Don't follow the shadows

The idea behind this drawing was that it was worked on it for 2 - 2.5 hours during class for three sessions without looking at it or adjusting it in between. During the second session, the drawing had to change at least 50%, and 25% more had to be altered during the final session using additive and subtractive methods. The subject matter assigned was 8-16 attributes that describe who you are without actually showing your physical self. This is what I ended up with:

Graphite, charcoal, gesso, white pastel, and Sharpie marker on 18’’ x 24’’ Arches printmaking paper.



( Larger view under the cut )

During the first class, I penciled in all the attributes with graphite. I originally had a quill and ink pot in the lower left corner and a corsage of dried flowers in the lower right. There were only two peacock feathers and the meditating woman in the lotus did not exist at all. During the second class, I went over a few elements in charcoal that I wanted to emphasize. I entirely erased the two objects in the bottom corners and randomly covered a few areas in gesso, including a large white space in the middle. In the last class, I drew the lotus in Sharpie on the gessoed area and highlighted some attributes in Sharpie. I also drew the meditating woman on a separate sheet of paper in Sharpie, cut her out, and taped her onto the drawing to give it some physical dimension. For the metal fans reading this, I know it’s painfully obvious that it’s from Epica’s Design Your Universe cover art, but I liked it better than any of the other reference pictures I found. I did change it a bit, but it’s not like this drawing is meant for anything other than personal use and fulfilling the assignment’s requirements. ;) I also don’t mind that it directly references the album because as I mentioned in my previous post, it really does mean a lot to me.

( I’m sure you all know by now how much I love symbolism, so here are the attributes I used and what they mean )

I also wanted the composition to play with the concept of symmetrical and asymmetrical balance. “Life is about focusing and balancing. If you focus and lose your balance, you fall. If you balance and lose your focus, you die.” – Yoko Ono

I wish I had more time to clean up a few areas and make some adjustments, but the focus of this drawing lies more in the process than the final result. Other people in my class never took anything away from their drawings or covered old parts with new additions. They simply continued adding to the white page so by the end, all they did was finish from where they started on the first day. Many didn’t finish at all. Their drawings looked a lot cleaner and neater than mine, but they didn’t get anything out of the experience. It’s truly liberating to rip up something you created, start again, destroy it once more for good measure, and finally finish with something that looks complete and has a visual story behind its evolution.

This past year flew by so fast for me, so it’s no surprise that it was probably the best year I’ve had so far. I owe much of that to stepping outside my comfort zone and taking some chances. After my first year of college, I’ve finally got rid of all my reservations and am 100% myself 100% of the time, which has been an extremely cathartic experience. I’m also learning not to sell myself short. I’ve done a lot of things this year where if I hadn’t changed my pessimistic attitude, they wouldn’t have happened.

I finished my first year of college and started my sophomore one, and entered my 20's. I saw more live music than I have in any other year (pat mAcdonald, Reverend Horton Heat, Children of Bodom twice, Iron Maiden, Blondie, The Police, Elvis Costello, and Gaelic Storm). I got to hang out with Janne Warman twice – on Job for a Cowboy’s bus as well as Children of Bodom’s bus. I met Robbie at Gigantour in May, and if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to go down to Chicago to see Maiden. I was also lucky enough to practice my mediocre German for the first time outside the classroom with Children of Bodom’s roadies as well as Janne. I had a job in spring and summer that I actually liked. It was also the only place I’ve ever worked where my co-workers were friendly toward me. I got the peacock in my backpiece started. I started yoga, which has been extremely beneficial – especially physically. Before, I could hardly lift 20 lbs., and after three months, I can support my entire body weight on my hands. I also voted in my first presidential election, and starting drinking booze (in moderation).

There weren’t too many bad things that happened this year. I just wish I had more time to do more artwork outside of class, read, and watch movies, but I’m catching up with all of that over break. The concert cancellation last month was a big disappointment, but I’m hoping it will be rescheduled without any glitches.

Also, I should mention that after my last rant, my grade for astronomy was recently posted. Not only did I pass, I ended up with a B-. After he curved the class, he decided to bump my 79% average up to 80%. However, I feel I had every right to be as nervous as I was, since my “real” grade would have been a D+, and I would’ve had to repeat the course. My GPA for this semester is 3.585, and 3.389 overall, so I guess I really lucked out.

Resolutions for 2009:

• Get a job over the summer
• See as much live music as possible
• Read more
• Practice yoga at least every other day and take a yoga class in summer through the recreation department
• Get at least the peacock finished on my backpiece

I don’t even know all of the albums that are coming out this year, but I’m definitely looking forward to Franz Ferdinand, Korpiklaani, Eluveitie, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Morrissey’s (and seeing him live again).