05. Black & White Animal Figure Drawing

Artist Statement:

For this project, we were tasked with creating a grayscale piece of an animal figure(s) of our choosing. I decided to use the alligator figure and do two different perspectives of said figure: using a combination of indian ink and water to draw this piece. Starting off with a basic outline in light pencil, I then went back in with indian ink to outline the basic shape and details that I wanted to show up. Doing a mixture of dotting and some cross-hatching, I really tried to highlight the alligator's scales. Finishing I let the indian ink to dry before I went back in with some gray watercolor. Simply deciding one-two varying shades of gray, I then painted my two different perspectives with the two different tones of gray; just so their outlines stood out a bit more from each other.

Originally I wasn't going to use the alligator figures as my focus for this piece, but the figure I’d previously been sketching had been used by someone; so I just decided to start something new. I knew I still wanted to use a reptile, so after going through my choices, I decided to use the alligator. It was actually a choice I quickly came to love, as I found observing and analyzing the muscle structure and skin of the alligator to be quite interesting; even if it wasn't a real alligator but a realistic one. I also hadn't planned on adding any sort of watercolor, but after looking at my then final product with just ink I decided that it was missing something. My decision on using the gray watercolor worked out perfectly though, as I think it helps both highlight and separate the two perspectives.

Alligators aren't something I have a particular love of, but I do find their movements and structure to be quite fascinating. I admit I do watch videos online of alligator and crocodile attacks, and though a bit gruesome, the strength that they attack with is riveting. In some moments it almost seems as if they're flying out of the water. They are an animal pumped to the max with strength, but also a patient intelligence, something I admire them for. Even though I’m happy with how this piece came out if I were to revise there’d be one thing that I changed. I had the problem of cropping down/cutting the borders of my piece too much, as I felt it was crocked, which then left my piece with much less space than I’d originally intended. Going back I would either cut out the main piece and place it on a bigger piece of paper or just place the piece that I have right now on a bigger paper. Besides that, I think it came out good.