danileigh print

 

I decided to do an intaglio print of Danileigh, because she's an amazing musical artist and dancer. Her music inspired me to keep things moving at a time when I was struggling to get back on my feet. Whenever I need a boost of confidence, I listen to her songs to be reminded that everything is going to be okay. I did one print plain red, and another I mixed in orange and a bit of yellow to create a "blended" effect. (I forget what the technique is called). I used stop-out and soap ground to create the highlights in the prints as well. 

shorthand tone

    

The process of line drawing turned out extremely fun to me, actually. At first I did not know where to begin, but as soon as I began to follow the outlines of the faces of the people I really looked up to, (as a woman),I fell in love with the project. The lines were able to help me really focus on certain aspects of the faces of the women and decide what I wanted to deepen or darken, or keep light. By changing the length, thickness, and tone of the marks, I was able to create depth in the images. I chose to focus mainly on the faces and hair of the women, and the direction the marks flowed, rather than the whole image itself, because this process seemed to be a lot more simple this way. I used less opacity to create shadows and highlights in the already simplified image to add more depth to it too. 

energizing tone

Transferring my work digitally was a challenge because this is the first project in which I had to grid a drawing and then transfer it that way. Overall, though, the experience helped me grow the most in the digital arts realm because it forced me to learn about the certain apps that we had to use for the recontextualization. Digitally, I think the artwork is much more difficult to process than the hand-drawn because it’s just a process that I’m not used to yet. Drawing portraits is one of my favorite things, so doing this project was actually quite fun, but it took more time than I thought. 

Energizing tone was a really interesting concept for me to indulge in, and it was a much longer process than just shading the shadows but it helped really bring the pictures to life. The energy that was created through the short marks is such a cool idea, and having it transferred on the 2D subject was what kind of blew my mind. I enjoyed the outcome of the digital work more than the drawing just because it has the appearance of looking more “official” and “finished” to me, but that may just be my opinion. 

I chose to do some portraits because I’ve only done one other portrait, and I didn’t wear any makeup in the picture I chose, so I decided to do a more accurate representation of how I like to present myself. The process of studying my face and transferring it on paper was interesting to me because it forced me to kind of study myself in a way, and see myself in a different light. I enjoyed this project a lot because of that process.

i can't help it

I hate being here

I feel stuck in my own mind

A whirlwind of thoughts 

Getting off topic all the time

I wish I could be smart 

I tried so hard for you

My grades are dropping but 

This is nothing new

I’m always told I’m different

I’m always told I’m too much

I’m always told I’m too weird

Or reminded how I’m never enough

I just want to be accepted 

Honestly I'm so done trying

I’m told I need to be grounded

When I always feel like flying 

I’m not supposed to be here

This life wasn’t meant for me

Studying hard and sacrificing my life

Just to say I got a degree

a lie

is that you or your ego i hear
it’s been hard dealing with your pride all these years
in my heart i wish that this wasn’t my reality
and it’s hard dealing with this rage that’s inside of me
i get so angry and i ask myself why
i couldn’t make you feel happy on the inside
but nevermind i guess things just change
i’m so used to dealing with this toxic rage
and i feel so guilty because in my mind you’re right
like it’s all my fault i think about it every night
i’m always alone
ive never felt at home
and even when i’m with you
i still feel that you’re gone
i wish i could change your past
i wish i could’ve loved you right
but it’s that same love you forgot to give me
that haunts me every night
and i don’t know what to do
i have no clue
because it hurts the most that i have to convince myself it’s all true
and i pray that things will change
and i pray you find love
but i can’t keep going back and forth
when i’m going through my own stuff
and we’re all going through it i get it
it’s tough
but you never made me feel like i was ever enough
and i say “i’m done and i’m over it”
and i wish i didn’t care
but i care too much
because i’ll never feel that it’s fair
i always came in second
and i hate admitting that to myself
i hate admitting that i might actually need help
but i still pray that you’re okay and i can’t help but care
i can’t help but pick up these photos and wish i was still there
in your arms where i felt safe
in your arms when everything felt right
but that’s only a memory
i think about every night

wanderer

The change in seasons was nice

Arctic winters changed to summer nights

Loving you was paradise

But it’s a new season, and it’s not feeling quite right

I’ve been feeling tired inside 

21 years in the making 

But I felt a part of me has died

My whole life a smile I’ve been faking

Travelling alone wasn’t new

Routine made me feel jaded

Boyfriends? I can name a few

But those are just memories faded 

Moving from place to place

I never cared to settle down

Change took away the base

And forced me to rebuild from the ground

I never meant to hurt a fly

I’m sorry, my soul was never still

Love is something I’d be willing to try

Dangling at the expense of my own free will

Before you say anything, just know I’m where I need to be

So if I go missing, don’t go searching, please

balance

I found my way down to the forest

Discovered the path between the trees

Sat down on a decaying, abandoned bench

Embraced the dewey grass and crisp, chilled breeze

In my solitude, I felt content

My anxiety escaped as I deflated my chest

Beside me I noticed a small gray bird

She was working hard at constructing her nest

She was small and petite 

And her color caught my eyes

She kept trying to put the pieces together

But she seemed to fail after many tries

I saw myself in her like a mirror

Her color was neither dark nor bright

But a balance between both ends 

Like both day and night

Through her struggle I saw the beauty

Her intentions were pure

She wanted to create a home for her young

And for this, she knew she was sure.

Her life purpose was to give back to children

She has never questioned this before,

But this was one thing I couldn’t relate to her

And for this, I knew I was sure.

haiku

I chose the haiku specifically because I knew I could create something more dark with it. When the poem talks about heavy rain, I was able to envision in my head exactly how I wanted that image to translate on paper. For me, art is my way to express my emotions in a more orderly and healthy way, and at the moment I was feeling stressed and anxious, and the poem helped me translate that into the work I created. I created a digital image of a gray tree, along with a darker gray image of a person crouched underneath it, and I also put in some abstractly dashed rain marks. I chose the rain marks which obviously was incorporated in the poem, to create and set a darker, sadder mood, but I also chose to do the silhouettes of the images to show a more abstracted, yet simple design. To me, this helped get my point across without overcomplicating the idea. Haikus are simple in the way that there are few words you need in able to express a certain idea or feeling, and that is exactly what I wanted to try and accomplish in my work. Simplicity is something new to me because I am used to doing realism and shading, so linework is more difficult and challenging, but it was something I wanted to branch out and try and do. I enjoyed creating continuous lines and focusing on the “big picture” of what I wanted the viewer to see and feel, without overcomplicating it in my head. I wanted it to feel lonely and cold too, and I feel the simplicity of the design helped accomplish that as well, overall.