Class: Fall Drawing Year: 2018 Project: Perceiving Edges(1) Materials: Ruler, Polaroid camera, picture of Alexis, and tools in Drawing pouch.
My artwork looks simple and yet complex at the same time, as you may interpret it in many different ways and I am letting the viewer decide on what they see, either it is as a pessimist or an optimist. They could question why she doesn't have eyes or why the angles are so different. They are only different because nobody sees perfectly, so the tiny bit of light can draw you unto a new path and open your eyes and they will develop to your surroundings as you grow. I was able to make this by using the 6B pencil in the drawing kit and using it extremely lightly so I could sketch properly for this and I eventually traced over it with the charcoal pencil and used it and the white thingy to shade it in and to make it seem like a shadow with the light expanding. The light is bright enough that it lights up part of the way to cast a shadow in the room. I went through about 8 or 9 different drawing papers of the cameras and I spent over 2 weeks trying to learn how to properly draw and sketch a person's facial features and defining qualities. I was inspired by the fact that I was taking a lot of photography for school and I had been out of my depression all summer long, so I have been able to see a new way to view things. More appreciative and everything, so I decided to sketch the happiest person I know and to add a light to it. I would be able to do like a double feature and show what the camera sees, hence the polaroid photo. It was able to express my feelings of having someone be that light and to always smile and to make your day. Alexis has been my best friend and the room radiates when she walks in, I kid you not. I wanted to show how she is kind of shy, but how the light illuminates her personality and makes her shine. I feel that I reached my goals in this piece more than I thought that I would. I was extremely skeptical of my drawing skills to be honest. I was able to learn patience and practice, don't rush and put it off, even if you say only for a little bit. That is how procrastination starts and it is hard to pick it back up, so you work and do one thing at a time, not anything more. The final piece is so much better than I imagined, as I was able to create some 3D depth and was actually able to attempt a person and not mess up extremely bad. This piece will allow me to better look at how to draw small people and to shade objects with lighting. It is all about the angle.
Drawing 2: Emotional Pride
Class: Fall Drawing Year: 2018 Project 2: Materials: Black Sharpie, Drawing pencils, ruler, oil pastels, masking tape.
My artwork represents happiness within ones soul and I’ve been through a lot since I came out, so I am happy that I can finally express some more colors in my art and be true to myself. In return this photo expresses my happiness and how much of a great friend Alexis is to me. She has been there with me for everything since 8th Grade and I have had her back too. So to see her express her happiness is my source of a part of my happiness. My artwork looks simple and yet complex at the same time, as you may interpret it in many different ways and I am letting the viewer decide on what they see, either it is as a pessimist or an optimist. They could question why she doesn't have eyes or why the angles are so different. They are only different because nobody sees perfectly, so the tiny bit of light can draw you unto a new path and open your eyes and they will develop to your surroundings as you grow. I was able to make this by using the 6B pencil in the drawing kit and using it extremely lightly so I could sketch properly for this and I eventually traced over it with the charcoal pencil and used it and the white pencil thingy to shade it in and to make it seem like a shadow with the light expanding. The light is bright enough that it lights up part of the way to cast a shadow in the room. I went through about 8 or 9 different drawing papers of the cameras and I spent over 2 weeks trying to learn how to properly draw and sketch a person's facial features and defining qualities. I was inspired by the fact that I was taking a lot of photography for school and I had been out of my depression all summer long, so I have been able to see a new way to view things. More appreciative and everything, so I decided to sketch the happiest person I know and to add a light to it. My artwork expresses a personal issue, as things happen outside of school I look at my friends for help and this image was a kind and warm memory that I would like to embody in my art. This year I want to be more positive, but different and more unique than the last one. This piece helped me achieve more than just my goals. I was able to successfully complete this in a timely manner and to learn how to shade with oil pastels to create a negative space. The colors were able to convey the radiating happiness/ true colors of not Alexis, but myself being gay and very happy. I put two and two together to make the perfect piece in my eyes. I learned you need to practice a lot before you jump in and then you'll be more prepared and it'll be easier for the final project. Yes this is practically how I had imagined it all together. This piece will allow me to think happier and to keep in mind that I need to practice before I actually start the final as this one was more developed than the last and last years.
Project 3: Memoirbilia Pane
Class: Fall Drawing Year: 2018 Project 3: Materials: Drawing Pencils, Shading Tool, Eraser, and View Finder
I was inspired by the fact of my parents separation and my separation from Roger. That had me wanting something heartwarming, so I created something positive from all of the negativity and heartbreak in my life. The best artwork comes from Heartbreak and sorrow, you open yourself up and put your emotions and frustrations into a piece, so I am not mad or anything. I am thankful for those moments to help me redistribute my energy towards something more effective and a better use of my time. I wanted my memories to outshine those and highlight the fun times where things were a lot easier, at least for me. I was inspired by the family portraits we had in our dining room and the magnets we have all over the fridge, as being a photographer, they play a story or video if you look close enough. You feel the energy and the emotions by many aspects and I want that serenity and tranquility from a few of our vacations to the coast and in general. It expresses a personal issue to say the least, as my parents separate and we move and everything I want to hold onto those memories that made us happy in the first place, a trip where everyone smiled, nobody fought, and most of us could relax. I wanted to elaborate family and how you NEED to take vacations and breaks, otherwise you'll burn the candle out at both ends and hope the ends don't meet. You can't overwork yourself and if it is a guilty pleasure, you might need it to keep your sanity. My goals in this piece itself and as an artist would be to express my feelings and keep them guessing to have them feel the vibe from their mood. I want them all to interpret differently and kind of the same, but only they will understand if they know sorrow and pure happiness at the same time. I made an imperfection in the windows on purpose to make sure that I get my point across, it shows the meaning of life will crumble and you have to keep opening doors and renovating so you leave them better than what you saw, the windows are cracking in parts but the one that isn't cracked shows the true understanding of life. To have a well balance and to just think in the moment for a few hours or a few days. I wanted to do this piece as a painting, but there are too many small items and objects that need sketched that I would not be able to paint them so small, unless I use scale and proportion and did a triptych with three canvasses, which might be another time. This piece was almost exactly how I wanted it, not to a tea and not too extra and outstanding, but just the right amount of detail to make it different from the others and to express something is broken, try and fix that and focus on the fixed and move on. It taught me a lot of patience and to not get frustrated with my eraser, otherwise you wind up ripping it and having to redo it. So key tip: Don't mess up on a large scale, but if possible try to incorporate it. You might like it that way.
Project 4: Night at Clarke's Milkshakes
Class: Fall Drawing Year: 2018 Project 4: Materials: Colored Pencils, Sharpies, Drawing Pencils, Ruler, and Creative Bank Account.
This art piece is representing friendship, a closely bonded friendship among a group of people or a double date. Depends on who you are an who determines what they see and think. This piece most resembles that of Central Perk Cafe in the TV show Friends and the TC show Riverdale. They have very close relationships with their friends, significant other, and their family. The subject upon the meaning is to spend time with your friends while you can and don't blow them off. You never know, you might actually enjoy and need a night out with them. The most obvious principles in this piece is some of the symmetry along the table, couch, and window. Along with some harmony, space, scale/proportion, and a small pattern. I was inspired because I went out with Emily Barajas, Emily Partida, and Susana Camacho to Leon. I took their Senior pictures and we went out to eat at a local shop and they had homemade sandwiches and shakes. That was a lot of fun with them and I would jump at the chance to do it again if I could. I wanted to express happiness and as if the moment is always waiting for us to just go again and try something new. It is a safe place to talk as soon we shall all part ways from someone moving to Graduating High School and going to College. My goals are to pull on the viewers heart strings and make them question all the elements. The mistakes are there for a reason and intended to make the viewer ask, as life isn't perfect and not all moments are perfect, but if you don't focus on the imperfections, you can live happily and your best you with others. This piece definitely helped me reach my goals as it shows just that. There was an intended imperfection and I love how it played out to the meaning. I learned that you need proper materials and practice to make it look nice and not like a 3rd graders artwork. It is somewhat what I imagined. I guess I really wanted to do a 3D project or paint on a canvas for this one. I could still do that possibly too. It taught me to be happy and just keep thinking positively as heartbreak makes the best inspirations. It is used on all platforms for all artists.
Project 5 (Art Lab): Feisty Leo
Class: Fall Drawing Year: 2018 Project 5: Art Lab Materials: Oil Pastels, Drawing Pencils, Sharpie
This artwork represents why I am the way that I am and it should be bold and empowering to know that I am confident in all of my choices and actions. I stick to majority of them and it stays true to my word and have a soft heart. I want it to show that I am not to be messed with and that you should be extremely careful of what you wish for. I need it to express me, but a side of me rarely shown to people in public. They already know my soft spoken, kind, hilarious, caring, and socially outgoing personality but they don't see the one that I bottle up for those who cross me, my friends, and my family. I was inspired by the fact of I saw a zodiac post on snapchat and I thought it might be cool to follow up with it. There will be a partial emptiness to it just so to know that there is always someone who would be there for me. There are many principles and elements of design, but I have my rule of thirds, my scale/proportion of the constellation and the lion, plus I have a small section of what seems like harmony, but it is more of an arranged setting. I was inspired mostly because of my heart was shattered into a million pieces and I was picking myself up amidst a mid life crisis as a teenager. My goals are to pull on heart strings or at least catch their eye with the high level of contract in the drawing. I want to be able to have my goal come across as a bold individual not afraid to say no and stand out, something I want to be. I feel that it will come across with the bold choice of the fire, the moon, the lion, the constellation, and the colors of it. I learned in this piece, to go lightly with the pastels and to be a bit more careful when using the final paper. Also DO NOT PACK IT IN A RANDOM BOX WHEN YOU MOVE. I lost it for about a week and that was a nightmare. I was taught restraint and to not over worry, to work your way through everything and to go at your own pace.