Process Portfolio Charcoal Still-Life

Ava Antonie My next step was to begin doing

light shading with the vine
charcoal. I started where the
Process deep shadows were first and
worked my way out to the
lighter areas of the bottle. At
The first thing I did to start this drawing was set
this point I was worried that
up my reference, the bottle, in front of me. I then
my grey background wasn't
covered my sheet of paper with a light gray layer
dark enough to let me do any
of charcoal to serve as a background and to make
dramatic highlights so I went
the image easier to add highlights and deeper
over the entire page once more
shadows onto later. I then did a thin sketchy
with the vine charcoal.
outline of the glass bottle using the vine charcoal.

I began doing deeper shading with a

thicker piece of charcoal. I once again
Evaluation
started where the deepest shadows were,
This piece made me realize how little experience I had in
the base of the bottle, and worked my
the charcoal medium. Working with the vine charcoal
way outwards to create a more dramatic
was very frustrating. One pro to this medium was how
lighting. Once the deep shadows were
easy it was to erase mistakes. While doing the highlights I
done I decided to go back in with a
became frustrated with the shade of the highlight pencil
white pencil to add highlights to the
on the paper. It was not creating the hard shapes I needed
glass in order to give it a shiny and
it to in order to make the glass look shiny. Overall this
realistic glass appearance.
piece was good practice for working with charcoal.

‘Sinner’
Inspiration
Process
I traced my block sheet
onto my paper. I used very
thick dark lines on the parts
I wanted to have
transferred onto the block,
and only did light lines for
the shading. I tried multiple
times to transfer the sketch
however it wasn't working,
so I only ended up with a
few faint lines. I then had
to replicate my
sketch-mirrored- onto my
block print, by hand.
Dürer was an illustrator, philosopher, and In my sketchbook I started
printmaker during the German Planning doodling the hands I wanted to
print- I did this by first taking my
Renaissance. I chose Salus Amine- a
German prayer book made with wooden reference image and breaking it
block prints completed in 1528. Because
block printing does not allow for
into simpler shapes that would be
easier to replicate. Then I would go
gradients of ink, Dürer used small, fine
back in to start adding details like
lines to create contrast between the
shaded and highlighted area. His intention finger placement and shading. I
in creating these pieces was to spread was very pleased when my very
religious messages and symbols. While first practice sketch perfectly
researching Dürer and his other works I showcased what I was envisioning.
came across Praying Hands, which I did a few more sketches of the
expressed the exact hand position I hands to practice for when I would
wanted to print in my own work.
do my final piece, then started
doodling different barbed wires.
I applied the first layer of black ink onto
my block. For my first print, I probably
could have used more ink because it came
out slightly faded. My second one was
better but I still could have used more,
and on the third print I used way too much I acquired the skill of
and the lines became muffled. After
examining my prints I decided to go back
Evaluation carving and printing so that I
may do another project like
in and carve out more. I wanted to give this in the future.
the pair of hands the same glowing effect The inspiration for this project was so perfect for me, it
that Dürer gave his art. captured the look I was going for along with the religious
symbolism exactly. Researching Durer and his prints was
The next step in my process was to carve super interesting and I am definitely going to be
the block. The tools I used allowed for purchasing my own linoleum block along with my own
extremely fine lines and the outline I did carving tools to make more art like this at home. I really
ended up being the perfect thickness. I This is my first print hope others enjoy this piece the same way I do.
started my carving in the shadow between before any alterations. I
the two hands, since it was thicker and added lines going out
gave me more room to make a mistake. to make a glow effect.

‘1200’
Inspiration
Process
I used a ring light and
turned off the lights in the
attic to make the lighting
more dramatic. I set a
timer on my phone and
posed for my photos with
the measuring tape. My
first photo was of me
holding the tape around my
waist. The second photo
was of me pulling the tape
as it wrapped around my
neck.
After doing my research on David Arribas
David Arribas is a freelance photographer
based in Madrid, Spain. He specializes in Planning and his work I started my planning process.
I decided that I wanted my piece to be low
black and white photography. The
collection of photos I chose to use as saturation, but not completely black and
inspiration was 'Cage', done in 2020. white unlike my inspiration. I had an idea
'Cage' followed a young woman who of being strangled by measuring tape. The
struggled with anorexia. Arribas used measuring tape that I had was not long
high contrast to accentuate the bones, and enough to wrap more than twice around my
to make the image more dramatic. I liked body, however I wanted several wraps
this idea of the bones being prominent in around my waist, arms, and neck, so I
the photos in order to highlight how would have to take multiple photos and edit
skinny the subject was. The the photos the taped areas on later. I started doing
have a very depressing, intimate mood rough sketches of what I wanted the
that makes the viewer feel as though they collage to look like.In my sketchbook, I
are there with Julia as she obsesses over experimented exactly where I wanted the
her body and weight. tapes to go, so I would know how to pose
for the photos.
It looked choppy up close, so I used the
smudge tool to give it a smooth look. I I used the second Overall, doing this piece
edited the several different measuring tape photo I took and
helped me realize that I
pieces onto one image. I could re-use the
tape across the stomach for another one
edited out each chunk
of the tape and moved
Evaluation prefer more traditional
across the ribs by tracing it with the lasso it onto the original mediums to digital. Maybe
tool and then copy-pasting back onto the photo. I had to do it it was just my computer but it felt like there were a lot of
picture. I used the free-transform tool to chunk by chunk since technical difficulties throughout the process, like work not
move and bend the measuring tape to the I wasn't in the same saving or not things taking an extremely long time to load
I then uploaded them to my spot where I wanted it. I added shading to position as in the first
computer and used PhotoPea because of the file sizes. This topic is also difficult for me
the inner corners as well. photo.
to start editing. I first blurred to share with others, and doing this piece put me in a very
out my face. I did not want it vulnerable position to those who didn't previously know
I could re-use the tape across the
attached to this collage. I about my disorder. It was a bit uncomfortable exposing the
stomach for another one across the
used the clone tool to go part of my body I am most insecure about- my stomach. I
ribs. Because the shading didn't
over facial features like the did not enjoy the process, however I did like the final
match the spot where I placed it, and
mouth, nose, and eyes, to
so I changed the brightness and the product and hope that I can evoke a few emotions for the
give them a similar lighting contrast to match it. people viewing it.
to the rest of face.
 Industrial Design Planning
I sketched out a birdcage and started
thinking of how to make it more efficient.
I thought about feeding a bird, and how it
might be draining to refill and empty a I liked the idea of the rotating bottom, and
seed dish every morning, especially if you decided to focus on it more. There were a few
can’t reach it or lift a heavy bag. I drew a things that needed to be decided about the
bird cage with an automatic feeder that rotating bottom, like a) where does the waste
lets users remote-control the food dish. go afterwards, b) how do you restock the
This got me thinking about what other sheets, and c) how would this be controlled? I
parts could be remote controlled, like thought that it would be a good idea to have
opening the top or front hatch so the bird the sheets be automatically cut by a blade then
could get out of the cage, and the bottom folded up and thrown into a trash can.
sheets.
For the real model, I used
I first glued on the skinnier blue rolls onto
cardboard and measured
Process where I needed to cut. This
the back sheet of the model. After that, I
glued on the left side of the box. Then I
model was to scale, unlike
measured out how big I needed the slit on This project was a lot
The next phase was creating the prototype. With an
the right side to be and used the exacto knife different than the other ones
a physical model of my exacto knife, I cut out the
rectangles, and then
to cut it out. Evaluation I have done this year so far.
product. I got different
painted the slabs. I did 2 It was very straightforward
materials for the sheets and I painted the skinny rolls periwinkle and
layers of the paint. and I didn't have much room to be super creative- I
tested how durable they the bigger ones that would go on top struggled to come up with a decent idea for my product,
were catching everything black, to signify that one was a separate and while in theory it sounded really good, the execution
from the bird and attachment that the user had to put on of it was a bit sloppy and could have turned out better. I
guaranteeing no leaks. I themselves. I trimmed my parchment had fun making the physical model, but the planning
chose parchment paper since paper so it would fit onto the rolls, then aspect was hard for me. If I did this again I'd choose
wax might be harmful to wrapped it around both of the cylinders something a bit more realistic- and easier to construct-
birds. I didn't do any then slipped them onto the thinner ones, I added foil to the rim than my current product. I do think that my concept was
painting for my cardboard giving it the ability to rotate. Then, I to signify the metal the good, and that it could be improved upon and maybe even
and I used much smaller assembled the whole thing and made sure sliced the sheet. used in homes if it were looked at further.
pieces . it was functional.
‘Overgrown’ While researching Goffs techniques I learned
about a method she used to get cleaner creases
and folds in the cardboard. She would take an
x-acto knife and only cut the very surface layer
Inspiration of the cardboard. This allowed it to fold more
seamlessly and in a sharp, precise manner with
no wrinkles. Another aspect of Goffs work was
Shannon Goff is a sculpture that she only uses traditional, brown cardboard
artist in Chicago, who works and avoids other colors, to emphasize her
in clay and cardboard. She meaning and the symbolism behind the
The material is extremely flexible to the
uses cardboard as a symbol cardboard more. I decided while planning that
whims of the artist- being sturdy enough
of capitalism- of mass I would not adhere to this, and use other colors
to support more geometric or heavy
production which is only of cardboard, however I would test out her
structures, yet malleable enough to make
made possible by the technique of cutting slits on the surface layer
rounded, smooth shapes. Golf uses glue
transportation powers of for a cleaner look.
to attach the pieces together.
cardboard.

Planning
When I started planning, I knew I wanted something that
I started planning by thinking about how I symbolizes life- vines, overcoming death- represented
could make wearable cardboard sculpture. I by a cow skull. I sketched out my dimensions and
wanted to make a headpiece that looked like planned the inside of my skull, along with the length of
the skull of a cow. The piece would need to be everything, and the placement of the vines. In my
structurally sound and be able to stay on my original idea, I wanted the vines to be draping over my
head without falling too far forward. I dress along with off of the horns and skull.
planned where I wanted to put the horns as
well as how I would secure it to my head with I also planned for how I was going to get the vines and
only the use of cardboard. Because we could leaves on the skull to look green. One of my limitations
not use paint, I also had to figure out how to for this project was that I could not use any paint, so I
make the skull look white. I wanted to glue thought about using a green wood stain instead to get
the paper onto the cardboard. around that hurdle.
‘Overgrown’ Process
I didn’t really have a plan
for getting the shapes I
needed other than measuring
I started cutting out my cardboard pieces. I cut out the side as I went. I realized it was
much easier than I thought. I
silhouette for my cow skull and began measuring the lengths
started with the snout. By
for all my flat pieces going down the middle of the silhouette. cutting out the sides of that
I glued them on with hot glue, making sure that my starting and going from there, I got
piece and the flat pieces joined together at a 90 degree angle. the basic shape that I needed
After that, I cut out the sides of the head and a piece to join
those and the top together. This gave me the base for the rest
At this point, one concern
of my skeleton. While doing this I realized how much hot that I had was that my eye
glue I would need to use. Every attachment used almost a holes were to small and a bit
whole glue stick. But my base was sturdy and could probably too far up to make it look
withstand being chucked across the room. like a real cow skull. I would
later go on to give the eyes
shape with cardboard but the
placement was something I
couldn’t really change
This project was super
challenging and I had fun
I ripped off large
pieces of white
Evaluation working on it. I had never
worked with cardboard as a
cardboard into slightly medium and I has never
smaller pieces to fit produced sculpture before either. It was an additional
the skeleton better, and challenge to turn this sculpture into something wearable-
then glued them on. something I struggled with towards the end of the project.
The vines were white While working on this I burned my hands several times
After that I started on the horns. I cut out a basic shape for cardboard that was cut and had a meltdown or two, but I really am proud of my
my horns, and replicated it. I used string to measure how long into strips after being results. I think I will be working more with sculpture in the
it was down the middle, and cut out two right-angle triangles stained green. The future, however likely not in cardboard. My work has a lot
that were 27 inches long for each horn. I attached these onto leaves were cut with of similarities to Goff’s work in the medium used, but I
my base, and then use thin rectangles to go up the horn to an exacto knife. deviated from her style in allowing myself more flexibility
give it a round shape instead of a flat one for when I pasted with how the medium can be manipulated.
the white cardboard onto the skull.

‘168 Hour Work Week’ Part 1
'The Old Lodger' was painted in 1877
Inspiration by Louise Dubreau in France. Dubreau is
best known for his portraits during the
French naturalism art movement. In his
works he used a lot of dark, neutral, and
unsaturated hues to create a realistic,
almost sad and dull feeling piece meant
to convey the feelings of reality and life
as an average person. I chose this piece
for my inspiration mostly because I
loved the pose that he was in and wanted
to replicate it in my own style.
My idea was to imitate the tired, worn
Planning look of the old man in a self portrait, as
a student pouring an energy drink into
the glass. Instead of the newspaper and
other clutter on the table in the original
painting, I wanted it to be a book, with
notecards and other study utensils
surrounding the student. I planned out
my color palette and what I wanted
certain aspects of the piece to look like.
Compared to the cooler tones of The Old
Lodger, I wanted my piece to have
warmer tones to it. I also wanted there to
be more contrast and saturation with the
use of a completely black background
and a bright pink energy drink can.

I started to paint the

I took reference photos by skin. It is far less
Process setting out a large book and
scattered notecards and
smooth and clean. I
used peach and This was my first piece
supplies around. I used an brown paint for the
energy drink and posed it using gauche paint, and so
skin to the left, but I
above the wine glass, and realized that it Evaluation a lot of it was
experimentation. The first
later edited in a stream of looked more realistic
liquid to make it look real. painting in this series
when I added a little especially felt much less realistic because I was only
bit of red to it. just getting used to it. That piece has more similarities
to my inspiration- intentionally in terms of composition
I used the grid method in and theme but also with its use of realism. I like this
order to translate my After the skin I focused on the piece much more because I think its a better
reference picture onto the clothing. I started off with the representation of my abilities in varying painting
board. I used pencil darkest parts, or the shadows of the mediums. Gauche is a more difficult medium to work
lightly to create the sweater first, and built off with with than oil paints, and if I had to re-do this piece to
outline, so it won't show slightly lighters greys until I got to improve its quality I likely would have done it with oil
under the gauche. the highlights. paint on canvas.

‘168 Hour Work Week’ Part 2
Jean-Baptiste Greuze was a French painter
Inspiration who worked primarily in oil paints.
Greuze is best known for his realistic
portraits and historical paintings. He used
a combination of Rococo and Dutch
Realist styles in his work. This realistic
style can be seen in the depth of the
highlights and shadows of things like the
boys hair and his clothing. His piece uses
a warmer tone in the lighting and in the
shadows. The background is entirely black
which draws attention to the child.
I wanted to replicate several things in
Planning this piece- first and foremost the
composition and pose of the child with
my own body, and other elements like
the warmer color palette and the theme
of exhaustion. I planned out my piece by
sketching out the changes I wanted to
make, with myself in place of the child.
Instead of a very small notebook I
wanted the subject to be sleeping on top
of a textbook with a pencil in their
hands, implying that they were studying
or annotating. I planned out the colors
that I wanted each thing to be as well as
planned out what changes I would make
to my technique after doing the last
piece with gauche.

I cleared some of the items As I'm gaining experience with this

Process off the desk and took a
photo of myself sleeping on
the book. I used the grid
method and copied both
pictures onto my board.
I started to paint the skin.
I used gauche paint,
which was scary at first
but I figured out how to
give it a smoother, more
realistic look to it. I added
different shades of reds
blues and yellows to
create more in-depth
shadows and highlights.
medium, fine details and highlights are
becoming easier to paint. In my image, the
hair almost seemed to blend in with the
background, because of the high contrast
and dark setting of the photograph. I
painted it in larger chunks that made a
gradient into the background, without
highlights.
I used that technique of bright,
obvious highlights to give my piece
more depth and the result was a
much more realistic feel, one that I
was much happier with compared to
my first illustration.
My second time using
Evaluation gauche paint went so much
better than the first. I was
very happy with how the
piece looked smooth and realistic, which is what I was
aiming for in replicating Greuzes work. While I would
have rather done this piece in oil or acrylic paints instead,
I am glad that I now have more experience with the
medium and I may use it for projects in the future that
aren’t as realistic as these ones. The message of both my
gauche paintings is one of a mental health struggle as the
stress of school makes everything feel more exhausting. I
don’t think that was the intention of Greuze in his work
but I adapted the piece.
 Milwaukee Art Museum
At the museum, I spent a lot of my time in the classical
european art section. I really love old French artists and their
styles with portraits and still lifes. A lot of them are used to tell
old stories from the Bible which I thought was really cool. I
am not religious but I love the idea of art being used to tell
stories and folklore and being part of something much larger. I
have been wanting to do something like this with my own art
lately but find myself lacking the time to create something I’d
be really really proud of. I want to make a large painting in the
style of these older Biblical story paintings but without a
heavily religious theme.

While walking through the galleries I also took note on a

I saw the painting above and thought that it looked very lot of things relating to the presentation of good
familiar. I remember seeing it a while ago online while exhibitions and things I wanted to incorporate into my
looking for still lifes to replicate for technical practice. I own exhibition. The pieces together all had very similar
ended up replicating a very similar painting from this artist visual styles and color schemes, as well as similar sizes. In
the photo above, all the paintings are realistic, with a dark,
that I ended up loving. Seeing it again made me want to do
heavily contrasted, brown and red color scheme. They all
a similar type of still life painting, with nicer oil paints work together nicely and the layout is such that all the
instead of the cheap acrylic ones I was using before. I paintings feel an equal distance from each other. The
wanted to incorporate the still life baroque style with presentation of artwords is just as important as the
dramatic lighting and intense realism into a portrait of some artworks themselves. After completing all of my own
sort. I took note of the authors name at the museum and it artworks, I wish I would have had a more cohesive visual
inspired me to do more research on the artist. theme.
 Madame Antonie
Inspiration
The piece I chose by Lebrun to use as
my inspiration was 'Madame Grande'.
In this painting. The colors are soft and
dainty and her blending work is
incredible. The fabrics in the piece are
very realistic. LeBrun worked in the
rococo style, characterized by a soft
pastel color palette, elaborate details,
soft and realistic blending. The color
palette of this work is light, with bright
lighting being shone onto the subject.

Planning I started out my planning my doing a

rough sketch of the size of my canvas to
scale and I mapped out my inspiration
with the aspects I would take from it.
This included the color palette of
Madame Grand, along with the lighting,
where on the face it would hit, and with
the depth of the shadows. Then I drew
the pose that I wanted to be in when I
took my reference photograph. In the
original Madame Grand, the subject has
a pillow on her lap, with her arm over
that. Instead of the pillow I would paint
an armchair to fit the photograph I was
going to take, which would be posed on
a regular chair.
The last thing I did before starting anything on my canvas
was experiment with oil paints. This was my first time
working in oils, and didn't know anything about the dry
time or how well it blended. I practiced with painting
some blue silk, and with some skin colors. I used a lot of
linseed oil to make the paint super smooth and viscous.
After doing so I found out that while oil paints are
incredibly easy to blend and to work with, the dry time is
incredibly long! It took more than 4 days for my tiny, thin
patches of paint to completely dry. I knew then to use a lot
less linseed oil when mixing my paints. I also planned the
pattern for the chair and the lace.

Madame Antonie
I took a reference photo in
my living room. I set up
extremely dramatic lighting
and posed in the picture like
how Madame Grande was
posed in the portrait of her. I
edited in the background of
the piece for a reference for
color and how I edited the
lighting.
Next I started to paint my
background. I used black
mixed in with a little bit of
brown to give the painting
more depth and to make it
seem more realistic. I used
a very thick layer, and it
took a while to dry. I used
yellow/brown for the gold.
I started by painting the
shadows on the face first
and working my way out
with lighter colors. The
lighting was more harsh. I
waited to paint the
eyebrows until I painted
the hair, so I knew exactly
what colors I needed.
I used a projector to project
Process my image onto a 91 x 91 cm
canvas and drew on the
outline using a pencil. The
dress I had to freehand
because I didn't edit it onto
the picture. I had a hard time
drawing the arm onto the
armchair and making it look
like it wasn’t just floating
above everything. I also
struggled with making the
chair look exact to the
reference painting.
I blocked in highlights
and shadows on the folds
and then blended. I
highlighted edges to give
it a silky look. I used a
thin brush to do lace
Out of all the works I have
details and create a mesh
made so far, I have probably
texture over the original
dress.
Evaluation dedicated the most time and
effort into this one. It was my
first time working with oil paints and I learned a lot
For the hair, I used a large
about my blending technique, along with shading,
brush and mixed a brown
highlights, and proportions and anatomy. My goal was to
color with a bit of gold,
make it as realistic as I could, and I think that I did a
magenta, and black. I blocked
good job doing that given my skill set. Because I now
in the shadows of the hair
have experience with oil paints, and loved the result of
first. As I moved left I added
my piece, I would like to work with them a lot more in
more gold and magenta to
the future. The biggest challenge with this project was
recreate my dirty-brown hair
probably painting fabric and the clothing. Overall,I'm
color
very proud of this piece, especially the hands.

‘I Don’t Recognize Myself’
Inspiration
Process
I used the grid method.
After transferring all of it
down onto my canvas I
added my own touches.
Instead of the face warping
to the side or blurring, I
wanted it to be melting
down into the hands and
running down the arms, so
that the subject in the
portrait was interacting with
it, as a connection to the
feeling of body dysmorphia
and feelings of panic.
I mapped out my inspiration and
Planning the different ideas that I had so I
could have a visual before I chose
the direction I wanted to go in.
Harris uses a lot of pastels in her
Henrietta Harris is an artist that works in
several different mediums. I focused on
work, and so I made a color palette
of the different colors I might use,
was a series of oil paintings that depicted
along with the colors for the skin
people with their face being distorted in
and hair. I did one last sketch of the
some way. The distortion was depicted
pose that I wanted to be in, and then
with an almost photoshop look to it. The
decided to deviate from Harris' use
distortion warps, blurring, or added layers
of pastels and instead go for a more
with different opacities. Harris does not
ominous, darker look with a
explain the meaning behind her distortion
gradient from black in the corners
portraits. I interpreted them to explore the
to a warm brown in the center
feeling of not being yourself, or having
where the subject would be.
another side to you that others don't see.
I started painting the bicep, then moved on
I then painted the skin. I
to the forearm, the hands, and then the
mixed peach, dark brown,
red, and white paint to make
chest. Since the lighting for this piece is
straight-on, the highlights all appear in the While this is not my favorite
my own skin tones. I started
center of a shape and the darkest parts are piece, I am definitely proud
by painting the corners and
the darkest edges of the
in the corners and outlines. For the hand, I
blocked in basic shapes then went back in
Evaluation of it. I think it shows what I
figure first and worked my need to work on, including
with a different brush to blend. I added
way out with lighter colors.
details on the knuckles and added the nails. realism in lighting and in skin, and facial proportions. It
also shows how I could improve on painting hair. The best
part of this painting, in my opinion, is the hands. The
I followed the same patterns with the rest
of the face. I then dripped white and pink shading looks nice and the small details make it look
paint down the arms to make the dripping realistic and proportionate. While working on this
facial features. I finished the piece by painting, I think I got a little bit better at realism and my
painting the hair brown and adding shading skills. I was inspired mostly by the visual effect of
highlights, then painting in the Harris' work, which lead me to apply my own experiences
background and the tank top.
to it.
 MIAD Gallery
Along with the paintings and block prints, I also
saw a lot of amazing product design art. The
gallery had a lot of interactive exhibits in which
students showcased their work with industrial
design and video games. One student designed a
line of sneakers. Some of them were more
practical than others, such as product design for
items like office supplies. Others created logos
and icons for fake companies, and some
displayed real work for actual companies.

Over the summer I went on a tour of the

Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design gallery
for the current seniors. Some of my favorite One piece that really caught my eye was this painting of a boy with
pieces were the block print designs. These block bunny ears surrounded by other bunnies in a field of flowers. The
prints are what inspired me to make my own painting is massive, probably being about 5 or 6 feet in width. The artist
‘Queen of Pentacles’ piece. I loved the inclusion used a realistic style of painting that I greatly admired. He did an
of red in her block prints, because I didn’t know amazing job conveying the textures of the ground, clothing, and the fur
that that was an option before seeing these. on the bunnies. I wanted to complete a piece as large and detailed as this
They made me want to experiment more with one. After this gallery visit, I started thinking about projects I could do
my own art and color. for fun after school has ended.
 ‘Queen of Pentacles’
Inspiration
The original Rider Waite deck was illustrated in 1909 by English artist
Pamela Colman Smith.The card that conveyed the message I wanted to
portray best was the King of Pentacles card. The suit of this card- the
pentacle, or the coin- is symbolic of wealth, finances, and money. The king
of any suit represents maturity, prosperity, success, discipline, and control. I
wanted to use this card to depict how I currently feel choosing colleges and
majors and careers, and the option of going into a career that makes me
money, but that I don't love. The engravings of the throne, the foliage
around it, the embellishments of the kings robe and the setting he is placed
in are all incredibly intricate. While it utilizes warmer colors compared to
the rest of the deck, the undertone remains cool. The black lines are thick
and heavy to implicate shade.
Planning
The first step in my planning phase was to decide what tarot card best represented my chosen topic-
which was the internal conflict between choosing a life path that brings me happiness or money. I found
3 cards that I thought represented this well- the King of Pentacles, the 2 of Wands, and The Fool card. In
this piece I decided to represent the outcome of following your brain instead of your heart, with the
pentacle icon being a symbol of finances and the king representing general success. I wanted to recreate
this card with a block print, but I didn't just want to copy it exactly. I took note of the modifications I
wanted to make to the card. The first one was that I wanted to insert myself in place of the king. I
wanted to make the meaning of the piece somewhat understandable to those who aren't familiar to the
meanings of the cards, and so I decided to replace the icon of the pentacle with a dollar sign. Another
modification I made was replacing the towers in the background with skyscrapers.
 I started to carve. I begun with the
‘Queen of Pentacles’ smallest knife in my tool set. I
carved out the boot on my character
first. It didn't take me long to
realize that, while the small knife is
Process good for carving sharper shapes,
I started by using large shapes to that I could achieve the same affect
place the head, body, and with a larger knife by applying less
background. I started detailing pressure.
the face. I used a regular #2
pencil to create dark spaces that I
knew to carve around. One thing
I made note of right away while
in this part of the process was Without the contrast of the black ink,
that I should avoid small details- it looked bland and ugly. I then carved
because of the difficulty of using out squiggly lines on the arms of the
carving tools. Instead of shading chair that I would carve out small
with lines I completely blocked leaves onto. Even though I sketched
in areas I wanted to shade to out these leaves onto the sheet, I
create some dimension. Overall, ignored the pencil markings and
however, this gave my sketch a free-handed the leaves because of
very flat feeling to it. issues with space and sizing.
Evaluation
Then I carved the I set up my ink, roller, and a
background. I quickly tray. I used a massive roll of a This was one of the most time consuming projects I have
learned a technique that I smoother, plastic paper. I was ever done. It was my second ever block print, so I had a bit
would apply to every large worried that the paper would of experience with the carving and printing process while
space I was made to clear be too curved to successfully also still being new to all the techniques I discussed. In
out- to use the point of the print onto, and that the connected perfectly to my inspiration as I had intended, and
knife to make deeper cuts texture wouldn't hold the ink. while the message isn't very in-your-face, it is
into the linoleum in parallel For my first print, I comprehendible when examined closer. My favorite part of
lines, and then to use the experimented with using less this piece was definitely the face, as its something I have
wider edge of the knife so ink, and then I tried a few the most experience with drawing and shading. I hated
scrape in between the lines using more ink that turned carving out the small insignificant details like the ground
to carve the surface off. out blotchy and thick. underneath the throne, just because of how tedious it was.
 ‘Flower Garden’
George Fredric Watts was a 19th
Inspiration century portrait artist who worked
with art styles in romanticism. His
art features women with feminine,
dainty features, in beautiful
clothing. The lighting in these
pieces are gentle and gives the art a
calming mood to it. While Watts
was a portrait artist by commission,
his most famous painting,
'Choosing', holds symbolism of
desire and courage.
Planning In this piece, I knew I wanted to
replicate the visual style but by
using oil pastels. I also wanted to
make it into a self portrait, and
so I sketched out my plan for the
piece. I also planned out how I
would draw the lace in my piece
and the flowers. I practiced with
my oil pastels, planning out the
steps to blend in the color of the
flowers. I also made a diagram
of the different colors I would
blend to get shades like the skin
and hair.

For the dress, I used a

layer of black pastels on
Process the shadows then blended
everything with blue and
grey. I blended the
I took a few reference flowers by using layers of Evaluation
photos of my side profile. purple and brown for the
Typically, when I attempt shadows and then This piece acted as a study of oil pastels and facial
realism I will take a bleeding out with the red structure for me. In the process of using oil pastels I
reference photo and use pastel crayon. I then learned better how to color match and use color theory
the grid method to get the Because there wasn't one skin added details like lace. to make shadows and highlights more realistic. The
best proportions. This shade that fit the hue I was going theme of the piece was delicacy and decision making.
time though, I wanted to for, I went over the nose area with If I redid this, I would make the outline of the
draw the face without the peach shade, and then again background around the face first to avoid overlapping
using this method to test with the tan shade. I blended out in and ruining the sense of depth I had originally created
my abilities.After my the lighter areas with the white with shadows. I am happy with how it turned out
sketch was completed I pastel, and in the shaded areas I considering I didn't use my traditional grid method,
started coloring in the used blue and brown, then blended and I did a good job drawing a face free-handed.
skin with the pastels. it with the peach or tan shade.
 Process

The first thing I did was make a

Margaret Muza is a photographer who
Inspiration specializes in tintype portraits- a style of
grid onto a large sheet of paper
using a graphite pencil, to get the
photography in which an image is created
proportions of the Bunny in the
by exposing a sheet of tin coated in dark
picture perfect. After I used this
lacquer or enamel to light. The photograph
method to copy the Bunny, I drew
is completely desaturated, as the camera
in myself freehand. This stage was
does not capture color While Muza is a
tricky because the proportions of
commissioned photographer and artist, her
the eyes, nose, and mouth was
personal work is creative and eerie. She
something that I struggled with. I
uses stark contrasts in lighting, balance and
wanted to appear frightened and
symmetry of her subjects to make the pieces
uncomfortable.
intense and unique.

For the face, I deviated from the desaturation of Muzas

For the sweater, I would color in a small
photographs and added color while still keeping the
portion with a thin layer of red, and then
overall grey and dismal appearance. This would be
go in with the grey and black to create
tricky because I would have to use a proportionate ratio
of grey to colors throughout the entire piece. I used a texture and folds in the cloth. As I moved Evaluation
thin layer of peach over the whole face, and then a light along different parts of the sweater, I
layer of tan and grey. attempted to use the same amount of
pressure, however some areas had a This piece was a challenge, because without a reference
higher concentration of red or grey, photo that gave me colors to match, I was just guessing
For the bunny, I used a grey which colors to use and blend the entire time. I think that
giving it an uneven appearance.
in the areas of the bunny that I was successful in that the saturation levels are relatively
would have shading, and I wanted the background to feel the same throughout the entire piece and it looks very
blended outwards towards childish and playful, with the even and intentional. I am very proud of the hair and the
the center by using less inclusion of pastels, but still mouth and nose of the bunny, however the proportions of
pressure in every stroke. I wanted it to feel vintage and a bit the face without a reference are something I need to work
used an entire white pastel off-putting. I decided to use on more. The eyes are slightly too large and the mouth is
crayon by blending grey yellow-green and pink to create crooked. I hope that viewers get slightly uncomfortable
outwards and filling in empty tiles behind the subjects as a when viewing this piece, as that is the intended effect.
space. backdrop.

‘Rapture’
For another tarot piece by Waite, I chose
Inspiration the Judgement card. Its weight is
distributed quite evenly throughout the top
and bottom halves of the card, with the
angel at the top being the main focus and
the detail of the people at the bottom
drawing your eyes downwards. The
illustration of the card is vertically
symmetrical, which draws your eyes down
the center. The flag on the horn is St.
Georges Cross, a British flag associated
with the middle ages of England.
I wanted to replicate this card in my own
Planning style in a way that represented the college
application process, and waiting to hear
back for that life-changing letter.I started
making a sketch onto my canvas. Unlike
most of my other projects, this initial
sketch didn't use a grid whatsoever. My
only reference image was the original
card, as I wanted to replicate its layout as
closely as I could. I drew the face of the
angel first and then branched out from
there drawing on the wings, the clouds, the
robe, and then the horn, which extended
just over that horizontal line. I then used a
one-point perspective to draw the coffins
and then I drew the people inside of them.

Then I painted the people on the bottom

I painted the face of the
half of the painting. I would start with
Process angel. I mixed a peach
the darkest shades on the body, in the Evaluation
color with a dark umber
folds, crevices, and where the light
and a grey to create my
didn't hit. I used a dark grey-ish brown
shaded areas, and mixed
for this, and worked my way outwards This was one of the hardest pieces for me to get done. I
that tone with white to
with slightly lighter colors until I had no reference other than the original card, and so
create the highlights and
reached the very edge. For the very had to imagine my own lighting. This made it difficult
middle tones.
edge, I used an almost white peach to get the realism that I was aiming for. The second
color, with a bit of yellow mixed in. reason was that because I didn't like how the piece was
For the water, I started
turning out, I had a difficult time completing it. It is a
with the lightest colors in
I found that painting with the darker good display of all of the things I struggle at, including
the center and worked out
skin tones was more difficult, textures such as fluffy clouds, fabric, water, and stone,
with darker shades, to
because as I mixed it with thinner, it and anatomy when I am drawing from memory. Along
create the illusion of light
was much more streaky and sloppy with this, the piece is not obvious with its meaning to
hitting the very center. I
than with the lighter skin tones. I those who observe it. Overall, I am glad I got this piece
used a similar technique
finished the painting with the hair of done so I can learn from my mistakes and start with
for the coffins.
the people in the coffins. another fresh slate.
 The second workshop I attended was at University of
University Workshops The first workshop I attended was a figure
Wisconsin Stevens Point. This workshop was taught by
drawing class at the Milwaukee Institute of Art
the professor of interior design at the university. We got
and Design that was offered through my school.
to look through a guidebook that showed us how far
We did 4 total portraits, each of which we were
items of furniture should be from each other in a house to
given a different length of time to work on. The
maximize the comfort of the person living there. We then
first, we were only given 15 seconds. We had to
had to plan our own home layout for a small college
learn how to use charcoal pencil in order to create
apartment for 2 people. I learned about proportions
vague shapes based on what you see. Our length
within interior design, and it made me think about the
of time expanded until we got 15 minutes to draw
spaces I use more intuitively. We cut out the paper
the man that was sitting in front of us. Doing this
furniture and arranged and rearranged the home until we
workshop helped me realize that I might need to
came to the conclusion that everything in the home was
go back and study anatomy and perspective.
easily accessible and allowed for maximum movement.

Both workshops exposed me to

different types of art and gave
me a base of understanding in
their respective fields. The
figure drawing was nice
because it is something I am
much more likely to do in the
future, but the interior design
workshop was far more
practical and gave me insight
onto a new career field that I
may have some interest in.
Both of the workshops were
wonderful opportunities and I
am very grateful for the schools
that provided them.

‘Hummingbirds are Scary’ Planning
Markus Åkesson is a Swedish artist that specializes in glass
Inspiration engraving and realistic oil portraits. His series of work 'The
Woods' features mostly children, contrasting the almost
completely black background. I found this series of paintings
by Åkesson because of his inclusion of moths- specifically
the hummingbird moth- in several of the pieces. The
symbolism of the hummingbird moth was something that I
wanted to include in my own piece. Åkessons portraits
feature incredibly high contrast, with very dark shadows and
bright highlights on the face, as well as a balanced saturation
that brings color and life to his art. He uses somewhat of a
vignette effect in his portraits, with the face of the subject
being the brightest part and everything else slightly darker or
less contrasted in comparison.
I based my planning process around the
inclusion of the hummingbird moth-
something that I read about after one landed
on me. The hummingbird moth is a symbol
of dreams, aspirations, and personal growth.
I knew that I did want this to be a self
portrait, and so I planned to use a friend of
mine as a model. I wanted the model to be
interacting with the moth or moths in some
way that symbolized feeling overwhelmed
with what the future holds. I came up with a
few designs but ultimately decided to have
one large moth cover an eye of the model,
while being surrounded by the bug as well.
The first step in my process was to
plan out my piece. I based my
planning process around the
inclusion of the hummingbird moth-
something that I read about after one
landed on me. The hummingbird
moth is a symbol of dreams,
aspirations, and personal growth. I
knew that I did want this to be a self
portrait, and so I planned to use a
friend of mine as a model. I wanted
the model to be interacting with the
moth or moths in some way that
symbolized feeling overwhelmed
with what the future holds. I came
up with a few designs but ultimately
decided to have one large moth
cover an eye of the model, while
being surrounded by the bug as well.
I wanted my piece to have a dramatic lighting
and high contrast between the background and
the subject. Originally, I was going to use
graphite to color in an entire background with
black. I decided that it would be much simpler
to use a black board and use a white pencil or
crayon of some sort in order to create the
image. I cut out a piece of the black board and
tested different mediums on it in order to
compare them- oil pastels and colored pencil.
While the pastel had a higher level of opacity, I
decided the colored pencil was better to
achieve a high level of realism in tiny details.
 ‘Hummingbirds are Scary’
Process
I cut out moth cutouts and
taped them on the face and
body. I used a dark room
with no natural lighting. I
used a flashlight for my
lighting. I then took that
image and edited it to have
higher contrast, and low
saturation. I also edited
moths for reference. I used
the grid method, and so I
applied a grid onto the
picture and copied it down
onto my board.
I blocked in the lightest areas
on the chest with white, and
worked my way out using
less and less pressure. I
followed the curves of the
chest vertically in order to
create the texture I saw in the
reference image. For the
fringe, I used small circles
and lines in order to create a
lace texture.
I started with the face. The
brightest points were on the
chin and cheek as on the edge
of the face. I started with these
lightest points and worked my
way outwards using less
pressure to create shadow.
For the hair, I initially used a
dark grey colored pencil, and
used light, quick strokes,
stemming from the top of the
scalp and curling at the bottom
of the face. I used a very sharp
white colored pencil to make
very thin, harsh lines to create
the highlights of the hair.
I drew out the design on the
back of the moth. At first, the
wings were incredibly
challenging as I attempted to
recreate the patterns as I saw
them in the image exactly. I
used small, heavy strokes for
the lighter parts of the wings,
and lighter strokes for the
blacks and browns. I finished
it off with two white antenna
at the top.
The eye was something
I struggled with, since I
wanted to add the
detail of the eyelash,
but the image was too
dark. Another thing I
struggled with was the
shadow of the hair on
the neck, since I had
not yet drawn the hair.
This piece was not rushed
Evaluation and I genuinely enjoyed
doing it. Colored pencils
were not something I had
worked with extensively prior to this portrait, and so I am
proud of the work that I did. Colored pencils will be
something I will work with more in the future. I liked how
the black and white turned out- it made a reference image
more easy to replicate. I could focus more on texture and
contrast. I love the meaning of this piece and the inclusion of
the moths as a symbol of personal growth.
 Jenna Simon is a
‘700’ Part 1 contemporary American
Process
I started drawing the hands.
I started with the darkest
artist whose primary focus
is her struggle with eating folds and crevices and
disorders. Herr art was I took reference photos. I worked my way outwards
Inspiration made for healing purposes. used 2 protein bars that I with lighter pressure.
She uses graphite to had and set up the lighting.I
produce realistic images. wanted the piece to show
Her use of graphite gives me making a decision based
her illustrations a very low off of the number of
contrast, as well as depletes calories, so I placed the
them of any color. She gives high calorie bar in the hand
her illustrations depth and further from myself. I finger
realism using only graphite peeling back the piece of
using different textures such plastic covering the caloric
and hair and skin, applying information.
different levels of pressures
in order to achieve this.
There were parts of the bar that were white,
including the nutritional facts label as well as
some of the stripes, I used an eraser to very This was a piece that I
lightly erase the white areas on the bar. Then I
The next part of my process was to
used black to write in the text. Evaluation ended up loving a lot. The
subject is something that I
draw the protein bars. I shaded in am very passionate about
the bar lightly using the light grey and connected to. This was my second piece using
pencil. I then, using the dark grey colored pencils in black and white, because I loved the
colored pencil, lightly drew in the results of my project the first time. This piece was great
areas that there would be shape and for learning how to replicate images in a realistic way,
shadow to the bar. This included on as well as a good way to practice small details like the
the edges of the bar as well as the lettering. In hindsight, I definitely should have used
folds and edges. paper that was meant for colored pencil to give in a
smoother, more seamless texture. I accidentally used
watercolor paper! This is a piece that might make some
people uncomfortable ,however it is a powerful piece
that I think should be shared and viewed.
 Jenna Simon is a
‘700’ Part 2 contemporary American
artist whose primary focus
is her struggle with eating
disorders. Herr art was
Inspiration made for healing purposes.
She uses graphite to
produce realistic images.
Her use of graphite gives
her illustrations a very low
contrast, as well as depletes
them of any color. She gives
her illustrations depth and
realism using only graphite
using different textures such
and hair and skin, applying
different levels of pressures
in order to achieve this.
I applied the same
technique to the rest of
the body, using deep
shadows and bright
highlights to make the
boniness of the woman
the main aspect when
people looked at it. This
exaggeration is something
that Jenna did not use in
her artwork, because of
the limits of her medium.
Process
I did not want to use a
reference image of
myself for this, so I used
a piece of 'thinspiration'
that I had saved on my I communicated the extreme
phone for many years. I nature of the disorder by using
used the grid method on very contrasting values. I made
this image and copied the shadows of the bones on the
down the outline onto ribcage very dark and
my paper. I then started highlighted the bones
themselves, in order to make it
with the shoulder and
appear more intense.
neck area of the woman.
Because I am using colored
Evaluation
pencils I have more of a
range in the shades that I
This was the second piece in my ‘700’
use. The arms in the piece
series and I have mixed feelings about it.
were slightly lighter than
the rest of the body to bring
more attention to the
ribcage and neck of the
woman. For the bra, I
blocked in the entire piece
with black and then
sharpened the pencil to
make fine lace details.
 Jenna Simon is a
‘700’ Part 3 contemporary American
artist whose primary focus
Process
is her struggle with eating
disorders. Herr art was
Inspiration made for healing purposes.
I wanted this piece to
depict me, looking very
She uses graphite to
distressed, pushing away a
produce realistic images.
bowl of food. Me being in
Her use of graphite gives
the piece would make it
her illustrations a very low I started to color in the face.
more personal, and
contrast, as well as depletes I kept it black and white and
powerful. I set up my desk
them of any color. She gives used grey, white, and black
to take the photo. I played
her illustrations depth and colored pencils to shade in
around with lighting until I
realism using only graphite my drawing. I then moved
found one that kept my
using different textures such down to the neck and then
face well-lit while also
and hair and skin, applying to the chest.
making it appear shaded.
different levels of pressures
in order to achieve this.

Evaluation
Then I drew the hands. I
I began by outlining chucks and
started with the right hand
strands of the hair in order to give This was the last piece in my series ‘700’ and
in the image, pushing
direction when drawing the I love it so much. I have grown into loving
away the food. I used the
individual hairs. I made a very black and white colored pencils as my
dark grey to draw in any
faint outline of where the favorite medium, because of how it allows
folds in the hand where it
highlight of the hair would lie, me to focus more on shadows and depth
might be shaded. I then
and in those areas, used only the rather than on the colors. The blank
used the light grey in
light grey colored pencil and background draws the eyes towards the
order to fill in the rest of
applied very little pressure. subject and down the body towards the hand
the spots that the light hit
Because my hair wasn't perfect in pushing away the empty plate. I wanted this
normally. I used the black
the photo, I went back in to add piece, in conjunction with the other 2 pieces
colored pencil and eraser
loose strands and messy chunks. in this series to show the struggles of having
later on to add more
an eating disorder and the thought processes
detail.
behind making decisions about food.