what I obsess over

first painting

artist statement for self portrait

1. My goals and intentions for this drawing were to follow as closely to the picture while still keeping my style and making it dramatic.

2. I accomplished this goal by trial and error and constantly referencing my picture and then leaving the stroke of the charcoal visible in the drawing rather than blending it in.

3. What surprised me the most about my drawing was how the end result really looked like me, but how much I had to start over and redo parts of my face to get there.

4. The most difficult challenge I had to face was keeping the parts of my face proportionate to each other.

5. I met this challenge by stepping back and viewing the drawing after I did my eye and then my nose, lips, face shape etc. I also used the grid to help guide me on how big to make each thing.

6. I experienced the shift to right brain thinking when I flipped my paper upside down to draw my lips, I couldn't rely on what I knew lips looked like and I was just drawing on what I saw.

7. I think my drawing really works in my eye and eyebrow. I think it really looks like me and it still has the rough strokes of the charcoal to show my style.

8. Something I have learned that I can use for my next drawing is to go piece by piece instead of trying to tackle the whole picture at once.

9. I learned something from Helen Butler, which was to focus on the shapes that the lights and shadows make.

10. If I had a do over I would do everything the same, because I am really happy with the outcome and how the process went.

11. I feel the best part about my work is my eye, for the same reasons I said earlier how you can tell its me while still being able to see my style.