Circle Drawing

Artist Statement

In this piece, the main idea we were supposed to keep in mind was of course to use circles either as a format or in the piece itself. I decided to draw some naturally round animals and some not and squeeze them into this unnatural rectangular shape, hence the name Restricted and Restrained. I enjoy drawing animals as well as using a pen, so I used this piece more as a study to work on textures like the turtle shell or the flamingo's feathers. Personally, I was trying to bring forth this idea of being enclosed in a space that does not fit you, and having to adapt to it. In my piece, this was supposed to be evident in the salamander but primarily the alligator, which looks and is too big for the space it is being forced into. The animals were mostly chosen based on their naturally round shapes, and the rest I tried to incorporate by adding circular elements like the snake, whose body curls around itself several times. The flamingos expression and posture was also something that I specifically did to tie back to the idea I was trying to represent as its neck is bent and it is forced to look down.

For this piece, I once again used a black pen and a thicker black marker. I chose not to add color as the technique I used was already fairly busy. First, I sketched out the basic dimensions of the rectangle and then brainstormed some animals I wanted to incorporate. Certain ones came to mind immediately, however I did have to do some research as I was running out of round or circular shaped animals. I did not choose to go with a theme, for instance conley tropical animals, however I think all of the species actual tie in quite well. I next sketched out the basic shapes and sizes each animal would be so I could figure out how to make them all fit together without leaving too much negative space. I used the same technique I always use when working with stippling and many little points, I started by outlining and filling I any darker areas where shadows would be cast with the thicker marker so I could cover more ground. I then went in with a finer top to add value.

I experimented quite a bit throughout this piece, as I said before I used it as a study to try out different textures and surface. I tried to add a ruff, spiky texture to the alligator, a smooth, hard texture for the turtle, and a light and feathery texture for the flamingo. I tried different techniques like using many points to create a dark line rather than a solid line done in one stroke. For instance, on the alligator I used harsh lines for the spikey back, and on the flamingo, I used a bunch. of little dots to build up value. Apart from texture and value, I tried to play with space and and balance, not wanting the piece to be crowded but also wanting to fill the page more. I had a pretty set idea from the get-go on how, what, and why I want to approach this piece the way I ended up doing. The only big thing that evolved was what animals to fill the bottom right corner with. At first I drew a pufferfish, yet I was able to turn it into the turtle at the last moment because I felt like the pufferfish did not fit from its scale in comparison to the other animals. Overall, I am very happy with the way this piece turned out, the process was very enjoyable as I was able to try out different things and was able to develop the piece as I went.