Drawing I

Isaac Blandin “Eye of the Beholder”

18x24”, Chalk pastel on Paper, 2017

My artwork is an expression of an eye in the surreal art style. I wanted to draw an eye due to how different each eye will look between color, highlights, etc., which I wanted to accentuate in this work with the uses of contrasting styles and colors. Along with this, an eye can mean something different to others. It opens up the opportunity for someone else to get a meaning out of it such as creating a connection to someone they know or the such. If I were to do this work again, I would have adjusted the angle of the eye slightly to more horizontal. In addition, I would have preferred a more vibrant blue in the iris of the eye along with more variance of colors throughout the iris with highlights. I would have made sure to prevent as much smudging of the chalks from occurring while making this drawing. There were a few things that I loved about my artwork. In the drawing, I liked the contrast of sharp, clean details and lines to the different subtle, soft boundaries used throughout the work. I also liked the variance in the thickness of eyelashes between the roots and tips. Finally, I like how the iris very much became the focal point of the drawing with the subtle colors on the outside and the monochromatic other parts of the eye. In my opinion, this really brought attention to the iris.

Isaac Blandin “Resilience in Roses”

8.5x11”, Ink and Chalk Pastel on Paper, 2017

My print making drawings of a rose were created and expressed in the surreal art style. While it was based off of a real rose which I sketched when in front of me, I made it more into a surreal art style by the conversion to simple lines of the shape rather than a picturesque art style with high detail or shading. I find that flowers can hold much symbolism within their nature. I find that a rose shows the balance of nature and life. A rose bears amazing beauty that attracts man and animal but also bears its aggressive defensive measures of its thorns. Despite this, it is also fragile as it will also wilt and die in the cold. However, it also shows resilience in that it is able to bring itself back to life in the spring. I find that this could all be drawn to similarities in all of our lives where there is beauty, but danger lurks. There are also difficulties in life, but we bounce back.

If I were to change something about these drawings, I would attempt to do better at the spreading of ink on the acrylic sheet, so there would be less overflow ink other than the lines I was putting down. Despite the fact that I had an issue with the overflow ink, one of the things I loved about these drawings was the way that the color of the chalk pastel changed when on the paper compared to over the overflow ink. This added some diversity to the colors. I also liked the simplicity of the black and white lined drawing. While all I did after the ink was added highlights in a contrasting color to the lines, I liked how this ended up as it was simple, but clean looking.

Isaac Blandin “Duality”

18x24”, Chalk Pastel, Charcoal, and Graphite on paper, 2017

I created my art work with the intent of containing two types of art styles while keeping some sort of cohesion. I also wanted to do a work of art mixing forms of media together. With this goal, I created a drawing which has both abstract and realism aspects of the drawing achieved with the split of the elephant. However, I wanted to also get across the point that a piece of art is more than an image; it is a story. The elephant’s split appearance holds symbolic significance. The elephant is meant to represent the two-faced personality type which is so prominent and common. There’s the colorful, clean cut, and kind personality that can be shown at times, but there is the darker, rougher personality which is potentially hiding behind the faces of many.

If I were to do this drawing again, I would change a few things. I would have done more work to make the middle boundary a sharp line. I also would have tried to make the graphite lines for the geometric patterns less prominent. One of the things I would also change is to make the colors of the colorful side a little bit more subdued rather than bright so that the drawing would have a more cohesive look. What I loved about this drawing was its ability to be contrasting but work together due to the semi-symmetry in the drawing. I also loved being able to create a drawing with the intent on building symbolism into it. I liked how the shading of the realistic side of the elephant was able to give depth.

Isaac Blandin “Broken but Whole”

9x12”, Graphite on Paper

When I started this work of art, I wanted to dive deeper into the art style of realism. However, I wanted to also have hints of abstract styling to keep away from full realism. Due to this, I started with a picture of myself and started to see what I could do with it. Like some of my other works of art, I wanted to make it more than art, but also a message or symbol of something. I find that this art work represents the feelings which I’ve seen become more prominent in people throughout my time in high school. It shows how broken someone can be inside, but in reality, we can’t see this visually on the outside in most cases. However, this art work gives a visual representation to this.

If I were to do this drawing again, I would try and smooth out the shading a bit better in order to not get as rough of a variation within regions. I would also try and do more to remove rigid lines with shading and variance in color rather than having the lines within it. What I love about this drawing is its ability to be interpreted for a message. I also loved how the drawing came out with the breaks within the picture.