Tablet Process 2
I spent hours with the tablet, barely scratching the surface of what it is capable of. After our initial class session I went into the studio and spent around 2 hours trying to create a semi-realistic portrait. Time flew by, I got completely sucked in. There was so much ease to the medium once I figured out the basics. It is so different to work in a medium where every “mistake” made can be completely undone. That creates more pressure than drawing for me, but it also creates an ease and an ability to make costless experiments.
During today’s second class session we were challenged to push our own boundaries and continue to work on our blind contour piece. I was glad we were both driven to use and given this extra time. I tried to use new tools and create texture in some of the shapes. I began distilling my color even more once I decided to make the diagonal blue face sketch the focal point. I was drawn into primary colors as I often am. The red faces and yellow shapes diagonal from each other are meant to create continuity within the piece and balance themselves out. I made the move to use blue instead of while as my background color, and I also used that layer as a veil to partially hide the sketches that were making the composition too messy. Be relegating the brown sketches to a background role, I think the composition became more readable. However I still indicate the continued importance of the brown scribbles by making the yellow give them space. Otherwise the blue is the most important and focal element.
I was quite interested and distracted by the Nick Cave videos today in class. I like how he seamlessly (no pun intended) linked costume and dance in a unique way. I see similarities between his work and ours. We both utilize seemingly random shapes and colors that are carefully planned upon closer inspection. Both Nick Cave and our class are making works that play and invite the viewer in before providing any context. Another artist we saw in class today was Janet Fish. Although her works are more highly structured, I still see how the bright colors of her composition draw the viewer in, just like our blind contours.
(click on pictures for original links)
