Loyal Companion

2016 | Mixed Media

cardstock-watercolor-embroidery-plastic overlay

Created as a self-portrait in a high school art class with the intention to highlight not just physical appearance but more. The majority of this canvas showcases a quote from the book Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi with emphasis on the key line “the moon is a loyal companion” effectively unifying the various mediums and elements used in the work. This piece was featured in an art show, winning 1st place in Mixed Media, and participated in a student gallery held in a local AZ retirement home for the summer of 2016.

Geared Up

2017 | Charcoal

black vine and b/w compressed charcoal on gray charcoal paper

This piece is a still-life that’s only part of a much larger display. Since it was the final for my Intro to Drawing class, it could only be worked on during class over about three days for nearly three hours each. This is when we pulled together the entirety of the course’s teachings from sight measuring to accurately representing light and shadow. I chose this framing because I wanted to challenge myself with the human form and also with the amount of complexity created by the depth of the gear inside the box.

Heart Shaped Box

2016 | Mixed Media

graphite-ink-charcoal-marker-watercolor-colored pencil-pastel

The assignment for this piece was to create a mixed media design in which there are at least three dividing lines and two shapes. Each time I hit one of those borders I had to change media/style, and I could not use the same one twice. The only media I used twice was ink, but this was allowed since in one part I chose to stipple and in another I used a variation on cross-hatching, but instead of “crossing” I used line direction to show volume and depth. I started out by really wanting to draw an anatomical heart for the first time, and then I thought of the song by Nirvana. The rest just fell into place.

Tea You Later

2017 | Graphite

2H–6B graphite pencils on sketchbook paper

This drawing came about in my leisure time rather than as an assignment. A friend brought me to an event where about fifteen artists went to an antique shop in downtown Salem to sketch together. While there was an abundance to choose from as far as subject matter, I was drawn to this tea cup both because of my love for tea, and also because of the delicacy and beauty of the flowers that were painted on it. It was an absolutely gorgeous hand-painted cup that really made you want to sit down and relax with it. This was also drawn before I took my drawing class, and I learned about drawing from life, and now I’m quite proud of my little cup.

Organized Chaos

2016 | Mixed Media

ink-copic marker-colored pencil

The assignment for this work was to draw an object in grayscale, and then zoom in two more times until the third is not immediately recognizable as the object. We were then asked to use the light table to reproduce that third image three more times as an inversion, a monocromatic color scheme, and an entirely random color scheme unconnected to the object. The use of multiple medias was not stated in the instructions, but I chose to bring them in to add yet even more variety to the work, but I chose to do it in such a way that still unified the pieces.

Somebody To Lean On

2017 | Graphite

2H–8B graphite pencils on drawing paper

This was also a part of my Intro to Drawing final, but this still life was to be done all at home. We had to construct a still life with interesting forms that would make use of the light and shadow created through the use of various light sources. Initially I was having problems finding meaningful objects to use to assemble my still life that were interesting enough, yet not so complex that I would have too much trouble accurately representing them. So I decided to take a break and raid the kitchen...

A Star Reborn

2016 | Mixed Media

acrylic paint-wood cutouts-cotton balls-metal

Here, the assignment was to study a famous work of art and try to use the artist’s technique while also painting over various object’s that tie into the painting. For this I chose Starry Night, and for my underlying objects there is a metal ring with assorted metal stars on it that I found at Goodwill. My original plan was to separate them from the ring and place them around the canvas board, but since they just weren’t having it, I compromised and used the whole thing. The clouds are made of a small wooden cloud shape topped with cotton balls which created a rather interesting painting surface to say the least.