"Aaron"
16" x 20" - Acrylic
Quality Selection
"The Sphynx"
8" x 10" - Acrylic
Quality Seleciton
Inspiration
I find inspiration for my art through my friends. All of my friends' personalities and styles inspire me to capture them. The pieces, "Taylor," "Aaron," and "Makeda" are all based on my friends and their unique personalities and attitudes. Makeda loves theater so I captured her in costume for one of her shows. Aaron loves to paint landscapes so I incorporated a landscape into his hair, which he also loves. Taylor has many personalities she shows so I depicted many faces of her. I surround myself with a wide array of cultures and friends of different backgrounds and I absolutely love reflecting diversity in my artwork.
Being able to capture personality is a skill I value greatly. It is definitely a skill I am still working on. I always try to capture emotion to make my work interesting. I hope that as I progress as an artist, I can reflect my subjects' personalities more effectively.
Advice
If you are coming into AP Studio Art, my number one piece of advice is to not procrastinate. You may not be motivated to do every single piece of artwork, especially in the breadth section. However, if you procrastinate, you will not produce your best work. Use your time the best you can and you will produce your best artwork and be successful.
Q&A
What piece most surprised you? What did you expect? How is it different from anticipated?
My abstract piece on wood surprised me the most. I had no experience with abstract so this was a first for me. I really had no idea what I was doing or what to expect. I could not tell if it looked like art at all. I was very unconfident in this piece, and had to consult my friends and other artists to feel better about it. I anticipated this piece to be easy. I thought I could just slap some random lines and textures together, but it actually required much more thought and planning than I anticipated.
Did you encounter any difficulties in creating your artwork? How did you work through them?
I found the most difficulty in finding ideas. I was very picky about making a decision on my idea before starting my artwork. Sometimes I would spend more days finding a reference photo and brainstorming than actually creating the artwork. I got through this difficulty by just picking a photo and going for it sometimes, even if I didn't think it was the best idea that I could come up with. Once I started the artwork, I could see the idea come to life, and I ended up liking most of my ideas in the end.
What do you find most rewarding about being an artist?
The most rewarding thing about being an artist, is seeing progress. I love looking back at old work and seeing how much I have improved. Right now I'm proud of (most of) my artwork, but in a few years or maybe even a few months, I'll look back and see all of the flaws and appreciate the learning experience gained through making mistakes and putting in effort. Even through the breadth section alone, I can see how much more confident I am in my artwork. Years from now, I'll get to look back at this portfolio to see even more progress made.
Concentraion
My concentration focuses on the portrayal of diverse human subjects. The subjects are not diverse only in their outward appearance but also in their nationality, sexuality, gender, and lifestyle. I wanted to represent subjects which have historically not been embraced by society. My main focus is on the subject, so I kept the background minimal to highlight the individual or individuals. Most of the pieces feature a distinct color (or limited colors) to differentiate each person and the complementary color in the background spotlights the subject. A lot of the colors reflect the subject’s characteristics. One piece features a nonbinary subject (colored in blue to show off their masculine side) and has the androgynous flag in the background. Another piece is colored with oranges and yellows to show off that person’s warmth and happiness. Throughout my concentration, I have grown in my knowledge of colors and how they work together to create a pleasing composition. My goal was to not only show off my subjects’ looks but also show who they are as a person through the colors.
"Cade"
12" x 11" - Watercolor and Colored Pencil
"Ice Cream"
10"x 9" - Watercolor and Pen
"Aaron"
11"x 15" - Watercolor and Colored Pencil
"Makeda"
11"x 12" - Watercolor and Colored Pencil
"Kayleigh"
11" x 12" - Watercolor and Colored Pencil
Quality Selection
"Maggie"
13" x 11" - Watercolor and Colored Pencil
"Garland"
11" x 12.5" - Watercolor and Colored Pencil
"untitled"
10" x 12.5" - Watercolor and Colored Pencil
"Untitled"
10" x 12.5" - Watercolor and Colored Pencil
Quality Selection
"Taylor"
11" x 12.5" - Watercolor and Colored Pencil
"Untitled"
15" x 11" - Watercolor and Colored Pencil
"Untitled"
10.5" x 10" - Watercolor and Colored Pencil
Q&A
What are some of the most important skills you draw upon to create your work?
The most important skill I rely on is accuracy in proportions. I don't necessarily strive to make my sketch look exactly like my photo references, but I do try my best to make sure that all of the proportions makes sense. It helps when going to color (whether it be pencil, acrylic, watercolor, etc) and makes the finished piece look right. Having a good sketch helps with knowing where shadows go and will result in a more life like result.
What are the most successful aspects of your work? Why do you believe it to be successful?
I think the most successful aspect of my work is my ability to capture someone's likeness. My portraits aren't photo replicas, but you can still tell who the person it. Also, my use of color has grown to be successful over creating these last 12 pieces. I am now good at conveying shadows and depth.
What are some of the most significant things you learned through your AP Studio experience?
I have learned to never be satisfied with my artwork. Sometimes I would take a piece to a critique that I thought was good and people would suggest ideas that I never would have thought of. Now I always try to think of ways to improve my art beyond of what I would normally think to do. My art can always use improvement and I should never settle until I know it's the absolute best work I can produce.
What advice would you give other artists coming into AP studio art to help them find success?
This class is great because it gives you a lot of freedom to make your own ideas into art, but be sure you make art that you like. There are certain expectations and requirements for the art pieces, but you can always find a way to make the assignment your own. I found myself making pieces where I didn't really enjoy my initial concept and lacked motivation to perfect it and I ended up not making my best art. When you like what you're making, you'll be more passionate and your results will be noticeably better. Towards the end of the school year, I really got into acrylic paint and was making a lot of personal art that turned out way better than my art for the class. Make sure you love what you're making because art is meant to be personal and enjoyable and you might as well put that passion and energy towards a potential college credit!