Back in September and October when my art teacher first told us about the Scholastics Art and Writing Awards, I automatically began to think about ideas for drawings and mediums to use. I wanted to draw someone who seemed mysterious and slightly sad. However, I did not have time to execute these drawings. Three Silver Keys and one Honorable Mention later for poetry, I had the chance to create one of the pieces of works. This drawing, which I have yet to name, is a 14 in. x 17 in. graphite drawing. I had never worked with this large of a piece before, nor exclusively in graphite.
At first, I didn't know what I was going to do. I had never, not once, used graphite to create a drawing. I had used colored pencil last year in a self portrait we did, but it was an entirely different medium. However, to make this piece above, I used what I had learned from that drawing. I knew how to blend different colors and I used that to blend the shading. I also used my knowledge of shading to create this piece as well.
I had also done smaller graphite works, but I had usually not spent as much time on them and had not cared about how they turned out. However, this pieces did teach me the art of shading with blending tools. In this piece, I used paper towels to blend the different shades more smoothly. I also used my fingers (the oil on our fingers allows the graphite to stick to the skin and to be transported somewhere else on the paper) to shade.
I am very happy with how this piece turned out! I believe, that for someone with minimum formal art teaching, it came out really well! I worked with my art teacher a bit to get his opinion. He had told me the piece looked a bit to linear. Upon hearing this, I went back to the piece and blended a bit more. And, well, you can see the final piece her. I am very proud of this piece!
This piece means a lot to me- when I took the photo in September, I was going through a hard time. It was a relief when this piece was finished- call me cliche, but it felt like I could finally put all that behind me. It was amazing to see this piece come to life.
Note as of February 2014: I submitted this piece to Scholastic Art and Writing. Sadly, it didn't win any awards, but I still loved submitting it. Scholastics is a great way to gain experience. It is also an amazing learning experience as well.
At first, I didn't know what I was going to do. I had never, not once, used graphite to create a drawing. I had used colored pencil last year in a self portrait we did, but it was an entirely different medium. However, to make this piece above, I used what I had learned from that drawing. I knew how to blend different colors and I used that to blend the shading. I also used my knowledge of shading to create this piece as well.
I had also done smaller graphite works, but I had usually not spent as much time on them and had not cared about how they turned out. However, this pieces did teach me the art of shading with blending tools. In this piece, I used paper towels to blend the different shades more smoothly. I also used my fingers (the oil on our fingers allows the graphite to stick to the skin and to be transported somewhere else on the paper) to shade.
I am very happy with how this piece turned out! I believe, that for someone with minimum formal art teaching, it came out really well! I worked with my art teacher a bit to get his opinion. He had told me the piece looked a bit to linear. Upon hearing this, I went back to the piece and blended a bit more. And, well, you can see the final piece her. I am very proud of this piece!
This piece means a lot to me- when I took the photo in September, I was going through a hard time. It was a relief when this piece was finished- call me cliche, but it felt like I could finally put all that behind me. It was amazing to see this piece come to life.
Note as of February 2014: I submitted this piece to Scholastic Art and Writing. Sadly, it didn't win any awards, but I still loved submitting it. Scholastics is a great way to gain experience. It is also an amazing learning experience as well.