My main goal in this project was to create a challenging drawing that is aesthetically pleasing if not deeply captivating. I want to intrigue and impress others with my work while learning about my style and the materials in the process. My audience includes my peers, professors, friends and family. These are the people that I interact with and inspire me daily. I want to return that sense of inspiration to my audience though my work. My secondary goal was to create a good portfolio piece that exemplifies my drawing skills. I am very career driven and am currently looking for a job, co-op, or internship and have been strengthening my portfolio. I purposely chose an ideology for this project that was common and easy to convey, so anyone looking at my portfolio could understand and relate too the work. In this sense, my audience would be potential future professors, employers, and co-workers.
The ideology I wanted to work with is the common connotation that life is a path. Life is said to be filled with “winding roads” and “bridges” that everyone has to cross. In a literal sense, we map the pathways around us using road maps. I wanted to create a road map were each path is named after major “road” or “bridge” that we “drive” through in life. For example, I used names like “Death In The Family Crossing” and “Final Exam State Bridge.” I wanted the audience to feel like they are looking at a mapping of the subject’s life and at the same time be reminded of major events in their lives. My hope is that these memories with stir up emotions that allow the audience to feel connected to the work and give each viewer a unique experience. I feel satisfied with how the work came out visually, but I am curious to see how the class will react and if they are intrigued by how I conveyed my concept.
Brian,
ReplyDeleteI was pleased to hear you are satisfied with your work, the most important individual for an artist to please is one's self. Your mapping project lent the greatest sense of interest when you turned it upside down. The viewer can't get away from that sense of tension related to subject matter. The girl looks grounded and falling at the same time. I would have to say the tension is the strongest characteristic of the piece.
I highly appreciate your tendency to draw the body, particularly face and hands. I fear that much of your work is going to turn out looking like photoshopped models (as we discussed a bit in class). You are obviously very talented and practiced in drawing these types of images. I feel the best way you could challenge yourself is by taking a look at uncensored, flawed, real faces and possibly explore some experimentation with abstraction. I feel it could lend interest to you and your work.
First of all, I love the idea you worked from and how well it did cause the viewer to be reminded of their life experiences. Because of the mapping leading out of her hair, your piece is very powerful in its nostalgic effects. That's something a lot of pieces don't possess. It's beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIt was funny to me how you were shocked by the switch from pencil to charcoal. Switching media is never easy but the more we use our materials, the less of a shock it will be once we do switch. There's a certain effect that pencil allows that charcoal will never be able to imitate and that's ok. Keep experimenting and practicing - maybe some day you'll come to love charcoal and hate pencil...you never know ;)
Lastly, your drive and career focused mindset is extremely admirable. Everyone has something outside of themselves that pushes them to create "better" art, whether that be a spouse, children, friends, a job, etc. That's just the way it is. I used to be that way, 95% of the time, while listening to what my parents wanted for my life and creating art that others would like. But through doing that, I found that I wasn't really satisfied and I wasn't listening to my voice. I've worked hard to convince myself that my voice matters and that it's okay if not everyone likes it. So, because of my life experiences and because of the fact that I see such great talent in you, I challenge you to listen to yourself more and simply create something you enjoy/feel a connection with instead of creating a piece for others (future employers/your peers). By telling your story fully, others might more easily connect with their own. I may have just said too much for a blog post, hehe, but that's ok. Really great job on the mapping project - I can't wait to see what you come up with for the next project!