Drawing I

Grant Olson "In All My Glory"

6x6in, Standard pencil, 2025

The origin of this work is when I learned that we would need a mix of four different medias and themes for our four projects. Due to the fact I had no ideas for other projects at the time, I decided to go with the self portrait first. The creation started with a simple inch by inch grid on sketch paper, an AI filter was added to the original photo of myself, from here I drew the borders of the jacket and face along with some basic hair. With this done, the face was added to make it easier to get an idea of the final product. Once the face had been drawn out, I got to shading to give realism to the project, then after consulting my teacher for ideas and improvement, I used a darker detailing to Bring out some details and give a better 3D appearance. When it comes to "meaning", there really isn't much other than the fact that I like to work with real images and objects. Surrealism has never been an interest of mine, nor something I could visualize. But due to my lack of skill in 3D drawing, a lot of sketches that are supposed to be realistic end up warped and distorted. The primary difficulty I had with this work would be trying to match the look of the hair and other features without drawing out each individual hair. To solve this, I looked at the way certain regions of hair moved together and the way they all faced, I would copy this a few times over in that area to give a similar look, some hairs stuck out on their own and would be drawn individually. Other than that, this was generally simple and I believe done well.

Grant Olson "Baseline"

9x12in, Standard pencil, 2025

For this first work of the semester, I decided to draw out the side view of a dockyard in a game map, the map is loosely based off of Roscoff, France, in the late Napoleonic wars. I simply desired to create sketches and possibly projects based on this game, with multiple being based on this map in particular. This work was make in a rather distracting environment, so initial production was slow and rushed near the end. The image and the map itself both had heavy fog, meaning that it was difficult to detail the buildings in the background, especially with in-room distractions. This is why the background is blended and low detail. Because the work is based entirely on a real map, this would be a realistic work.

 (IDEA) First explain what your idea is.  How did you get the idea and how did it evolve?  Inspirations from life experiences?  Another Artwork?

(PROCESS) Explain your process.  What tools and techniques did you use?

(SYMBOLISM & ICONOGRAPHY) What does the artwork mean?  What do you want your audience to think about?  Is there any symbolic imagery in the work? 

(ARTISTIC GROWTH) What was most difficult for you?  How did you overcome the struggles?  What would you change if you started over?

(VISUAL VOICE) What style of art is this?  (Realistic, Abstract, Surreal, Non-Objective?). What makes it unique to your own personal style?  What do you love about it? 

Grant Olson "Years of decay"

9x6in, Standard pencil, Colored pencil, 2025

Grant Olson "The southern arctic"

7.5x5.5in, Graphite pencil, Colored pencil, 2025

Grant Olson "Only thirty years ago"

8.5x6in, Graphite pencil, Colored pencil 2025