Concentration: Monsters

IN THE WOODS SOMEWHERE

FEB. 2, 2018 — digital

IT'S A PARTY!

FEB. 15, 2018 — digital

FROZEN

MAR. 5, 2018 — digital

MOSQUITOS

MAR. 10, 2018 — digital

DINNER TIME

MAR. 29, 2018 — digital

STICKERS #2

APR. 10, 2018 — digital

This project is a concentration that we will be doing for the next few months. This was similar to our independent projects in that we were allowed to choose the subject matter, with the only stipulation being that it had to fit into our chosen concentration.

IN THE WOODS SOMEWHERE: I started this out by sketching it out on a piece of watercolor paper, and then I went over all of the lines with pen. However, once I started painting in the lines, I decided that it might actually be a good idea to try and do this digitally. I took a picture of my outlines and recreated them digitally, and then I started coloring. It's really hard to get going on projects like this because of the tediousness of redrawing the lines, and coloring in the lines because sometimes (often) the paint bucket tool doesn't work the way that I want it to, and also because if I decide that I don't like the color of a layer I have to completely redraw it with the pen tool. However, once I got past that and got into the smaller details, it got smoother. I spent a lot of time making different layers and shifting the opacity, with the desired end goal being that it would have a kind of middle-of-the-woods-at-night-during-a-murder vibe. I also spent a lot of time erasing sections of said layers in order to get the correct lighting shining on the ground, which took way longer than I would like to admit. Finally, after several hours of working, I was finished.

IT'S A PARTY! I started this project out based on a monster that I had sketched earlier this year. I was looking through old drawings, and I decided that I wanted to do something with that. So I took a photo of the sketch and traced over the existing lines, and then I colored in the monster. Then came the more difficult part—what about the background? I knew that I wanted to incorporate the ghosts somehow, and also I was in the mood for obnoxiously bright colors... so why not use the primary colors? After drawing out the ghosts, I made the background solid black and then used red, yellow, and blue to color in the ghosts. Once this was done, I added some shadows to the monster (to create the illusion of the ghosts being bright, maybe?) and added some glare / highlights where necessary. Once this was done, I printed it out and was finished.

FROZEN: I've been planning on drawing a scene in a grocery store fora while, but haven't gotten around to it until now. I was excited to finally get to do this, which meant that I finished pretty quickly. After sketching out the scene and general composition of the drawing, I went over all of the lines in black, added in the flat colors, and made a few layers for shading. Of course, while it sounds quick and easy, it was actually pretty time consuming—I spent like ten hours on it overall. Drawing each of the different foods and the brands took a long time, not to mention trying to perfect the coloring (I eventually settled on a teal tint to the whole thing, to add a sort of eerie feel) and trying to get the shading to match the angle of the lighting. However, once that was done, all that I had to do was go back in, draw some ghosts, and fix a few smudges, and then I was done.

MOSQUITOS: I've never been to a swamp, so I can't say for sure, but I imagine that they aren't pleasant. The thought of being in water above my knees, so dark and murky that I can't see my feet—the fear of something unseen brushing past my legs—makes me very uncomfortable and also urges me to curl up in my bed and never leave. So, I decided to channel this feeling through the setting of this project. As always, I began by sketching out the composition in pencil, and then I went ahead and traced over those lines digitally. I added the color layers, plopped some shadow onto it, and then fine-tuned some smaller things. I got the idea from one of my friends to make the eye really contrast the surroundings by making it bright, so I chose to make the eye out of obnoxiously light variations of the primary colors (I'm a sucker for primary colors). I also spent a while trying to get the reflections on the water just right, but I'm not sure how that worked out. Would there even be reflections in the middle of the night? Probably not. But, at any rate, I had fun with this project. I'm satisfied with the final product.

DINNER TIME: Throughout this concentration, I haven't really incorporated any humans. I don't like drawing people—I have no concept of human anatomy—but I decided that this time I would. However, I didn't want to make the person the main focus of the piece. So, after sketching out the image and placing the scuba diver in the middle, I decided to add some ghost fish to the foreground. I figured that this would not only take the focus off of the person, but also it would break up the darkness of the piece. I also added a bigger eye in the back to make the piece a bit creepier. Finally, I added some shadows and then called it good. It was a bit dark, but I decided to leave it that way—hopefully, the darkness would make people look closer at it, which is what I want.

STICKERS #2: Having done a lot of bigger pieces lately (e.g. ones with more details and WAY more layers) I decided to do something a bit less complicated this time. Since I had fun making the stickers earlier in the year, I decided that I would make some more for this project. I first came up with a theme (I decided that it would be plants) and then sketched some ideas before drawing it digitally. Rather than make a full page, I decided to make only half a page (so that I could fit two sets on one sheet—it saves paper!) Other than just drawing plants with faces, I also wanted to incorporate those ghost things that I've drawn so often this year, so I drew one with flowers around it. In the end, I'm pleased with how these came out, and I like how the colors look together.

This concentration is fun for me because I'm a fan of student-choice projects. I like drawing things that I like. Through this concentration (the theme of which I've decided is ghosts / monsters) I hope to achieve a few things. One, I really want to play around with lighting and shadows—it's an interesting part of art and life, and I like the fact that it can add a whole new level to a piece of art. Two, I want to have a color palette that is pleasing to the eye—I like colors that work well together, and I think that color choice can "make or break" art. Three, I want to continue to develop my style. I feel like in the past I've been limited by my art style and what looks good in my art style, so I want to try and explore new ways of incorporating my style into different works. I think that thus far I'm doing a good job of these, and I'd like to continue to do so.