Some lines in this drawing are thick, others are thin, and some medium thickness. They’re straighter, with jagged edges, and very pointy. I used cross hatching to create medium tones to help blend the black and white values. 

The lines are supposed to represent determination, power, and strong will. They are meant to be sharp and bold; vertical lines showing strength and power, zig-zag show determination, and diagonal lines show sharpness and action. 

I chose these emotions and lines because I drew pride flags. The 5 striped one is the trans flag, and the 3 striped one is the pan flag. The first pride was a riot, started by black trans women who changed the rights I have today. This work is supposed to be bold, and proud.

Like the first drawing, some of these lines are thick, thin, and medium. These lines are curvy, round and swift. Instead of cross hatching, I made circles or spirals to show shading and depth. 

The lines here are supposed to be calm, swift, and peaceful. Pride today is more peaceful than it used to be. It is more accepted, more known, more people feel safe to come out with who they are. It’s a confusing part of yourself that can take years to find out, or accept about yourself. It can be hard to find a label that fits, and some people don’t like labels. They just want to be who they are. 

I really like both of these prints. I hated some parts of them at first but they’re both really growing on me. Though I love both of them, and it was difficult to choose one I think is more successful, I would probably say image #1 is the most successful. It shows how I picture pride the last few years. There has been protests, multiple people have been killed for being out, it is still illegal in some places, and yet I, and many others, are still proud. The lines are sharp and bold, they’re clean and powerful and I will gladly put them on my wall. The arm is raised up high to wave the pride flags. 

The purpose of this project was to learn a new medium, and learn how to show different textures. This project was about simulated texture. I tried to simulate the texture of a snail, with a skull shell. I was able to show this texture with the different values, like the bright white highlights, and the dark red shadows. I chose to do this as my texture print because I thought it looked really cool and I like the meaning behind snail shells. They often have an association to death, because snails cannot survive without one. The skull shell to me means it was reborn. 

I made this by carving into a soft kut block, rolling ink over it, and then printing it onto a piece of paper, and redoing that process. It is a reduction print because I only used one block to print multiple colors, and I reduced the block by cutting into it. This is also a relief print, because the raised areas picked up the ink from the brayer, and the image was carved away, and those parts don’t pick up ink. 

I learned which carving tools worked better for certain parts that I wanted to carve, and how to carve them. The challenging part was processing which part I had to carve away from the block, because my reference photo was mirrored to my print. I think I succeeded the most on the spiral of the snail shell, and creating a skull out of it. 

My family sculpture includes 3 people. Me, my boyfriend, and my pet cat. This might not be your typical family, but it’s who I consider my family. Who I know will always be there for me. My boyfriend and I are different not only physically, but also personality wise. Ray, my boyfriend, is extremely caring and comforting. He is always there for me especially when I am in a rough area. Before a personal situation, we dated for a year and 5 months, and I am so glad he stayed with me even after the situation ended our romantic relationship. He has been there for me for over 2 years now. And I am so glad we met. Now that I have left the situation, we are back together, and I haven’t been this happy in a long time. 

My cat somehow always knows when something is wrong. If I am in my room after a bad day, she will come in and jump onto my bed to comfort me. She is this little fluffy blob that has helped me for the past 4 years. 

I get along with both of them very well. Ray and my cat, Downy, have never met, but I am positive that when they do, those two will get along great. I often send pictures of Downy to Ray, and he adores her. She is this small, fuzzy ball of joy. 

My form in this sculpture is the red boxy shape, with black spikes on the top. It is supposed to slightly represent my battle jacket. I don’t go anywhere without it. It’s my sense of security, and helps build my confidence. But I am also a more boxy figure physically. I’m also a couple inches taller than Ray, which is why my shape is only a little taller than his form. Ray’s form is the curved black one next to mine. I designed the sculpture so that our shapes fit together, like a puzzle. We work very well together. Downy’s form is the blob inside of mine. She is this fuzzy blob with a tail. 

Before actually making the sculpture, I spent days planning it out on 6 sheets of paper. 

When I first heard about this being the next project, I immediately knew I wanted it to have multiple heads. My original drawings had around 3-4 heads, but I decided to simplify it, and only made 2. In all of my sketches though, I knew it needed to have my battle jacket. I wear it everywhere I go, and it shows off who I am. I sew on patches that express who I am and add pins on the collar. It’s also my form of protection, a kind of armor with studs and spikes.

To start my sculpture, I started by making a sturdy base, or armature, of foamcore, cardboard, and foil. I had blocked out the shapes I was going to use. Then, I covered it in a layer sculptamold, and started sculpting my details; hair, face, clothes. After it had dried overnight, I painted my sculpture in acrylic paint. 

I learned a new medium that I never knew existed. I know clay, but I didn’t know sculptamold. It was definitely harder to use than clay for me, but it was still a cool, fun project. It was hard to make it smooth, near the end I learned I needed to make it thick, but it was already too late to smooth everything out. I think I’ll be able to use what I learned in future projects. I got pretty good at molding shapes, which I’m proud of.