Artist's Statement:

Jillian Wight

Andreson

Foundations of Art

October 10, 2019

To create my negative space drawing, I used a wide range of materials. To start with, I found some leaves outside which I planned to trace onto the paper. I tried my best to choose the most intriguing shapes. When I returned to the classroom, I used a pencil to outline the leaves, tracing them onto the paper in an arrangement I’d laid out. I then went over this outline with sharpie, using different colors depending on what I planned to draw in each section. For the parts where one solid color would be used (i.e. the sky, or a field) I used a few different shades of that color and drew neat lines to add interest and depth. This was the first time in a while that I’d used sharpie to create a peice, and I thought it came out well. I experimented with different widths of the tip, and I played around with the color palette. Next time, I think I would choose a different selection of colors. These ones took away from each other a bit. Overall, my project was pretty dull when I started drawing. However, by mixing abstract elements with realistic elements like butterflies, trees, and moths, I was able to create interest. I wish that I had added more realism in other spaces, to tie the pieces together. However, this was the simplest piece that I’ve created this year and I felt that working only in sharpie was freeing, and created a simpler, cleaner look.

The most obvious element of art in my piece was line. I used this effect to create unity in my boxes, by incorporating simple color patterns (in lines) into a number of boxes. I also created some more complex patterns of lines in the birch trees I drew, which are really just straight lines if you look closer. Color was another prominent element, although I feel I didn’t do a fantastic job of handling it. While I think each section looks nice and the colors in it are tied into others to create balance and unity, I don’t think that they all compliment each other nicely. I am, however, proud of the sky, in which I used two very siora colors to add interest to the piece. I love the butterflies, and I love the colors in the section with the birch trees. In general, color is something I hope to get better at this year. Shape and space were the other elements of art present in my piece. Space, of course, was a major influence on the project and in fact my goal was to use the space I had effectively. I think I did this well, because the way that I manipulated the negative space emphasised both the shape of the leaves (positive) and the rest of the page (negative). Texture and form were not really present, as the eyepiece is meant to be relatively flat. As for principles of design, I used unity as mentioned above. As well as this, I used contrast, most evident in the colors I picked. Though the style of each box is relatively the same, the colors used stand out against each other, such as the leaves against the blue background or the yellow, orange, and red butterflies against a green field. Emphasis was also part of my piece. It appears in the top and middle boxes most obviously. In the sky, I used the darker color to outline the clouds, because the remainder of the border had been outlined with the lighter blue. This made the clouds pop, as well as their glaring white color against a royal blue background. The butterflies also popped quite a bit, as I made sure they were the only details in the middle, and largest box.

In my work, the idea of an outdoor, cool, autumnal scene is present. I achieved this by arranging my leaves to look as if they swirled in front of the viewers eyes, and then filling in each box with sharp, crisp drawings that reminded me of cool days in Maine. The top represents the remarkably clear skies that outline barren tree branches during the fall. The middle box represents a large cornfield, riddled with moths and butterflies. I looked out my window, and saw wet birch trees glowing against the tar road. This was the effect I tried to create in the box on the right hand corner. I also incorporated the pattern of a leaf, and the inside of a mug of hot chocolate. Though less complex, these boxes tied the vibe together. Though this project has no deeper meaning, instead its beauty is in the simplicity. Immediately, when the idea of an autumnal background was introduced to us, I knew what I would include. I wanted to capture the crisp, clear feeling of a sunny fall day. It is one of the seasons I find most beautiful, and I think that if I had dressed up my piece and accessorized it as much as I usually do, I would not have liked the results. Instead, the simplicity of the project conveys the pleasantries of fall, and the beauty of things we see everyday. In my piece, I am most proud of the way I stuck with one medium, and was able to use it to create interest. I have been afraid, wth past pieces, that it won't be complex enough pr that it isn’t engaging for the viewer. However, I restrained myself this time after turning it multiple over complicated pieces of artwork. This time, I know there are definitely things I could improve upon, but I love the way that I achieved a great project, using only one material. I would say I struggled most with arranging my leaves. There are an excessive amount, and they take up a lot of space on the page. In other pieces, the leaves added to the drawing. However I feel that mine take away, distracting the eye a bit from the negative space. My critiquers agreed with me. Unfortunately, I was unable to overcome this. The drawing was already well underway when I realized my error, and I'd already started over once due to rushed decision making. However, the simplicity of the negative space balances it out a bit.

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