SW+09+-+Progression

Progression Media: 2H, HB, 2B, 4B, 6B Size: 42 x 59.4 cm Month of completion: September 2012

**Description:** __This Studio Work is not finished.__ This is a diptych consisting of one drawing where the subject is young and holding her hand over face and the second will consist of a drawing where the subject is old and is holding the same hand over her face. Except in the second drawing, the had is melting, similar to the clock in Dali's the "Persistence of Memory." I'm trying to illustrate who the subject is set back from what she could potentially do and what she desires the most. She is being restricted by her culture. In the second picture she looks old, yet she still has her hand of her face illustrating that time had passed, but she's still being restricted. The melting hand refers to the clocks in Dali's piece, creating anxiety and depicting slow progression.

**Analysis:** **What were the artistic and/or cultural influences for this project?** **Who/what influenced either the composition and/or the style.** Artistic influences includes Dali's the "Persistence of Memory." The use of melting clocks influenced the idea of melting the hand. It also serves as a good reference, as well. Cultural influences include the Middle Eastern culture, or the restriction implemented by the Middle Eastern culture. Many are not free to follow through with their dreams and goals because of these restrictions. As time passes by, they soon find themselves too old to work and too old to be the ambitious, young person she (in this case) once was. Surrealism influenced the composition and style of the piece. Surrealist art is usually painted in a realistic way, but they also consist of dream-like aspects to the artwork. Here, I attempted to make the girl seem as realistic as possible and have her hand melt.

**What materials/media/processes did you use and or experiment with, and how?** I experimented with five different pencils: 2H, HB, 2B, 4B and 6B. With each having their own shades, i had to experiment in trials to feel more comfortable using 5 different pencils when shading. At first, i used the darker pencils to start shading. I found that this was more difficult to control since the overall drawing becomes darker than intended. I then decided to use 2H, which is the lightest of the pencils I own. If found that starting off lightly made it much easier to control and made me aware of how dark the drawing would be.

Yes, i actively sought advice. At first, when i was working on the trial, i found out from fellow students and the teacher that it was too dark and disproportional. Before starting my final piece. i asked the teacher to advise me on how to shade more properly to create a more realistic drawing. She told that I should focus on the shapes of the shadows instead of drawing in the facial features using lines. This helped me a lot in creating the final piece. Also, since many said that the proportions were off, i decided to use a grid, which helped more so than expected. Not only did the grid help with the proportions of the subject, but it also helped with maintaining the amount of detail needed.
 * How do you think you have responded to advice and criticism during this project (and during the term), both from fellow students and the teacher. Did you actively seek advice? If so, was it useful?**

**Clearly explain the weaknesses/areas for improvement -** The hair has a smooth texture making it look less natural. Also some of the squares on the grid were different sizes due to measurement mistakes while setting it up. This made some features appear smaller or larger than they should.

**Clearly explain the strengths of the piece –** The overall picture looks more realistic than expected. The face seems proportional and it closely resembles the original photograph.

**What could you take through to the next project and develop further? This could be anything, from a technique to an idea, not neccessarily just the theme.** I would like to make a dress using the tessellation that i have made as the patter. However, this is a vague idea and i'm still not sure how i would get fabric with the pattern that i need.