Embedded Files
2019-2020
Work in progress of an Artist, Trippie Redd, who means a lot to me and who's music plays a big role in my life and acts as an inspiration.
In the quickly evolving 21st century, boys and girls are expected to portray a perfect version of themselves online, creating platforms that present false representations of reality. Viewing these one sided versions of people can take a toll on many, injecting their brains with the toxic habit of comparison. Girls and boys compare their appearance with those they see on instagram, facebook, in magazines, on tv, etc. They will cover up their insecurities with makeup as well as filters, displaying a fake image of themselves in order to please others or gain their acceptance. We see snippets of strictly the most glorified moments of people's lives, because they have ultimate control over what people see and also what they choose to keep hidden. Social media platforms are filled with corrupt ideals, promoting harmful trends that can ultimately brainwash a person. Most of the time, the information presented online impacts people in a negative manner, because viewers become absolutely obsessed over developing their own feed of excellence, just like the ones they are forced to scroll through on a daily basis.
There is an underlying sense of irony within how one chooses to change their appearance through the application of makeup and filters. You can find thousands of tutorial videos on how to do a “natural makeup look”, some even walk you through a “no-makeup, makeup look”. These influencers are basically titling this in a way in which they’re making one statement that completely contradicts the other. This idea is depicted through the flowers in my drawing, because they represent a natural aspect of beauty, although they still cover up a significant amount of the woman’s features. The wash of colors and odd addition of flowers also presents absurdity and distortion, because they are somewhat out of place and absurd in relation to their surroundings. The flowers show the mask of “beauty” that people use to cover up their flaws, even if this mask may be composed in a supposedly natural manner such as the common makeup look millennials attempt to achieve;although they’re simultaneously destroying the true meaning of being natural.
"Honeycomb" - The base layer for this original drawing was watercolors in which I layered to get the subtle almost faded look. I came back in with copic fine liners, white gel pens, and colored pencils to draw back in some of those details that the watercolors didn't define. I used an exacto knife to cut out hexagonal shapes representing something similar to honeycomb, which relates to the bees that add to this theme. Physically cutting out these shapes was difficult for me, because it is something I have never tried before, although I think it worked out. I was planning on placing a sheet of lustrous gold to draw together the piece, although I couldn't find anything that suited what I had imagined. Hopefully I will find something that matches my idea and can finish "Honeycomb".
Watercolor painting of a hydrangea flower. The inspiration for this came from Cape Cod, which I visit every summer. I took a photo of bloomed Hydrangeas and used that as a reference for this watercolor piece. I created the outline using a copic pen to get the very fine lines you see in the petals and leaves.
Here are a few pictures of a large scale still life piece I am working on. The material I am working with is charcoal. The black and white picture was taken near the window, I believe that the streaks of light emphasize the contrast of the highlights and shadows. I am beginning to add hints of color using pastels, for example on the strings of the cello as well as the cloth. I am planning to leave some of the right side of the image "unfinished". Similarly to when people are reading something, they view a picture scanning from left to right... in my drawing I want viewers to appreciate the realism of the cello and recreation of this real life set up, but then get transported into a mindset of creativity as they finish by studying the right side, and unfinished side of the drawing, and remember that it is embodied by an expressive process with raw marks and not just a simple recreation of a still life.
My newest piece is going to be a recreation of this photo of my father taken when he was a child. I am planning to accomplish this using prismacolor pencils on tan toned sketchbook paper.
Plan.
This year I plan to focus my attention on creating pieces that surpass my comfort zone. I would like to experiment more with paint mediums, mainly acrylics, as well as with creating patterns that may be out of the ordinary. For example warping photos and thinking of them in a different manner than how they blankly appear.
Self portrait expressing emotion through the black and white display inside the drawn boxes. Prismacolor on tan toned paper.
Pen work of one of my favorite actors - Penn Badgley.
More practice with pen work.
Watercolor scenes. Almost all of them completed without a reference as I wanted to put everything I was imagining onto the page.
Quick interpretive sketch of my friend Zach using markers in class
Above are pictures I took of zach which I will use for a larger piece done in pen and ink. To the left is a sketch I did as I was planning out how my drawing would look. I have worked on the actual large piece quite a bit but have yet to take progress photos (thanks corona virus...)
To the left is a drawing done with copic multiliners. I used myself as a reference and added a surreal aspect leaking from the iphone I hold in my hand. The designs I created are somewhat corruptive and unpredictable, hinting at the effects in which social media can have on an individual.
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