Pumpkin Charcoal Drawing

Pumpkin Charcoal Drawing Artist Statement 

My goal for the project was to draw a pumpkins and the shadows they cast. I accomplished this goal by putting charcoal on the paper and then erased it to bring the pumpkins out of the dark. I looked for the very bring whites to make the pumpkin pop out of the dark. I made the shadows very dark and mysterious. It was very hard to make the pumpkins bright enough to stand out of the shadows. I used white chalk to make a very bright white. My charcoal drawing really works in the "ombre" of the shadows... making the pumpkins look like they are coming out of the shadows. I learned that drawing the black background first makes it easier to brighten the rest of the drawing. Andrew Wyeth's artwork inspired me. He portrayed very dark and light colors in his artwork that assisted each other, making the bright colors come out of the dark. I watched Heather work on her drawings and was amazed at how she portrayed the very bright whites in the stem of her pumpkin. If I had a do-over, I would do the black background first before trying to approach the pumpkins. I feel that the bright's and dark's really work in my charcoal drawing and that makes it realistic.

Pumpkins

The lighting was coming from the top left corner. 

The lighting was coming from the left... looking down on the pumpkins. 

Joy Series- Swimming

Swimming

My series is about swimming. My goal was to show my love of swimming in the drawings. I accomplished the goal by interpreting color into a silver bracelet that my grandmother gave me. I looked at the reflections in the lighting and added color into my drawing. My drawing really works because I used warm and cool colors throughout the series to connect one drawing to another. When I drew the charm with warm colors I used a cool background to compliment the colors. I looked at Jim Dine's bathrobe series to aid me in drawing my series. He drew the same bathrobe but used different colors in each to make the drawings complement each other. I drew a hard line in the background of all of my drawings to connect the drawings and make the line flow from one drawing to another. One of the challenges I faced was that it's very hard to interpret color into a "colorless" piece of jewelry. I had to look in the reflection for color and then emphasized the boldness of color in the drawings. Also, I make the charm get bigger each drawing, putting emphasis on the swimmer in the charm. I learned that using cool and warm colors really compliment each other and makes the series flow. If I had a do-over I would make the charm colors bolder than the background to make the charm pop. I admires Heather's artwork, she used complimentary colors in her series and they appeal to the eye. 

JPG Challenge- What is Family?M

Christmas is a time for family... our Christmas stockings. 

My parent's wedding rings.

 Everyone in my family is athletic... my mother runs, my father mountain bikes, my sister plays soccer, and I swim. 

 My dog is family. 

My swim team is family to me. 

Joy College