How Do Artist?: February 2016

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I didn't start out drawing with my tablet, and instead I began my life long hobby for art at an incredibly young age. I can remember using the images in coloring books as references for drawings that had little to no substance. That being said, I rarely ever post anything traditional on this blog...Hell, I'm not even sure I've EVER posted any of of my traditional drawings on here. My instagram is a lot more active (partially because it's dramatically less tedious to use an app on my phone than log in and out of emails so I can reach my blog {I downloaded the Blogger App, maybe I'll be more active}) and in case you don't know my name there, it's ProtectiveSpell1.

So, I actually have quite a few traditional drawings I completed for different art classes throughout my high school career.

Freshman Year:

Class: Art 1 Prompt/Assignment: Accurately draw a cow skull incorporated
into an interesting composition. Medium: Charcoal (required)

I know the title says Junior and Senior year, but I'm incredibly fond of this piece , even after so many years, so...cut me some slack. It would've been weird if I titled this "Junior and Senior Year + One Drawing from Freshman Year."

Nevertheless, this was my second time using charcoal. The first was in the 8th grade, and although that pie didn't turn out horrible, I'm much fonder of this one and have better memories of the experience. e_e Charcoal pencils are so much easier to work with than charcoal sticks. e_e This might be hard to believe, but the paper is actually red. Yes, my hand ached for ages after this piece, but t was well worth it.

That's not to say that it's perfect. Obviously there are some inaccuracies, such as the lopsided eyes on both the girl and the skull, the hair, that nose, this is still one of my most treasured drawings ever.

Junior Year:

Class: Art 2 (Adv) Prompt/Assignment: Abnormal Depictions of Wildlife
Medium: Pastel Sticks (required)

This piece was the first assignment of Junior year, which I started in Art 2 (Adv) before I was moved to AP Studio Art 1 where the rest of my friends were. The reason I started out below them was because I missed a year of high school, which made the teacher apprehensive to include me among the AP ranks.

This pastel piece was quite the rollar coaster. I'd never worked with pastels before in my life, and I had to restart twice before finally getting into the groove of things and producing this piece. It was included in an art auction that garnered money for our Sparrow (a minor with medical needs our school was sponsoring) and sold for somewhere around $55.

Looking at it now, I have to admit like all my works of art there are quite a few things that could be changed. The origami flowers look rushed, and that sky hardly appears to be a sky at all. The liquid dripping from the humming bird's feathers is somewhat sloppy. It looks more like fire than it does paint (which is what I think I was going for?) At the end of the day, though, it raised funds for someone in need so I can't really complain.

Class: Art 2 (Adv)/AP Studio Art 1 Prompt/Assignment: Showcase different angles of the
human face/figure through the use of a creative grid. Medium: Colored Pencil (Required)

Now this piece, this piece I had fun with. I strive at drawing the human figure, so it wasn't a challenge at all to come up with a composition I enjoyed. I aimed to keep this piece very organic by using circles to craft my gird, but at the same time I attempted to bring a bit of contrast by mainly using crosshatching and vibrant, mismatching colors to fill in each of the panels. I'm happy with this piece, and there's not much else I can say about it.

This is the assignment that proved my worth as an artist to my instructor, and she consequently bumped me into the AP level. She says that her decision was equally based on my performance in other classes as I raced to get on track to graduate (still racing) and my dedication to art with in her own room.

Class: AP Studio Art 1 Prompt/Assignment: Glass Overlapping Glass
Medium: White Charcoal (chosen), Pastel (required)

I can't remember if this was or wasn't the last piece we did in AP 1 Junior year, but I recall I experienced a huge drop in affection for this piece towards the end of it's completion. Truth be told, I never intended to include any color into it whatsoever. In fact, I adored the white on white, almost elegantly confusing composition it created without the red or blue. I believe I spent all of my Sunday afternoon fleshing this piece out so that when I came in on Monday it'd be complete.

Well, come Monday morning I attempted to turn this in and was met with the heartbreaking rejection of my instructor, who claimed "This isn't a finished piece." She then had me go back and work color wherever I could. Personally, I feel she did this because she was so impressed with a peer of mine, who included color in his glass assignment. That was his piece though, not mine, and I remain a little upset that I had to change my vision to receive a grade at all.

There is one glaring mistake int his piece I can never overlook. The glass, upside down and in the foreground, is ever so slightly of. It should be angled a little more to the right with the rest of the glasses, but I messed up somehow.

It kills me.

Senior Year:

Class: AP Studio Art 2 Prompt/Assignment: Concentration 1
Medium: Mixed (Pencil wash, charcoal, graphite, white gel pen)

So far, Art this year has been a much more peaceful ride. I think being able to choose my own prompts was very beneficial, and I think it made my struggle through AP 1 well worth it. This was the very first assignment due this year, and it was meant to set the mood for each of concentrations. I chose to explore the Everyday Prison of our Minds with this piece, and I'm especially pleased with the composition.

All in all, I'm happy with this. It was the first time I'd mixed so many mediums, and the very first time I'd ever used pencil wash. I thought, considering my lack of skill with water color, it would result in total failure but it turned out surprisingly well. That being said, I feel the bird cages suffered some because I was crunched for time when I worked on them.

Current Project
Class: Art 2 (Adv)
Prompt/Assignment: GARGANTUAN Drawing of the Human Bust
Medium: Colored Pencils (chosen)

Remember that race to get on track I mentioned earlier? It's still very much going, if you couldn't tell, and in my frantic dash to recover Elective credit I chose to retake an art class because...well, easy A right? No, I'm kidding. In all honestly I'm incredibly grateful that my instructor allotted me the opportunity, and I've been working to make as much progress on this piece as possible.

I inadvertently fell in love with this concept, but before it existed I originally had a much less meaningful idea in mind. It's a good thing my teacher recommended I continue to sketch because I would've never otherwise come across this thought.

It's the biggest piece of paper I've ever worked with, but I'm enjoying myself far more than I initially thought I would.

Now that I've downloaded the Blogger App, maybe I'll post updates. Let me know if you'd like to see that. ^.^

Sketches Junior-(Mostly)Senior Year:
*whispers* Click them, they get bigger.