I am most happy about how the pocket shadows of the pink bag came out. I never thought I could render something so realistically. Julia described the image as top heavy and I like that, as the top bag seems to be consuming the other bags beneath it.

I had thought quite a bit about the “Things we carry” project before we began today. My basic idea is that by showing my more subdued brown bag emerging from my cute pink bag I am showing how my (lack of?) gender is hidden inside of my very femme appearance. When I incorporated my closed wallet into the composition I was considering that my true identity is complex and multifaceted, like the inside of my wallet.

I was unintentionally challenged by the physical elements of this piece. The scale of the paper is larger than I usually work with, and I have never been asked to engage all edges of the paper on purpose so that was interesting. The complexity of the objects is also something I really have not worked on in a while. Although I do sketch from time to time I have not attempted to render objects of such random shapes recently. Today I also worked more methodically than I have in the past, starting with pencil then going in with charcoal from section to section. I think the cost of the paper made me be a little bit more intentional in my process. I am also usually a little scared to go deep with shadows, so I tried to challenge myself today to make the shadows as intense as possible.

I am quite happy with the progress I made today. I am thinking about adding color to the bag only, but I am going to experiment with this process in my sketchbook first to ensure that it has a good result.