time log 9: 9 hours

More drawing!

:)

Ooh Ooh. New photo.






























(This is what I want to do right now... sleep!)

me

Two great conversations about art last night.

One with Ms. Ervin and one with David.

Artistic struggle bring people together and create a plethora of issues to be shared. I am exceedingly blessed to be who I am. My God creates with every ounce of purpose and intention.

I long to create.

time log 8: 5 hours

• 1 hour conversing about my direction and visiting local art galleries on David's lunch break (valuable inspiration for using graphite)
  


• 2 hours journaling about my first piece, posting, and writing my final contract


• 2 hours drawing (particularly the eye... you know how I am!)

Here is my final contract...

In keeping with the goals stated within my Statement of Direction, I will continue to create a body of work that exemplifies who I am at my inner core. I will expose qualities and attributes peculiar to my being in ways that extend beyond the traditional self-portrait. Through compelling compositions, unusual cropping, varying degrees of contrast, and the expressive use of color, my work will continue to describe personal aspects that others rarely ever observe.

My first piece enabled me to see how powerful color can be and what a vitality it is in relationship to the emotional content and conceptual substance of the work. I now realize that I need to push the potential of the washes much further and make them more important than the refinement of the graphite. My ability to apply acrylics must be strengthened so that I can more effectively use color to my advantage.

My goal for the remainder of the semester is to experiment with acrylic washes and push the use of color to a much greater degree. I will continue the process that I developed for the first piece by drawing from photos, rendering with graphite, and applying matte medium and acrylic washes over the surface of the drawing. Within the next four weeks, I intend to complete two more drawings of the same size as the first piece. During the last three weeks of the semester, my goal is to finish either a drawing that is larger than life or two smaller drawings. I will emphasize color throughout my approach and explore the capabilities of acrylic washes so that more meaningful interpretations can be constructed by the viewer as well as myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My lack of charm is exceedingly noticable tonight. Sigh. To add a spark or two, here is a piece that will be critiqued tomorrow in photography. It is my self-portrait, and rightly so, for its essence portrays the vast distance from what people see on the outside and what is actually there... an emotional being with thoughts and struggles deeper than deep can go. This is true of everyone, is it not?

reflection

I am somewhat pleased with this piece. More importantly, I am inspired to push further without fear. I was encouraged during the critique on Monday to be more risky and even overwork the work if I need to. And I do believe that I do. I need to push the capabilities of the washes more than the refinement of the graphite. I need to strengthen my ability in applying acrylics and scheme how I can more effectively use them to my advantage. This first piece made me realize how much power I can wield through color and how much stronger my piece can be because of it.

My reaction to this piece is somewhat peculiar because after I finished applying the washes, I began to gain a conceptual enlightenment. I realized that the colors appeared to look somewhat muddy and washed-out, thus creating a rather dirty effect. I perceived this to be a perfect visual of how I come before my Maker time and time again... filthy in all my humanness, timidly lifting up my eyes to the only One who can purify me. This is intriguing for me as the artist, particularly because I struggle with feelings of condemnation quite frequently.

Art is like sailing to the edge of the earth and falling over the side into the unknown. Sometimes it is better to lose control of the navigation wheel and let yourself slip. My interpretation of this piece would not have occurred if I hadn't experimented with color and allowed the washes to react with the graphite. Now I am ready to experiment further and see what plethora of interpretations can be created.

time log 7: 23 hours

I know this is late in coming... but here it is.

I have so much to write in regards to my fall break and many pictures to post, but that will have to wait. So will my reflection and assessment of my first piece for critique.


23 hours (drawing and applying acrylic washes)

time log 6: 9 hours

This week...

I didn't accomplish as much drawing as I wanted to, but the progress that I did make was absolutely refreshing. I love drawing in a slow, precise manner, rendering every tiny nuance and every slight gradation and every minuscule bump and lovely perfection. There is something completely thrilling in watching a pupil begin to glisten and an area of flesh begin to develop in layers of bulge and wrinke.

Quite nice.

• 9 hours drawing