Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Light at the end of a Tunnel
I'm nearing the end of my project, as I only have a couple of portraits to touch up, but otherwise nearly done. I found this project to be a challenge as I had to draw people I had never met and analyze there photos and hope they translate onto paper. Now I hope to see it printed onto our local university paper, so I can get some feedback from my peers.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Process of Creating.
Since I haven't really talked about my process in creating my drawings, I thought it be a good idea.
To begin, I need a project, which for this instance, were portraits of certain individuals. Since I don't know half of them, and is impossible to round all these people up to meet and take their photo, I chose an easier process: Facebook. Facebook is a networking website, which allows me to get in contact with these people and find different photos of them. I read a bit about them and look at the photos they have displayed in their profile. From that I grasp who they are, and use common traits/artifacts of them and apply them in the portrait.
For drawing, I usually start off using a regular pencil (not a mechanical pencil- they create sharp edges, and aren't as flexible to work with). It usually takes a couple tries, but after erasing and re-drawing, you get what you're aiming for. Once confident enough, I want to make it permanent. Because pencil smudges and makes a mess, it doesn't keep your drawings at the best of qualities. You can usually buy a spray to coat your pencil or charcoal drawings with, but since this will be in the paper, and pencil has a very dull pigment, I thought it would be best to go over it with something black. I'm careful not to apply too much pressure, and once working with a line, I try to be continuous. By this I mean, once I start a line I don't want to suddenly stop because if I stop than start from where I left off, you can usually see it. Once this is all done, I allow the ink to dry, for a minute than erase my pencil lines.
And that is my process in which I do my sketches. Many artist chose to do it differently, but go with what you're comfortable with. There is no right or wrong.
To begin, I need a project, which for this instance, were portraits of certain individuals. Since I don't know half of them, and is impossible to round all these people up to meet and take their photo, I chose an easier process: Facebook. Facebook is a networking website, which allows me to get in contact with these people and find different photos of them. I read a bit about them and look at the photos they have displayed in their profile. From that I grasp who they are, and use common traits/artifacts of them and apply them in the portrait.
For drawing, I usually start off using a regular pencil (not a mechanical pencil- they create sharp edges, and aren't as flexible to work with). It usually takes a couple tries, but after erasing and re-drawing, you get what you're aiming for. Once confident enough, I want to make it permanent. Because pencil smudges and makes a mess, it doesn't keep your drawings at the best of qualities. You can usually buy a spray to coat your pencil or charcoal drawings with, but since this will be in the paper, and pencil has a very dull pigment, I thought it would be best to go over it with something black. I'm careful not to apply too much pressure, and once working with a line, I try to be continuous. By this I mean, once I start a line I don't want to suddenly stop because if I stop than start from where I left off, you can usually see it. Once this is all done, I allow the ink to dry, for a minute than erase my pencil lines.
And that is my process in which I do my sketches. Many artist chose to do it differently, but go with what you're comfortable with. There is no right or wrong.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
News I could do without.
Last Thursday, I entered the Carillon room to catch up with John Cameron and to let him know where I was at. We hadn't talked much about the sketches and the new issue, so I thought I would ask. He got a stiff look and shifted his mouth to one side as he began to say: "Yeah... about that."
Right off the bat, I could see where he was going with that sentence. It had turned out that the new program might not be in place by the end of the semester, and that they wouldn't need the drawings until next year. I was choked, as I had put hours of hard work and effort already in my sketches, and this was my big assignment for my Arts Aesthetic class.
John did come up with the idea of squeezing them in for the last issue before the end of the semester, but Austin (another writer for the Carillon), seemed hesitant.
Before class, I talked to my friend, Elora, she`s my `critical` friend for this project. I told her my situation, and she told me to talk to my prof, Denise. Elora had Denise the previous year, and told me not to worry. That Mrs. Morstad was very understanding and will let me make up for it somehow. So I entered the class, still worried of having to throw the idea out the window, and come up with a new project for my class. I talked to Denise and told her my situation, and thankfully Elora was right. Denise said to continue working on my project, and that the changes in the paper, were out of my control. All I had to do is to save a copy of the issue and hand it in, whenever it were to come out.
Hopefully we CAN have the sketches in on the last issue, not only for my class, but I would like to get an evaluation from my peers. Let`s hope for the best!
Right off the bat, I could see where he was going with that sentence. It had turned out that the new program might not be in place by the end of the semester, and that they wouldn't need the drawings until next year. I was choked, as I had put hours of hard work and effort already in my sketches, and this was my big assignment for my Arts Aesthetic class.
John did come up with the idea of squeezing them in for the last issue before the end of the semester, but Austin (another writer for the Carillon), seemed hesitant.
Before class, I talked to my friend, Elora, she`s my `critical` friend for this project. I told her my situation, and she told me to talk to my prof, Denise. Elora had Denise the previous year, and told me not to worry. That Mrs. Morstad was very understanding and will let me make up for it somehow. So I entered the class, still worried of having to throw the idea out the window, and come up with a new project for my class. I talked to Denise and told her my situation, and thankfully Elora was right. Denise said to continue working on my project, and that the changes in the paper, were out of my control. All I had to do is to save a copy of the issue and hand it in, whenever it were to come out.
Hopefully we CAN have the sketches in on the last issue, not only for my class, but I would like to get an evaluation from my peers. Let`s hope for the best!
Artist Block
For the longest time, I had artist block. It's much like writers block, where you feel like you're in a slump and lack creativity or inspiration, which is exactly what I had. Now mine isn't so bad, because I am working off pictures to create my portraits, but I believe I still qualify for artist block.
Every time I pick up my pencil, I can't seem to co-ordinate my hand with my eye, to create the image I'd like to have. I pick up my eraser, erase my mistake and try again. The same result. Than I erase and re-draw so many times, that my paper becomes a huge muddy mess of faint lines of past mistakes, that I need to start fresh on a blank piece of paper.
It's very frustrating, because I want to draw, but it's just not showing through in my work. So I decided to take a break for a while. Abandon my work completely until the time is right, and finally, it came back to me.
I spent hours drawing and drawing. Once confident enough with my portraits, I made it permanent with my micron pen.
I feel relieved finally getting back my creative side, that I missed for too long. I'm going to take advantage of this, and create as much as I can, before another artist block, and before I get too busy with school as I am near the end of the semester. What a relief.
Every time I pick up my pencil, I can't seem to co-ordinate my hand with my eye, to create the image I'd like to have. I pick up my eraser, erase my mistake and try again. The same result. Than I erase and re-draw so many times, that my paper becomes a huge muddy mess of faint lines of past mistakes, that I need to start fresh on a blank piece of paper.
It's very frustrating, because I want to draw, but it's just not showing through in my work. So I decided to take a break for a while. Abandon my work completely until the time is right, and finally, it came back to me.
I spent hours drawing and drawing. Once confident enough with my portraits, I made it permanent with my micron pen.
I feel relieved finally getting back my creative side, that I missed for too long. I'm going to take advantage of this, and create as much as I can, before another artist block, and before I get too busy with school as I am near the end of the semester. What a relief.
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