Ever since being admitted to the Fine Arts program as an Illustration Major at the Art Institute of Chicago, building my illustration portfolio is my main goal. That being said, my chosen concentration for this final semester of High School art is Illustration. I can complete a drawing relatively quickly, so each concentration piece consists of several small pieces with a continuous theme.
A major focus point of my entire school year has been drips; dripping paint, dripping blood, water, ink, etc. I am fascinated by the drops that form puddles, the concept of different substances and colors mixing together, and the effects created when these droplets explode.
After careful exploration and some not so carefull experimentation (I’m sorry Ms Dennett.) I developed my own style and ways of incorporating this concept into my pieces. The drips and swirls are the focus of this first series of illustrations.
Each piece has a distinct melting feel, as though they’ll just drip off the page. I thought that leaving them in black and white lent a dramatic effect to each peice, and I experimented a lot with line weight and different textures.
Process wise, each illustration was composed rather quickly, although I spent a lot of time thinking about how to develop each piece. All three had the same beginnings: blank paper, blue drafting pencil. Once I sketch out a basic concept, I have a lot of room to further develop the composition. The first was totally unplanned, just that central eye that quickly began melting into oblivion. The face took shape gradually, as I simply added things because they “wanted to be there.”
The whole process of drawing the drips is also, to an extent, unplanned. It requires a lot of fluidity and confidence in your ability to create a steady line. The confidence is very visible, and an important element of each piece.
The piece with the melting hand required a little more planning and sketching; (hands are difficult.) But once the overall sketch is there, I’m free to expirament. The melting drips are all interconnected in some way, the piece only works if they all flow smoothly.
I thought that blacking out sections of the drawing with copic marker added a dramatic effect to the compostiiton, and the grey backgroud provided added depth, as did the frame.
The final piece is an alternative style portrait of Marlyin Monroe. I have always really loved her eyes, so this piece just sort of started as some practice sketches, yet once again the melting drips wiggled their way in. I found several photographs of Marylin and tried to incorporate different aspects of her face onto the page, using as few lines as possible. I then went back and hatched over certain parts to add detail. The ‘spray’ that’s seen in the first face illustration makes a reappearance, as her eye merges into a wave.
All three were done on Canson Mixed Media paper with black micron pens and copic marker.
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