WatchamaDRAWit

Artist Statement

For this assignment, we were randomly given a prompt off of which I based my drawing. My prompt was to draw an angry snowman yelling at the sun. Immediately, I thought of the sun on some tarot cards, and from that point forward I knew I wanted the drawing to be a bit abstract and strange. Although the prompt didn't directly state so, I figured the snowman should be melting away under the sun. This made me imagine how the sun's rays would envelope the snowman from all sides, allowing the inevitable. The sun had to look powerful and overwhelming in regard with the melting, pathetic snowman. This piece certainly shows the sadness of snow melting and winter retiring, yet also the strong sense of summer the sun brings in spring. After months of winter here in Maine, I am always pleased, maybe a bit too much, to see the snow melting into pitiful puddles.

The process of this piece was quite simple as I knew immediately what and how I wanted to draw. I started the process by sketching out the rough shape and dimensions that I wanted, and then drew some darker lines in pencil. I did not wait long to go in with a black Micron pen and outlined the sun and the snowman. I wanted to leave some interesting negative spaces and I wanted to add to the composition of the piece so I exaggerated the sun's rays to en-cage the snowman. When I drew in the sun's face, I knew it had to look more evil and overpowering than the snowman. When drawing the snowman, I originally tried to make its face look angry, however it didn't seem to fit the situation anymore. I chose to make the button running down the snowman's face like a tear, and had the other appendages, the carrot nose and the other buttons, do the same. By using pointillism, I was able to add in shadows and movement. This technique also allowed me to make mistakes and change elements as I went. To make certain lines and areas of the drawing darker I used a black brush tip pen to fill out bigger spaces with bigger dots. Finally, I outlined both the sun and the snowman to create more shape and dimension and I was finished.

To create this piece, I used a number of Elements of Art, including line, shape, value, form, texture, and space. I believe I successfully created interesting shapes and space by using different forms for the suns rays and the shape of the snowman. I was also able to add value and texture to my piece specifically by using pointillism as I was able to create shadows. I also believe I was able to incorporate balance, emphasis, movement, and unity. Although the sun is more predominant, I tried to balance the heaviness at the top of the piece by having the snowman melting and therefore widening its surface are just like the sun. I also think because the sun is so much bigger and has a detailed face, the emphasis on my drawing is the sun. I tried to add movement and unity by having the suns rays turn and shift with the shapes of the snowman. By having the snowman melting and having some puddles extend from the snowman, I hoped this would reflect the rays coming off the sun. I believe I could additionally add a background of some sort, however it would have to be lighter as the subjects of my drawing are so darkly shaded in. Overall, I really like the way this drawing came out and thoroughly enjoyed the process of working off of a prompt.