Drawing I
Ashli Bossom "Half Natured"
9x12, Colored Pencils, 2020
My idea for this project is a tree that on the left side is vibrant and alive, but on the right side, it is dull and dead. I was originally going to do a portrait and it was going to be the same half and half style but one side would have makeup and the other wouldn’t. Then I saw a picture of a tree online and I thought it would be cool so I turned it into a tree instead of a portrait.First I sketched out my project. Then when I liked that, I put in on my project paper. I started coloring with the colored pencils and I started with the trunk on the tree, then the leaves, then everything else. I used a colored pencil blender so I could kind of blend colors together to get some newer colors.Half of my artwork is alive and the other is dead, so the meaning behind it is that you can’t have it both ways. You are either alive or dead I guess. There are obviously other ways to put it other than alive and dead but that’s what this piece means and what I want the audience to focus on. Something I struggled while making this was making it look realistic. Usually, when I use colored pencils it’s just to fill in spaces, but with this, I need to blend colors together and shade, and it was complicated. I overcame these struggles by practicing in my sketchbook on the original sketch so I could see how it would look in the end and I think that helped. I think if I did it again I would change it being totally split. I think that I want it to be more of a blended split so it blends into the dead side and it isn’t just a complete split. This is a realistic drawing. It is realistic in appearance and everything, but it is split so it isn’t totally realistic either. I like fun things like this where it is different things but the same at the same time so it is my own style in that way. I love the way that it looks. I wasn’t totally confident about it in the beginning but now that it’s done I’m proud of it.
Ashli Bossom "Fine Line"
18 x 24, Graphite, Colored Pencil, 2020
My idea for this artwork is a picture of Harry Styles. This was a photoshoot that he did before, and I always really liked it, so I wanted to draw it really badly. I never got around to it before so I’m doing it now for this project.First I picked the picture that I wanted. Then I projected it onto the board so I could trace it the way I wanted. This picture is originally in all color, and I wanted to change it a little bit so I made it in black and white and made the glasses the color. I used my pencil and a thicker pencil for the shading and the lines overall. Then I used multiple colors of pinks and reds for the glasses. I wanted to make them look like there were shadows and not just solid color. So I’m happy with how that turned out.To me, this artwork kind of symbolize happiness a little bit. He looks really content being there in this moment, and the bright pop of color shows the emotions in it I think. I want people to think about their own lives. I want them to think about if they’re living in the moment or not. I don’t think there’s really anything symbolic in this one, but I do think that it shows happiness in a way.I think the most difficult thing for me was shading the right way around the face. I had to remember where the light source was and shade accordingly to that. Sometimes it was hard around the nose and cheeks, just because in places they can be darker originally so I didn’t know how to make it any different somehow. I practiced on the sketch that I had in my sketchbook to figure this out. I think that really helped and gave me the confidence to do it on the project paper. If I could start all the way over again I would probably change the nose. It was really difficult to draw that and I don’t like that very much so I would change that.This is a realistic drawing. You can tell what I like to do best in my drawings which is the hair. I really love drawing hair, especially guys’ hair. It’s just really fun to do and I’m really happy with it. I really love the glasses. I think it looks really good with the pop of color that it has, and I’m really happy with the way this turned out.
Ashli Bossom "Treat People With Kindness"
8.5 x 11, Scratch Art, 2020
My idea is a butterfly that I did scratch art with. I wanted to make it look more retro like and messy. I think I succeeded at that and I think it looks really cool. Saydie Roling gave me this idea actually. She told me I should do a scratch art and I thought that that would be really cool so I did. This butterfly is a tattoo that the singer Harry Styles has on his stomach, and I always liked the way it looked so I really wanted to do it as an art project.First, I had to draw out the butterfly and make it look the way I wanted. Then I printed it out a little bit bigger than what I drew it. Once I did that, I had to transfer it onto scratch paper. I had to basically redraw everything again so I could get it on that paper, and it took kind of a long time but not too long. Then I used the scratch tools to scratch it out. That took a few class periods so it also didn’t take that long but it was fun. It was easier to scratch it off than to draw it because I didn’t have to worry about the shading.I want the audience to think about freedom. Butterflies fly around freely all the time in the world and I want people to think about that when looking at this artwork. I think you can picture it flying around when you look at it and that’s what I want people to think about. The most difficult thing was drawing the original drawing because I really wanted it to be perfect. I realized that it would never be perfect and I wanted it to kind of look a little messy and retro looking so I just left it the way it was. I really like the way it finished so I’m proud of it. I think that I would change how solid some of the spots are. I think I could make it look more retro but leaving some gaps in the scratch art. This is a realistic artwork mixed with abstract. It is realistic but not completely, so it is both. I think it’s unique to my own style because I really like things that look like that. Kind of messy and not quite finished. I’m not sure how to really explain it, but I really like the way it finished. I really like the face of the butterfly, if that’s what you would call it. It is rally detailed and probably the best part of the whole thing.