Study of the Figure

At this point my intentions for this project have completely changed.  In the beginning I was very focused on creating the figure as a whole but through experiments I realized that I really liked working with the hand much more than the entire body.  From there I realized that to create the hand I could add a lot more detail with a black pen than with charcoal.  I was able to focus on lines and that brought more delicacy and fine tuning to my pieces.  From there I was intrigued with not only representing hands but showing a deeper secret message within them.  I decided I wanted to lash out at society in a very secret way and picked the word "trapped" because I feel we are all trapped in society.  I leave this work up to the viewers interpretation though I do not want my original intentions to be the only way to interpret this piece.  When I was talking to Elise she knew that the work was trapped but interpreted the piece as being that those who couldn't speak and use sign language felt trapped.  To me the best artwork leaves the viewer up to the interpretation and allows them to come up with their own ideas about the piece.  Thus far I am just going to continue with my finishing touches.  I still have to create the "e" so that is what I plan on focusing on after break.

One of the works that really inspired me was by Desirée Holman.  She created a really interesting piece like the one above where there is a person under a mask, but parts of the piece really look like their faces and at first glance you can't even tell that the person has a mask on.  She also created each of these pieces with colored pencil which was really intriguing because they still had a lot of rich lines and often most people think of colored pencil as being very soft, but she was able to incorporate both in her pieces.  I think this helped to inspire the secret message idea as well as the idea of leaving the piece up to the viewers interpretations.

In the last project one of my favorite parts was how I just let myself go.  I didn't focus on what my final project was going to be I just worked and in the end ended up with something I liked for my final.  In this piece I was able to do something pretty similar.  Once I got started on the hands and then the word my classes became a little more scheduled but before that I just let myself work and find the product I liked.  I think that is the best kind of art and I really enjoy it.