WhatchamaDRAWit

The subject of this piece is a girl playing a strange instrument. The instrument is a combination of a flute, a trumpet, and a guitar. The background is a dull color, but the notes coming from the instrument are bright and rainbow-colored. I made the sketch with 4H and HB pencils. I shaded the girl and her instrument with prismacolor pencils. The instrument went really well, but I realized that the girl was very grey and the background had very little contrast, so I decided to use watercolor. To add texture, I added a drop of watercolor, let it sit for a couple seconds, then, I dabbed at it with a paper towel. To make the look less uniform, I used multiple layers on some of the larger notes. I chose to create this specific drawing because I thought that the instrument would look boring all by itself. I had a person playing it, and I made an intriguing background. When I was laying out this piece, I used the rule of thirds, and I wanted to give the piece movement. After experimenting with several different ideas, I decided on this setup. I started a little too fast though, so I had to start over. This gave me a chance to further solidify my ideas. I used lines to show the shapes. I used value to make the shapes into forms. I added texture to the girl's clothing and the background. I used color to add contrast from the black and white portions of the drawing. The contrast and emphasis that the colored section creates gives the piece a sense of movement. I think that this is the strongest aspect of the piece.

I used the rule of thirds to emphasis the more important parts of the piece. I used informal balance, sharp focus, and high key lighting. This project started as some rough 10-second sketches. Then, I moved on to better paper. Here I sketched out the character and the instrument. After doing this, I noticed all of the whitespace in the background. I decided to add notes coming from the instrument. I started coloring in the sketch with colored pencil, but I made the lighting really red, and I realized that the proportions were awful. I started over with clean paper. I sketched out everything again, but I realized that the girl was looking in the wrong direction, so I had to erase her face. After this, I colored her and her instrument in with prismacolors. I made the background with pen and watercolor.

The meaning behind the artwork is that the girl is trying to get the (metaphorical) darkness to leave by playing her instrument. This project relates to my life because this was my first successful attempt at creating movment. I was really proud of the composition in this piece, but I wish the technique was there to back it up. The watercolor is messy (in a bad way). The clothing and face are poorly drawn, and the head looks disconnected to the shoulders.