free choice!

As I started brainstorming for my free choice project, I knew immediately that I wanted to do my favorite type of drawing- a portrait. I haven't completed a fully rendered portrait since last year in Drawing I, so it was unfamiliar territory but on familiar grounds. I was browsing on Tumblr when I saw a photograph of a girl's face next to a cat's face, emphasizing the resemblances. Thus the seed of my concept was planted; I wanted my portrait to show the similarities and correlation of humans and animals. My friend Nicolette Bemann was the perfect model, and my cat Tuffy cooperated as well.

My actual composition was in black and white, because this promotes the emphasize of the similarities of the two subjects. (The colors wouldn't correlate.) The symmetry and center balance also help with the emphasis of the duality of man vs. beast (woman vs. cat!). Since the piece is split vertically down the center, I incorporated unity through the shape of the faces, eyes, noses, and the textures of the hair and fur. Rhythm also comes into play with the hair and fur-- both extend outwards, almost infinitely. This brings the eyes from focusing on the center of the portrait, where the emphasis lies, towards the outside of the page, where blankness persists. Conceptually, this suggests that there are many further similarities between humans and animals.

Packer Fever Project

Since I'm not an avid football fan, the constant presence of green and yellow reminds me of spring. So my project took form as a "Packer" tree, with dark green and golden yellow branches. The tree is supposed to symbolize the renewal of spring time, and the common spring fever that so many people catch. I liked drawing the tree, but my concept was lacking because I couldn't figure out how to effectively incorporate the Packer fever theme into the spring fever. The composition was awkward since I lacked a background, so I cut out the silhouette of the shape, which sort of accentuated the positive and negative space. But I'm still not satisfied with the project because I don't really know what else to do with it.