Embedded Files
Ava Melvin - “Zodiac Females”
7x12
Colored Pencil, Artisti Marker, Color Pencil Blender
2020
The idea for my project was to create 6 of the 12 Zodiac Signs as girls. I got this idea just from over the years. As I began to grow up, I gained an interest in Zodiac Signs and thought it’d be fun to do something I haven't seen anyone do before.
I drew the entire thing out lightly in pencil, covered in a black artist marker, then colored it in. I did the background first, as I figured it’d be easier. I used: markers, colored pencils, and a colored pencil blender.
There isn’t a message in this picture. I just thought it would be fun to do. Although, if you look at the top of the characters in the sky, I have their constellations. Other than that, there’s no message, statement or symbolic imagery in this picture.
Something that was the most difficult for me was probably drawing the people and their hands. I had trouble making Aquairus, Gemini, Virgo and Pisces stand in the back from Capricorn and Cancer, who were in the front. I had trouble placing people in the spots I wanted, making their hands as I wanted them, and in their position I wanted. I overcame it, by using a ruler, to mark the top of Capricorn’s head and where I wanted Aquairus’ chin to be. I did the same thing with Cancer and Virgo. If I started over, I would change Pisces and Virgo’s position. They seem very awkward and in an uncomfortable position, so I would definitely change that.
I’m not sure what kind of art this is. Although, something that makes this unique to my typical art style, is that I never draw backgrounds. It was definitely fun to draw and to try and make my characters pop. My favorite part about my picture is the sky. Although I wish I blended it in more, I love the stars, the constellations in it and the depth I tried to put to it.
Ava Melvin - "Melanie Martinez"
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Tortillon, B, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6
2020
The idea I wanted with this piece of art, is to draw my favorite singer, Melanie Martinez. I came up with this idea, by actually listening to her. My inspiration was other people’s artwork. Other’s black and white, portraits, and Melanie Martinez art initially.
I printed a picture of Melanie Martinez, and then I drew it, but with another sheet of paper. When I was done with that, I went in with different charcoal pencils and added many details to the shading. Such as: her face, her hair, her clothes, and pretty much everything. I even used a tortillon to blend everything and to make things look a lot more realistic.
There isn’t a message in this picture, other than just knowing who Melanie Martinez is. Although, I’d like my audience to enjoy the work I put into it. I’d like them to maybe listen to Melanie Martinez and see if they like her as much as I do.
The most difficult thing about this whole thing, was the bows in her hair. I didn’t know what shade to make them, or if I should shade them in color. Their shape is very odd, and it doesn’t look too realistic, but overall, I was happy with what I could do with them. I got over it with a little help from my teacher. And, I looked up certain shades of black and gray with the original colors and used those on the bows. If I started over, I’d try and make them a more “realistic” shape than what they look like now.
This art is realistic. It’s very unique to me, because I draw more cartoonishly, and this is realistic and an actual person. I adore the way it turned out, and I often look at it over and over again, just to admire how well I did and how much fun I had doing it. It’s my favorite piece of artwork I’ve ever done, and will be for a very long time, I can already tell. Yet, my favorite part about this piece is her eyes. I love how it shows the darkness of her eye lashes and the different shades of her makeup.
Ava Melvin - "Salt and Sugar"
"I let you in, and you completely destroy me."
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Colored pencils, markers, pencil, colored pencil blender
2020
The idea for this project was to explain how my friendship was with someone when I was in 6th-8th grade. I got the idea by explaining with art how I feel and how I felt I was treated. I originally wasn’t going to include the box cutter, but then I thought: "How was I going to explain that the person I’m hugging is the one who hurt me? A knife or box cutter would do the trick." So I put that in the girls hand. This was definitely an inspiration from a real life experience.
I used colored pencils, a colored pencil blender, markers and a pencil. I used the pencil to draw it out, then I went back in with a thick black marker to outline it. Next, I colored most of it in with colored pencils, and some spots were colored with markers (for a reason). When that was done, I went over the colored pencils with a color pencil blender, that mixes the colors together and blends them in more.
This artwork means “some people aren’t who they seem.” That's why I also named it "Salt and Sugar". Because salt and sugar look the same. Anyway, I would talk to this one girl, and whenever I did, she would take me down with words. Then when she needed me, I’d be there. It was until this year started that I realized I was nothing to her, other than just a shoulder to cry on. I want my audience to think about the symbol here. To realize that not everyone is who they claim to be. You could think that a person is your friend, when in reality, they aren’t.
There are a lot of symbolic messages in this artwork. The first one is the girl hugging me, smiling while holding a box cutter with my blood on it. The girl was hugging me, but she was actually hurting me. The second symbol is the blood on the box cutter and on my back. It’s colored in with a marker to represent how much I lost and it doesn’t only just symbolize how the girl hurt me, it symbolized something I did to myself for a long time. It also represents my emotions and feelings, how I began to lose it and how everyday I started feeling more and more depressed. The third is the sticker on the girls jacket. It’s a smile, and it symbolized that I wasn’t happy. I was sad, but I always walked around with a fake smile, acting as if everything was okay. It’s on the girl and not me, to explain that she’s the reason behind my fake smile. Her mouth is also colored in with marker to represent the lies she always told me.
The most difficult part of this project for me was the hair. At first, I got the colors wrong, because my hair is a darker blonde than hers. So, I messed that up. I also messed up on the shading on the hair the first time too. If I started over, I would likely change the tint of the whole picture, and make it a little darker.
I’m not quite sure what kind of art style this is, but if I had to pick, I would say that it’s realistic (in a way). I think it’s unique to my art in a way that I could draw hands, hair with movement and a facial expression that isn’t like mine. My favorite thing about this artwork is the message it brings to me. To not look back at this girl and say “I let her in and she completely destroyed me!” Instead, I could say, “I let her in and she completely destroyed me, but I managed to come out alive.”
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