Formal Intentions
What did you find meaningful about the process and practice of this project?
What I found meaningful was creating the same type of art using different practices. I felt that I was able to express forms and ideas through charcoal and I think it contributed to my skill in this way.
What are some techniques you fostered to work with the charcoal?
I fostered the use of shading and also the use of the white charcoal to contribute to the value of my drawing. I feel that through these techniques I was able to create that which I imagine with a higher level of accuracy, especially using value to my advantage.
What intrigues you about working with charcoal?
Charcoal is cool in my opinion because it is a sort of mix between clay and pencil. Like pencil, it is two dimensional and is applied to the paper. But also like clay, it is malleable and is able to be mixed and spread. I think the mixture is very intriguing.
What frustrates you?
The charcoal frustrates me in the same way it intrigues me. For the mediums that are not malleable (like pencil and unlike paint, charcoal and clay) there are a high degree of accuracy that is lost in the malleable nature of the clay.
Stretch and Explore
In what ways did your intentions change over the course of your project?
At the beginning of the project, I intended to draw the subjects with extreme accuracy. But for the second drawing, I think I solely used the object as a guide to form, and then I was able to play with the charcoal values.
What opportunities or occurrences led to these changes?
Using the lantern as a subject led me to the question "what would it look like if it were producing light?" This question led to my experimentation with value in this way.
Given what you know now about your work and your materials choices, how might you have changed your approach to working?
I would have let myself experiment with the malleability of the charcoal more. I felt that I didn't do this enough and treated the charcoal more like a pencil then a value-studded sheet of clay
Consider our work with value over the course of the entire project, what did you find meaningful about the process and practice of paying attention to light and contrast?
The way we observe the world visually is using value and color. Paying attention to value is more fully understanding the way we perceive the world. This was extremely important while doing this project.
Where do you feel you found the most success, in drawing or in photography?
I feel like I was more successful in drawing, because I was able to spend more time with the subject, whereas in drawing, every part is created individually, so a relationship with the object is more fully developed. It was tricky in photography because every moment was fleeting, and each aspect was not able to be perfected to its full potential
What do you attribute that success to?
I attribute my success to a balance. This balance is between working on individual components and working on these things as a whole. I felt like I was able to pay close attention to each individual component while keeping in mind the relationship between each part as a whole
What does paying attention to value offer you as an artist? How does your understanding of value impact your artwork?
Value is a critical part of how we percieve the world, and thus how we express our ideas relating to it. As an Artist I think I am able to now express ideas with a higher degree of confidence, and with a higher degree of accuracy to my own thoughts on the subject.
