Brainstorm for Final Drawing Project
Idea 1: Meta Tarot
Feedback: ensure you are inventing your own tarot card, not taking the gestures of another artist. Limitation of not having colour.
Idea 2: Parts work
Eating myself a bit more about consumption and different meaning than the magnifine glas. Interested in that. Could you zoom out a bit more and look at caring for the identity, where you are holding yourself or a version of yourself. How does that work within the philosophy or modality of thinking. Also this idea about the chameleon.
Idea 3: Mom
- Brining in memories from my life and hers
- Image of us from my childhood, images of her now with her dementia
- Exploring themes of warped timelines especially in the face of ongoing grief and degenerating minds/ aging
Super imposing the different phases or stages. Looking at the connection between mother daughter and this reflection. Dementia journey and how that reflects the relationship, bringing out different aspects of the relationship. Communication being a physical connection instead of something where you are talking. Looking at the self within the self.
Idea 4: still shot from Video Poem
Option 1: The Fool
Option 2: 10 of Swords
Careful how the colour plays a part in reading the layers. How to show translucency without getting into mix media. Could try using turning it to black and white. Using the tarots as an artifact within the image to tell a story isn’t the same as using the tarot as the image. Could one still tell enough of the narrative? The viewers may compare it to the video.
Sketchbook tests – Material study
After deciding on my subject matter, I explored my material study (see images below). I tested the use of graphic pencil, charcoal, and ink faber castle pen (study 1). Then I tested multi-media by blending the pen and the faber castle pen together (study 2). Ultimately, I decided to stay with the charcoal only, to give it that feel of a faded memory.
Critique Drawing Reflection
- Now that the project is completed, what are my overall thoughts about my project?
- I’m really proud of this piece. I was totally out of my comfort zone with the subject matter of this drawing. I had a mini melt down when I was deciding to make this artwork because I felt it was the best choice, but I’ve never done a landscape drawing before and this one is extremely detailed. I often feel lost in all those tiny details and as a result, I’ve often started but never finished landscape or nature drawings that aren’t more “macro-shots”. I remember when I was deciding on my image I reached out to Hynsel who was working on another project in the studio and asking her for encouragement. I really appreciated that peer support.
- What were some of my most challenging moments and what made them so?
- Mostly the beginning. And then there were problems like “how am I going to get so much detail without having to draw every single tiny line?” But once I started working on the bottom left corner and I was able to get the pile of leaves drawn just by erasing the shapes of a few leaves and adding a few dark shadows underneath, I realized that with very few marks I had made a pretty good representation of the original image. At that moment I thought “okay, this might not be that bad. I think I can actually do this.”
- What is the most important thing I learned while working on this project?
- Well, I know Linda says its all the time but “you can make a lot of detail with very few marks, and the eyes fill in the rest of the details”. It’s more about the relationship between the objects than the tiny details themselves. The graphite powder as the base was also an incredible help to get the even base layer, and then so much of the drawing is just bout subtracting with the eraser.
- When did I realize that I had come up with the best solution for the project?
- While that bottom left corner was a huge ego booster, I do feel like one of the biggest breathroughs came with I was able to manipulate the rubbing eraser with my finger nails and then “dab it” onto the paper to get the markings which make up about 1/3 of the drawing.
- Also, because I brought this artwork with me to work on my trip to Tofino, I would work on it for an hour or two and then go and visit with my friends, have dinner, or go for a walk or outing. This was much different then how I approached my mid-term which was almost 11 hours straight. I found this approach of working and then breaking really helped me stay calm and focused and less stressed while working on the drawing. Overall my mental health feels as important as the drawing.
- What would I do differently if I were to approach the same project again?
- Really so much of all my final projects just came down to time. It was hard to juggle all 5 classes and get all my art projects to what I was really happy with. I settled for content with this one. If I had a bit more time (i.e. I didn’t book a trip to Uganda for immediately after all my classes ended) then I would like to darken some parts under the tree line on the left side of the artwork, and add a bit more to the ferns in the bottom right corner, and see if I can add a few more marks to the area around the creek.
- What did I learn were my greatest strengths? Where is there opportunity for growth in my (creative) practice?
- I’ve learned to love charcoal. And using the graphite powder and charcoal is probably my prefered drawing method just because of how quickly and easily it is to make a variety of marks. That said, I think I could explore other mediums and see what further opportunities I could explore.
- How will I use what I’ve learned in the future?
- I’d like to focus on sections of the artwork, zooming into different zones, and then trying different materials like ink or the white chalk. The sketches that I did focused more on the person and the overall composition, but it might be an interesting aproach to focus in on areas and see what other materials could be used for those zones.
- Considering the feedback provided by your peers and your own reflection on your drawing, what one change would you make to your drawing
- I would probably darken a few areas in the background