy with the way it turned out.
Title: Queen in Peril (Magnified Image)
The title of my piece is "Queen in Peril", because it is a chessboard, on which it's white's move, and the queen first intended to put black's king in check, but the black bishop and queen prevent the queen from attacked, and put her in danger, forcing the white queen's next move to be a retreat. I used value on the chess pieces and squares to show contrast between the white and blacks pieces and squares.
In this piece, I used a regular graphite pencil to draw everything. For techniques, I used cross-hatching in the chessboard squares, then blended to fade out the lines. For the white squares, I shaded in lighter than the black squares to make them gray, instead of leaving the squares completely white.
My piece was inspired by a love for chess, motivated by my dad, whom I love to play chess with in the morning over a cup of coffee. I tried to convey a sense of alarm and decisiveness that the player playing white must be feeling while trying to save their queen from being taken by the black bishop.
One of my goals as an artist is to challenge myself while drawing something I love. This piece certainly helped, because when I first started drawing the chessboard, I became irritated and felt that I bit off more than I could chew. Fortunately, as I worked more on the picture, I drew each chess piece bit by bit and it all came together.
I am glad with how this piece turned out, and while it is not exactly what I imagined at first, it looks different and I think better than what I first had in mind. In drawing this, I learned a lot about drawing symmetrical and 3D objects. This piece will influence my artworks by helping me to draw more realistically in the future.
Title: Last Land Untouched (W.C. Landscape)
My watercolor landscape piece is called "Last Land Untouched". The art depicts a remote island with dolphins swimming nearby and a small boat facing towards the island. I used texture through many layers of watercolor to create movement in the waves and water around the piece.
I used watercolor paint in my piece. I repeatedly added layers of watercolor to show variations of color and depth. I also many layers and shades of green for the mountainous islands and trees.
My work was inspired by a yearning for exploration and travel, and also the choice for an ocean landscape was inspired by the term "watercolor". In this piece, I try to convey a feeling of peace and freedom, with nothing in the background to take away from the amazing view of the vast ocean and the island in it.
My goals for this piece were to paint something based only on what I was imagining, instead of having to look at a picture. I feel I've accomplished this, and it will help me to create more artwork from my own imagination.
The final piece is not as detailed or eye-catching as I originally intended or imagined, by I am satisfy with it because I worked on it to the best of my ability. From this project I have learned more about watercolor painting, painting from perspective, and creating a piece based only on my imagination. This piece will influence my future artwork because it taught me the basics of watercolor and how to create a pleasing landscape.
Title: A Call for War (Master's Style)
My piece is titled "A Call for War", and depicts Ares, the Greek god of war, raising his sword on a battlefield. In the piece, I used small lines to show movement in the background, as well as using a variety of colors to demonstrate rhythm.
In this piece, I used acrylic paint to first paint the background, then add layers of small brushstrokes, and paint the warrior last. I used small brushstrokes to show spirals throughout the painting, and emulate the impressionism style of Vincent Van Gogh.
My painting was inspired by a personal interest in Greek mythology, but also by imagining what war looks and feels like. I tried to convey chaos through the dramatic texture of the background. In the upper right corner is the planet Mars, which is also the Roman god of war, and this was inspired by the depiction of Venus in Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night".
My goals as an artist are to become more skillful with acrylic paint, and this project definitely helped because it taught me how to show movement and to demonstrate drama in the painting. It also helped me discover what styles of art I am comfortable with and interested in.
In creating this piece, I learned about impressionism and how to represent it in my artwork. My final piece is very similar to what I originally imagined, and I am happy with how it turned out. This will influence my future artworks because it helped me explore impressionism, and was a good practice for painting.
Title: Light in Death (Texture)
My artwork is titled "Light in Death", and depicts a lit candle sitting on a skull in a dark room. This piece can be interpreted to mean that even in death, there is some peace, because there cannot be too much bad without a little bit of good to balance it out. In this piece, I used a variety of textures to create contrast and movement. My piece shows multiple textures between the candle, skull, and the table on which the skull is sitting.
I used oil pastels in this piece, which proved difficult to use for someone unexperienced. I used sgraffito to create the texture of the table, as well as to show highlights in the candle wax melting onto the skull. For the skull, I often had to use small amounts of black, and blend it with white to create grey and show a variety of shades.
My piece was not originally inspired by anything in particular, I was just combing my mind for an idea of something close-up that could show many textures and colors. The more I worked on the piece, the more I was more interested in making it look good, despite the pastels being difficult to work with. I tried to emit a melancholy feeling through the piece, because the skull sitting alone is eerie, but the candle brightens the mood.
My goals as an artist are to become more experienced and more skilled in using different medias, and this project definitely helped because it taught me the techniques of properly using pastels to create a realistic piece.
I am impressed with my final piece, because it is very similar to what I first imagined, and it turned out better than I expected for myself. This piece will influence my future artwork because it helped me explore the potential of oil pastels, and also made me realize an interest in somber and melancholy tones for my artwork.
Title: Every Girl's Dream (Transformation)
My piece is titled "Every Girl's Dream", and captures the characteristics of my sister, Molly, as a Disney princess. The picture shows her standing in front of the Disney castle in a beautiful ballgown and comfortable shawl. In this piece, I changed the shape of her eyes to show the emphasis that cartoons have on eyes.
This artwork was made mostly from markers, but I also used crayons to create texture in the skin and shawl. For the shawl, I wanted it to look fluffy and light, so I colored it by making swirls with a gray crayon. Also, I used many different colored markers for the hair to create contrast and texture.
My artwork was inspired by my older sister, who I always thought was beautiful, just like a Disney princess. This piece represents the dreams of every little girl to grow up and become a princess someday. In doing this, I conveyed happiness and excitement in my subject.
My goals as an artist are to be able to draw something straight from my imagination, and this project definitely helped me because it challenged me to take a cartoon style and draw the characteristics based on how I see the realistic person.
I learned a lot about fixing mistakes during this project because I was displeased with my original background and thought it was ruining the rest of the piece, so I cut my cartoon out, drew another background that I admired more, and glued the cartoon to that. This piece will influence my future artworks because it has exposed me to drawing cartoons and has given me more experience in this style.
Title: Pike's Outdoor Gear (Graphic Design)
My second ad represents my own false brand I named Pike's Outdoor Gear, that advertises a few different areas of supplies for outdoor activities like rock climbing and camping. In this ad, I used a variety of shapes to create contrast.
I used Canva to create the graphic design for this advertisement. To make the ad more interesting and aesthetic, I used elements in Canva like frames and lines to make the brand seem adventurous. I also used a variety of fonts to keep the ad from looking too simple or limited.
This idea for a brand was inspired by Pike's Peak where, ironically, my family lived for a while before I was born. I tried to emit a sense of adventure and risk-taking and targeted an audience of outdoorsy people.
My goals as an artist are to become more familiar with medias and methods I usually wouldn't do. This project helped me with that because it showed me how to work with graphic design as a form of art. This will also help me in the future because being well-equipped for advertising seems necessary in certain career paths.
In creating this piece I learned a lot more about using graphic design for art, and I learned more about advertising products as well. This piece is similar to what I originally imagined and I am satisfied with it as my first graphic design project. This piece will influence my future artworks because I can look back on this as a reference to my early uses of graphic design.