Strike a Pose

-cardboard, tracing paper, charcoal, gesso-

Pop that leg! I don't think I've had as much fun with observational drawing as I did with this one. Seeing my elderly art teacher suddenly grab a stool and box, strike a sassy pose, then tell us to draw her was absolutely hysterical. The pose was enjoyable at first, until she realized that she would have to remain like that for the duration of the time we'd be drawing her. 

I constructed my own canvas out of various cardboard materials and tracing paper, then splattered some gesso onto it as well to give a bit of contrast for when I'd draw with the charcoal. It was fun trying to adjust to drawing and smudging along the cardboard surface since it worked a lot differently than it would on white paper, especially on the raised surfaces. After finishing with the proportions and shading, I felt as thought the image still lacked depth and character. To fix that problem I went back in with a white charcoal pencil to emphasize the highlights and contrast it with the shadows. This was just a simple figure drawing, but the little idea of drawing it on cardboard made it much more interesting.

Any comments, questions, suggestions? Comment below!!!

What's the Buzz?

-spray paint and black fine point sharpie-

The beginning of this had been done as an experimental project with various colored paints in spray bottles. I had laces, shapes, wires, etc. to lay against the paper and spray to create various images or textures. I specifically used this one material which was a metal roll of patterned holes as my stencil for the majority of the image. I could cut a piece of the roll as large or as little as I desired. I experimented with the placement of the stencil and came up with an interesting composition. The colors began to layer, but eventually layered too much thus leading me to the idea of turning the colored puddles into drizzling drips.

After I was done experimenting I wanted to expand further with the image. Actually, this had not been my first spray painted image. It's about my third or fourth. After I created a few, I looked at each one and evaluated which one would be fit to serve as a decent background. I chose the one above because of the patterned holes that reminded me of honeycombs. I started with the honeycomb idea and further developed it until it became the product above! I definitely learned a lot about flexibility and that not all the best products come from perfect planning, but stepping out of your comfort zone and allowing creativity to flow; a simple but commonly overlooked statement.

Any comments, questions, suggestions? Comment below!!!