06. Leaves Portfolio
Artist Statement
For this piece, we were tasked with creating a gelatin print out of leaves and then expand said print by adding to the original in any way that we chose. For my piece, I used the first of my three prints with blue ink before I started to illustrate inside the white outlines left by the leaves. Making a rough outline of the illustration that I wanted to include, which I decided would be a snake, I then went back in with some black ink to really bring the design to life. After finishing the main form of the snake I felt that the initial form that I was going to stick with was just a bit too simple. Deciding to add in some rather simple lines, I then decided to turn said lines into string; giving each the illusion of shine with the black ink and white space. Liking how the space was not feeling as blank, I decided to just add in a few finishing details before I felt the print was finished. Going back in with a silver marker, I highlighted a few different scales on the snake and also finished off my background; which I decorated with silver stripes.
The final product did change a bit compared to my earlier drafts. Like I mentioned above I originally wasn't going to add the pieces of string tangling around the snake, about after deciding that the space was feeling a bit blank I went back in and added the string to break down the white space. Besides that change, the silver stripes in the background also occurred as a change. I really liked how the silver marker highlighted the scales when I added it to my snake and I decided that I wanted to add that to my piece in another form; therefore the silver striped background my born.
Snakes are something that, strangely over the years, I’ve come to love. I remember being younger and living in this house that was surrounded by a rock wall. We had the problem where garter snakes would always sneak into our house under our screen door, coming to sleep in our sunroom where we also kept all our potted plants. It was always a nerve-racking sight to be walking around barefoot and then to suddenly see something slither out from underneath a pot, and from those experiences, I slowly came to be wary of snakes. But as I’ve grown older, and moved out of a house which I shared much of the same floor space with snakes and other creatures from outdoors, I find myself missing those garter snakes that always managed to sneak; nostalgia if you will. So now here in the future, I find myself fond of the creatures, enough so that they had become a guest in some of my art pieces. I really like how this piece came out, leaving me wanting to make no changes. If I were to revise in the future, though I don't think I will, I would probably try to fix the problem with the silver marker being streaky; as I would've liked a more solid color base where you couldn't see all the individual lines.
Artist Statement
For this piece we were tasked with creating an observational piece of fall leaves that we selected from outside; this task slightly changing for me though as I lost my original observational leaves and had to pick new ones; which passed the prime leaf season. Working with watercolor and colored pencils I layered first with watercolor, really trying to express the different depth and texture of the leaves, before going back in with colored pencil to finish off the more finer details like the creases and veins. Another criteria of this project was that we had to have leaves extending outside of our border. Rearranging the leaves in this way did leave a lot of room to interpret what leaves you wanted to include and which to cut, but in the end, I think this requirement only made the project itself more interesting to create.
Since I did lose my original leaves I didn't have to make adjustments to how I was going to portray this piece. The original leaves that I had varied in shades of orange, red, yellow, and brown, while the leaves I selected for my newer piece were much more muted because of the season coming to an end. Because these leafs were missing most of their color I tried to arrange the piece in a way that would make up for the lack of color. Overlapping and adding more elements to the piece, this was drastically different from my original draft as the colors were brighter and I had fewer subjects in the piece.
Fall is by far my most favorite season. Besides hosting two of my favorite holidays, just the overall feel of it has left me with nostalgia lasting years. The chilled air, pumpkins and apples, the changing of the leaves; overall fall is just a beautiful season. For this piece even though we were limited to a singular focus, I felt that the subject was so beautiful and expandable that the requirements only added to the potential beauty and creativity of the piece; which is why I’m disappointed in myself for how my final product came out. Filled with muted colors, this piece does nothing to express the beauty of fall; instead, it looks like it should be hung up in some bland doctors office. If I revisit this project in the future I would work to truly express the season that I love. Pigmented colors of red, orange, yellow and brown, colors would be my main focus followed by composition. I would completely start over, gather leaves during the right time when they are still bright and then work to find the perfect composition for them.