Midterm

The main idea that guided this artwork was trying to create something out of a page of circles given to us for our midterm. At the beginning of the exam period I was stumped on what to make, circles are a very inorganic shape. I ran past a few ideas like dawning a landscape through the circles, abstract shapes and colors, and turning the circles into heads. I ended up thinking about how unnatural circles are and how you would most likely find something like rows of circles in an urban environment. I thought about buildings and pipelines underneath cities. That's how I landed on the ideas of each of the circles being a little room on a wall. After that I built on that idea during the exam period, creating a town inspired by dystopian stories and towns that mice live in within many different stories. After that I started the sketch out the scene, something I was trying to figure out from that point on is how to add personality. I wanted to figure out how to make the environment feel alive and lived in.

I was given a piece of paper covered in 20 circles in 4x5 rows, I then had to make something out of that. . used pencil to sketch out basic forms and details, erasing and re-drawing a lot to figure out what to do. Then I used a fine-tipped marker to create the line art for everything in the drawing. Using a fine-tip pen I was also able to creat a lot of detail and texture using excess lines and scribbles. I also tried to make some of the lines in the environment more interesting by going over things a second time loss, creating a two-line effect. I used a variety of alcohol markers to color in this piece, it feels like I'm coming full circle because I used the same markers for my first art project in this class. I also used a white gel pen to correct some mistakes like in places where I accidentally colores somthing with the wrong marker.

After figuring out what I wanted to turn the circles into I didn't really have a plan. I just kept sketching  and drawing, mostly I just kept adding more and more details as I went. I added wooded steps and a leader because I wanted there to be a semi believable way for people to get around. I added two rooms for food and water storage to add to the dystopia-type feel of the scene. I added graphite everywhere for the same reason and because the environment is based of off sewer spaces. I tried to show the basic personality of the people in the scene though the way they looked and the way they decorated their rooms. Mostly I just kept doing what looked and felt right.