Mixed Media Drawing

The subject of the piece is an old barn that my grandmother used to store different animals like sheep, chickens, horses, etc.; and the setting is on the property that they used to own. The artwork was made using the grid technique to help visualize the space that everything took up; using this I translated the original image over outlining at first with graphite; then taking a charcoal pencil, I roughed in most of the tones and shapes; after, I went over all of the darkest shadows with an ink pen; lastly, I erased all of the remaining grid lines and did some final blending. I chose this picture to recreate because I liked the look of this older, weathered barn, and I like to draw building or architecture rather than an object. In this, I used some elements and principles such as line, texture, value, and contrast.

I don't know what the composition rules or techniques are, so if I did use them then they are somewhere in there. Originally my project was changed because the first image would have been too difficult to recreate, using the materials that were selected for this project. Also, some spots on the page were too dark for that area, so I went around, using a kneadable eraser, and pulled some of the charcoal off the page. On the other hand, some places were too light, so I incorporated the required material, ink, to fill those spaces in.

The story behind this artwork is that this is my grandparents barn that has been standing for probably close to 60 years, showing signs of this age with all the small repairs; however, it still is managing to stand strong, even after they moved it is still there. Sadly though, their house, adjacent to it, was torn down to create a space for a new house. This project relates to my life because I spent a decent amount of time looking at all of the animals in this barn, and in this area in general. If I could make my artwork stronger, I think that I would have taken more time to incorporate the ink into the drawing, and maybe put a bit more detail into the background or into the satellite dish on the corner of the barn.