Time Capsules 2D

The assignment for this project was to create four pieces: a cropped self portrait (using a mirror), a hallway in my house or school, my hand in an interesting gesture, and an object I depend on regularly. For the cropped self portrait I focused on my right eye, I used a hallway in the upstairs of my house for the second requirement, I chose to use the letter P in sign language for an interesting gesture and drew my backpack which I depend on everyday.

My media for all four pieces was graphite on paper. In the self portrait I used a stencil to make perfect circles for my eye and shading for my skin tone and shadow. I also used a tortillon to blend the color. This piece demonstrates informal balance because my eye is in the very center. I used one point perspective for the hallway drawing in combination with varying line weights to add to the sense of depth. This piece demonstrates leading lines---all the "horizontal" lines on the sides and the "vertical" lines on the top and bottom are angled to the center. In the hand drawing I used shading to show shadows and used framing in a sense by adding a piece of paper in the background to create contrast. In the drawing of my backpack I used shading for contrast between different pieces of fabric and for shadowing. This piece demonstrates the rule of thirds because the backpack is on the left side of the picture, only touching two of the three horizontal intersections of the imaginary grid.

I chose my eye for the cropped self portrait drawing because it's probably the most interesting feature of my face and I wanted to challenge myself to add details (which are required with an eye). The most challenging part of this work was cropping while using a mirror so that i would include the correct features and use the right proportions. This piece could be stronger in I had drawn my ear more accurately and blended my shades more. I chose this hallway in my house because it was clean and I could see all the elements that I would need to include. The most challenging parts were the railing (with so many rungs) and the slope of the ceiling which makes the door off-center, making it difficult to use one point perspective. This piece could be stronger if I had shaded it. I found the gesture for th letter P to be the most interesting which is why I chose it for the hand drawing.The most challenging part was finding the right shade for the shadows on the palm of my hand. I wanted the shadow to be obvious but not completely dark. The piece could be stronger if I had used color, especially for my skin which I think would have looked good. I am most proud of the drawing of my backpack because I think that the shadows and folds of the fabric look realistic. I chose my backpack because I knew this aspect would be challenging but also that it could look really good. This piece could be stronger if I had found a way to incorporate color. These pieces represent my strength as an artist in use of techniques I learned last year (shading, perspective, facial drawing, etc) and my weakness in lack of color which was mainly due to a time restraint.