Circle Project

Artist Statement

For this piece, we were instructed to use the four by five circles template as a major part of out composition. I chose to do a more architectural piece and saw it as more of a study, similar to the first circle project we did in this class. Immediately, I had a very sculptural looking sketch and began to draw on my final paper and, underestimating the amount of time it would take me, I chose a very big format. When I was sketching, I had the idea of doing a very surrealist modern style design, so I chose to make the circles the windows, and added vertical siding to create some dimension. I knew I wanted to use the sort of pointillism method to add to the effect that it isn't in perspective, to scale, or a realistic drawing, and I liked the way it added to the circles being the center piece. I also chose to use the stippling method to end the semester in the way that I started, so I went back to a subject, medium, and technique that I have been working with since the beginning of the semester.

I very quickly had an idea formed for how I wanted to use the circle template in my piece, so my next step was to begin on my final paper. Since the project was originally due two days later, I knew I didn't have all too much time to experiment and finish in time, so I chose some plain paper and pen. After i had everything sketched out, I started evenly measuring out and drawing in details, however a lot ended up being covered as I blocked out many sections with black to add value and create the illusion of shadows. I also wanted to make sure that the walls with the circles stood out more than those fading into the background to create a more realistic effect. It took me a while to do just a part of the piece, ad I soon realized that many more of the details would have to be cut out if I wanted to finish in a timely manner, so I kept the design simple. I was also inspired by the last bellringer, artist Marc Antoine-Mathieu, who creates really stark black and white contrast. To build up that value and allow me to create emphasis, I started smudging the ink which built up and in turn allowed me to use an eraser on place like the windows to lighten parts of the piece up.

In the past and during my free time, I have done a lot of architectural plans and elevation drawings, however I have never drawn as freely, without a ruler, or perspective vanishing points, which made this piece something new for me. Also, I haven't used stippling in sketches like this one before, as I generally like to create a smooth facade by either blending or crosshatching. My project evolved quite a bit in the sense that at first I had a big, grand drawing in mind, however after the first day of drawing I realized that at the pace I was going and the tie that stippling takes I would not be able to do all the details I originally planned for. Moving forward, I would really like to try more architectural drawings and keep trying the stippling technique as it really allows you to build up layers.